A comprehensive review of ethnopharmacologically important medicinal plant species from Mauritius

Bestowed with a rich floral diversity and singularity, the tropical island of Mauritius is home to several exotic and endemic plant species. Since the first settlement of man over the island more than 300 years ago, the local inhabitants have been in proximity with nature and have exploited plants as a major source of medicine to assuage suffering emanating from a wide range of minor to chronic ailment conditions. Over the years, sufficient experience surrounding the medicinal use of plant species has been gathered by the local inhabitants through trial and error as well as sharing of traditional knowledge from one generation to the other. Such valuable knowledge has been preserved since the first documentation in 1864. Nonetheless, there is no single compilation of plant species employed since the first documentation. In addition, no comparative study has been conducted to highlight plant species which are still being employed extensively. This review therefore endeavors to document medicinal plants reported since the first establishment of man over the island alongside highlighting plant species deserving due attention regarding the evaluation of their pharmacological potential. Following a comprehensive data mining, 561 plant species were found to have been used and/or still being used for the prophylaxis, management and/or cure of an innumerable number of human ailment conditions. Interestingly, the traditional uses of plant species such as Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T. Aiton, Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey, Paederia foetida L., Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn., and Wikstroemia indica (L.) C.A. Mey. have been maintained over the years with noticeable use value (UV). In furtherance, other plant species employed locally (Launaea sarmentosa (Willd.) Sch.Bip. ex Kuntze, Grangeria borbonica Lam., Adiantum rhizophorum Schrad., Antirhea borbonica J.F.Gmel., Ageratina riparia (Regel) R.M. King et H. Robinson, Cnestis glabra Lam., Artemisia verlotiorum Lamotte and Aleurites fordii Hemsl.) also deserve to be evaluated pharmacologically by the scientific community. Similarly, numerous endemic and indigenous plant species (Agarista salicifolia (Lam.) G. Don, Asparagus umbellulatus Bresler, Jumellea fragrans (Thouars) Schltr, Gymnosporia pyria (Willemet) Jordaan, Mimusops maxima (Poiret) Vaughan, Tambourissa quadrifida Sonnerat and Pittosporum senacia Putt. subsp. senacia) are potential candidates for future in vitro, in vivo and in silico studies. Notably, studies focusing on the safety profile of medicinal plants is also warranted to minimize the risk of side effects, adverse events as well as the occurrence of herb–drug interactions among local inhabitants.