WONDER SALVE
Traditional Herbal Cream
HERBAL REMEDY with traditional ingredients
that are known for their antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and wound healing properties. This old South African household recipe is traditionally used for various skin and joint ailments.
Contains extracts of indigenous plants: Artemisia afra, Carpobrotus edulis, Helichrysum odoratissimum, Leonotis nepetifolia, Leonotis leonorus, Olea Africana, Sutherlandia frutescens.
Can aid in relieving painful inflammatory conditions, sore muscles and joints as well as certain skin conditions.
Provides protection against the damaging effects of free radicals in skin cells, also reducing the signs of ageing.
Inhibits the growth of certain harmful bacteria and fungi, reducing the risk of skin infections.
Indigenous Plant Extracts
Artemisia afra
Otherwise known as ‘wilde als’ or ‘wormwood’, this plant is widespread in all the provinces of South Africa except the Northern Cape, also Lesotho, Swaziland and northward into tropical Africa. Traditional medicinal uses include the treatment of haemorrhoids and inflammation.
Pharmacologically, the plant has shown pain relieving, antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant
activity1.
Carpobrotus edulis
Also known as ‘Suurvy’ or ‘sour fig’, this plant is widespread in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces on sandy flats and slopes, mostly inland.
This Khoi-Khoi and San remedy has been adopted by most other ethnic groups in South Africa, where preparations of the leaf juice are applied externally to sores or burn wounds among other uses, explaining its suggested antibacterial properties2,3,5 . The plant has also been shown to exhibit antioxidant activity5,6.
Helichrysum odoratissimum
Found mostly in the Eastern Cape, H. odoratissimum has traditionally been used as a facial ointment for pimples among other. Reported activities of the essential oil from the plant includes antioxidant8 and antibacterial7.
Leonotis nepetifolia
Belonging to the mint family, this species (also known as ‘klip dagga’) generally grows in patches along roadside or barren unused agriculture waste land during rainy season, and is known for its anti-cold, anti- cough, anti-inflammatory and anti-diarrhoeal properties since ages and being used by local tribal communities as ethnomedicine11. Research affirms the traditional uses of L. nepetifolia by highlighting the medicinal properties of the plant. This includes analgesic13, antifungal & antibacterial14,15, anti-rheumatic and anti-inflammatory properties16,17. Some traditional medicinal uses include rheumatism, burn wounds, swelling and skin afflictions such as eczema12,18.
Leonotis leonorus
Widely known as ‘wild dagga’, this plant is known to grow at forest margins, on rocky hillsides and in the tall grassland of the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Traditional medical uses include treatment of skin rashes and itching, eczema, boils and sores, muscular cramps and relief of haemorroids10. The species exhibits anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant activity4,9,10.
Olea Africana
Also known as the wild olive, this specie is widespread in a variety of habitats, from forest and riverside bush to open grassveld, stony flats, mountain kloofs and rocky ledges throughout Southern Africa and northwards. The bark of O. Africana has traditionally been used against fever and inflammatory states such as rheumatism19,20.
Sutherlandia frutescens
The plant, also known as ‘Cancer Bush’, is widespread in drier areas of the South Western and Northern Cape Provinces; often as a weed of disturbed places e.g. road verges. This species exhibits antibacterial properties and current research results into immunomodulatory (modification of the immune system response in the body) activity appear promising.
Instructions for use:
Apply to skin twice daily (morning and evening).
For external use only.
Do not apply to broken skin.
KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.
References:
1. Hutchings, A. (1996). Zulu Medicinal Plants. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg, 326-
327.
2. Van der Watt, E. & Pretorius, J.C. (2000). Purification and identification of active antibacterial
components in Carpobrotus edulis (L.) L. Bol. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 76, 87-91.
3. Springfield, E.P., Amabeoku, G., Weitz, F., Mabusela W. & Johnson, Q. (2003). An assessment of two
Carpobrotus species extracts as potential antimicrobial agents. Phytomedicine, 10, 434-439.
4. McGaw, L.J., Jager, A.K. & van Staden, J.V. (2000). Antribacterial, anthelmintic and
antiamoebic activity of South African medicinal plants. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 72(1-
2), 247-263.
5. Ibtissem, B., Abdelly, C., Sfar, S. (2012). Antioxidant and Antibacterial Properties of
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum and Carpobrotus edulis Extracts. Advances in Chemical
Engineering and Science, 2, 359-365.
6. Omoruyi, B.E., Bradley, G., Afolayan, A.J. (2012). Antioxidant and phytochemical properties
of Carpobrotus edulis (L.) bolus leaf used for the management of common infections in
HIV/AIDS patients in Eastern Cape Province. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
12, 215.
7. Mathekga, A.D.M., & Meyer, J.J.M. (1998). Antibacterial activity of South African
Helichrysum species. South African Journal of Botany, 64(5), 293-295.
8. Asekun, O.T., Grierson, D.S., Afolayan, A.J. (2007). Characterization of Essential Oils from
Helichrysum odoratissimum Using Different Drying Methods. Journal of Applied Sciences,
7(7), 1005-1008.
9. Mazimba, O. (2015). Leonotis leonurus: A herbal medicine review. Journal of Pharmacognosy
and Phytochemistry, 3(6), 74-82
10. El-Ansari, M.A., Aboutabl, E.A., Farrag, A.R.H., Sharaf, M., Hawas, U.W., Soliman, G.M., & El-
Seed, G.S. (2009). Phytochemical and pharmacological studies on Leonotis leonurus.
Pharmaceutical Biology, 47(9), 894-902.
11. Imran, S., Suradkar, S. S., & Koche, D.K. (2012). Phytochemical Analysis of Leonotis
nepetifolia (L.) R. BR., a Wild Medicinal Plant of Lamiaceae. Bioscience Discovery, 3(2), 197-
196.
12. Dhawan, N. G., Khan, A.S., & Srivastava, P. (2013). A General Appraisal of Leonotis nepetifolia
(L) R. Br: An Essential Medicinal Plant. Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life
Sciences, 2(8), 118-121.
13. Gurunagarajan, S., Pemaiah, B. (2010). Anti-tumor and antioxidant potentials of ethanolic
extract of Leonotis nepetefolia R. Br. against Ehrlich Ascites carcinoma cell lines. Journal of
Pharmacy Research, 3(12), 2990-2992.
14. Basarkar, U. G., Shinde, V., Gunjal, K. N., Aswale & Adnyal, P. (2013) Antimicrobial activity of
Leonotis nepetaefolia. Medicinal herb Proc. Centenary Session of Indian Science Congress,
Kolkata 2013 (Part II) Abstracts. Pp- 130
15. Narayan, S. S. (2013). Antibacterial potential of crude methanol extract of Leonotis
nepetifolia. International Research Journal of Pharmacy, 3(2), 277-278.
16. Manocha, N., Sharma, V., Samanta, K. C., Dubey, P. K., Saluda, M. (2012) Anti-inflammatory
and anti-rheumatic activity of the chemical constituents of Leonotis nepetifolia capitulum.
Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, 3(2), 73-81.
17. Parra-Delgado, H., Garcia Ruiz, G., Camacho, A. N., & Vazquez-Martinez, M. (2004) Anti
inflammatory activity of some extracts and isolates from Leonotis nepetifolia on TPA-induced
edema model. Journal of the Mexican Chemical Society, 48, 293-295.
18. Kumar, S. and Dash, D. (2012) Flora of Nanadan Kan Sancturay; Medicinal plants with their
role in Health care. Inter. J. Pharm. And Life Sc. 3 (4): 1631-1642.
19. Tsukamoto, H., Hisada, S., Nishibe, S. (1983). Ligans from Bark of the Olea Plants. Chemical
and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 32(7), 2730-2735.
20. Tsukamoto, H., Hisada, S., Nishibe, S. (1985). Coumarin and Secoiridoid Glucosides from Bark
of Olea africana and Olea capensis. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 33(1), 396-399.