J. Phytomed., Volume 1, Issue 2 (September 2026) – 2 articles

This review aims to highlight the rich biodiversity of plants with acaricidal properties in Africa and the potential for harnessing them for the development of eco-friendly acaricides. Terrestrial plant-derived bioactive substances hold huge potential as cost-effective and eco-friendly insecticides that can serve as a suitable alternative to chemical pesticides. Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) constitute a serious challenge to animal and human health globally, necessitating the need for effective control measures. However, the use of chemical acaricides, the mainstay of tick control, is no longer sustainable due to the development of multiple acaricide resistance, economic constraints, and environmental and public health concerns, necessitating the exploration of phytochemical acaricides as a viable option. In Africa, the rich plant biodiversity remains largely underexplored and underutilized for TTBDs control. Our bibliographical review identified 144 plant species from 48 families across 27 African countries that have been assessed in various in vitro assays. These studies report that these plant species possess phytochemicals with acaricidal properties, causing over 50% mortality or repellency on various tick developmental stages. Plant species belonging to the Asteraceae (n = 23), Lamiaceae (n = 17) and Fabaceae (n = 11) from several African countries were reported to possess effective anti-tick properties. Bioactive substances and essential oils, such as the tannins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, camphor, camphene, 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), alpha-pinene and more were the most frequently isolated compounds, attesting to the rich biodiversity of plants possessing phytochemicals with strong prospects for use in tick control. Despite these encouraging findings, none so far has been translated or formulated into an anti-tick product for commercial use. Therefore, we advocate for robust continental and regional collaborations to coordinate the bioprospecting of anti-tick ethnobotanicals, ultimately leading to the development of cost-effective and eco-friendly natural products for tick control. Full article

Many bioactive constituents of medicinal plants depend on microbial biotransformation for their pharmacological activity, positioning postbiotics from plant substrates as microbially matured phytomedicines. An emerging framework integrates prebiotic phytochemicals with probiotic strains to modulate gut microbiota and host health. In this study, we explored the functional properties of heat-inactivated Lactobacillus strains following the fermentation of oligosaccharides obtained from sesame hulls (Sesamum indicum L.), underutilised agro-industrial residues. Cell-wall oligosaccharides were obtained by alkaline or enzymatic (Celluclast^® 1.5 L (Novonesis, Copenhagen, Denmark)) extraction with Ultraflo^® L (Novonesis, Copenhagen, Denmark) hydrolysis and fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, or L. paracasei. Heat-inactivated pre-postbiotic preparations were profiled for antioxidant capacity, inhibition of metabolic enzymes implicated in obesity and type 2 diabetes, and anti-Helicobacter pylori urease activity. Moreover, these preparations were incorporated into a barley malt (Hordeum vulgare L.) beverage. Bioactivity was strain- and substrate-dependent: L. casei-derived postbiotics most strongly inhibited pancreatic lipase (47.82%) and α-glucosidase (52.14%); L. acidophilus most strongly inhibited α-amylase (43.67%); and L. paracasei exhibited the strongest urease inhibition (20.66%). All strains displayed enhanced antioxidant activity, with ABTS scavenging reaching 87.02%. The supplemented beverages improved antioxidant activity by ~20%. The fermentation of these oligosaccharides thus yields a microbially matured phytomedicine with multi-target activity, supporting postbiotics as active mediators of plant-based therapeutics. Full article