In South Africa plants have been used as medicine for many decades
by traditional healers and in the pharmaceutical industry. The harvesting
of plants with distinct medicinal value in an unsustainable manner
has become a tremendous problem leaving some plant species on the
brink of extinction. Such harvesting methods include ring barking
and the removal of entire plants to harvest only the roots. The active
chemical constituents of plants are generally confined to specific
plant parts, though in some species the active compounds can be found
throughout the entire plant. Unsustainable and improper harvesting
of plants usually occurs mainly because of the common believe that
the active compound is only to be found in a specific plant part,
mostly a part of the plant that does not easily regenerate such as
the roots or bark. By lack of knowledge the harvesting of specific
plant parts is sometimes completely unnecessary seeing that the active
compounds could also be found in the renewable parts of the plant
like the leaves or small twigs.
In this study selected plant species, which are usually harvested
in an improper way mostly by traditional healers, will be investigated
to establish the validity of the harvesting practices. Various plant
parts commonly harvested will be tested for anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory
activity after which other, more sustainable harvesting methods will
be investigated should positive activity be established. The aim of
this investigation will then be to determine whether other renewable
plant parts showing positive activity could also be used for medicinal
purposes. This will be done by collection of plant material and subsequent
laboratory testing with various chemical- and bioassay techniques.
