Antimalarial Phytochemicals from Medicinal Plants of Jharkhand, India: A Review
Nuzhat Jahan *
Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Pragya Shrivastava
Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Shakeel ur Rahman
Prakriti Bachao Foundation, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The aim of the present review was to enlist most effective antimalarial phytochemical compounds of some selected plant species of Jharkhand, India. Malaria is still a big problem in the tribal and remote areas in Jharkhand. A large number of poor and malnourished people of the state including women and children are suffering from the disease. The topography and environment of rural Jharkhand indeed create conditions that are conducive to the rapid growth of malaria vectors and the propagation of P. Falciparum and P. Vivax, the parasite responsible for the most severe and fatal form of malaria. The yearly average slide positivity rate (SPR) in Jharkhand is 10.4% for symptomatic individuals indicates that malaria continues to be a significant public health issue in the state. This highlights the urgent need for effective preventive measures and treatment strategies, especially for vulnerable populations. The increasing resistance of malarial parasites to commonly used synthetic drugs like chloroquine has raised significant concerns in the fight against malaria. The World Health Organization also supports the use of medicinal plants effective and safe against the malarial parasites. There are a large number medicinal plants constitute effective bioactive phytochemicals compounds, which can play important role in the control of malaria. In the present study six plant species have been reviewed as an effective antimalarial plant species.
Keywords: Malaria, Plasmodium spp., medicinal plants, antimalarial phytochemicals, Jharkhand