Medicinal Plants Used for the Management of Asthma in Ethiopia – A Review

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in contemporary society and there is increasing evidence to suggest that its incidence and severity are increasing. Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in Traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for functions including protection against insects, fungi, diseases, and herbivorous mammals etc. Further, the phytochemical content and pharmacological actions, if any, of many plants having medicinal potential remain unassisted by exact scientific research to define efficacy and safety. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to give an on the way into some of the most commonly used medicinal plants, phytochemical information of plants and their method of preparation for the management of asthma. METHOD: In these review assembly information of the medicinal plants used to management of asthma from publication journals, thesis, literature searching. In addition to these some of literature qualitative and quantities determination of the phytochemical screen and bioactivity. RESULT: In the review a total of 23 medicinal plants collect from different literature. This finding is a good indicator for the presence of considerable diversity of plant species for the management of Asthma. The most common medicinal plants that used in the society are Papilionaceae, Caricaceae, Moringaceae, Liliaceae, Asteraceae etc. The society used all parts of medicinal plants like stem, root, bark, leafs, fruit, flowers, seed etc. CONCLUSION: In these review a good number of contemporary medicines have evolved from traditional medicines thus in the present circumstances, our traditional system must be given an objective and critical examination. Further research must be carried out to determine the fraction(s)/compounds that are mostly responsible for the observed anti-asthmatic activity as this will lead to drug development. As well, the potency of plants used in combination as beside being used individually should be further researched on. It is recommended that further research is needed to anti-asthmatic plants and standardization of herbal formulations/preparations and to determine the medicinal plants side effect, efficacy, safety etc.