Native Plants Are Being Tested as Treatment of Anemia in Côte d’Ivoire

Iron deficiency anemia is currently listed as most frequent cause of disabilities in Côte d’Ivoire in the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (1). Especially children are affected: One in three children under five suffers from iron deficiency anemia (2).

Ivorian scientists criticize that nutrition assistance programs hardly have changed anything about this situation over all the years of development aid. Therefore they are increasingly focusing on traditional Ivorian medicinal plants in order to find alternative ways to reduce micronutrient deficiencies. The initial conjecture is that the consumption of native plants could facilitate the absorption of vitamins, minerals and trace elements (3).

Based on these considerations biochemical analysis of wild and cultivated edible plants from Ivorian forest and savanna areas have been conducted (4). 11 of 30 analyzed plants, including the Teak Tree, the Spiny Amaranth, the Nigerian Stylo, the Pigeon Pea, the Alligator Flag and many more had a medium to high iron content up to 266.6 mg / 100 g plant.

The bioavailability of this plant-based iron is supposed to be tested on its interaction with vitamins A and C and folic acid.

Read and see more:

(1) Vgl die Angaben im Portal http://www.healthdata.org/cote-divoire

(2) S. Muthayya et al. The Global Hidden Hunger Indices and Maps: An Advocacy Tool for Action. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067860. Link: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0067860

(3) D.F. Malan et al. Medicinal plants and traditional healing practices in Ehotile people, around the Aby Lagoon (eastern littoral of Côte d’Ivoire). J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2015 Mar 14;11:21. Doi: 10.1186/s13002-015-0004-8.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25888765

(4) W.M. Koné et al. Ethnomedical Study and Iron Content of Some Medicinal Herbs Used in Traditional Medicine in Cote D’Ivoire for the Treatment of Anaemia. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2012; 9(1): 81–87. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746533/