In vitro antiplasmodial activity of some antimalarial plants of Beninese pharmacopoeia

Malaria is one of the first pandemic diseases and represents a major problem of public health, particularly in Africa. In Benin, the screening of traditional medicine is susceptible, as that was the case with artemisinine in China, to open new ways for new drugs discovery. This study presents an in vitro evaluation of the antiplasmodial effects of extracts from four plants commonly used in Benin as folk medicine against malaria. It concerns ethanol, methanol and methylene chloride extracts of Argemone mexicana, Cassia rotundifolia, Phyllanthus amarus and of Thalia geniculata. Most of these extracts show significant activity against the chloroquine-sensitive strain of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7.