Abstract
Africa has an enormous and largely unexplored reservoir of phytochemicals in her tropical rain forest plants. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the rate at which these tropical rain forest plants are being lost has risen alarmingly in recent years. Furthermore, many traditional medical practitioners who have expert knowledge of African medicinal plants are quite old and have not documented their knowledge. The combination of these and other factors necessitates urgent efforts to explore, exploit, and preserve this valuable natural resource before it is irrecoverably lost to mankind.
Recent developments in biotechnology and pharmaceutical research are favorable for the productive and sustainable exploitation of this phytoresource for novel drug discovery, possibly through collaborative arrangements between institutions in Africa and pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies in the technologically advanced countries.
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