The African Herbal pharmacopoeia, presented by AAMPS, provides comprehensive, up to date botanical, commercial and phytochemical information on over fifty of the most important African medicinal plants. The technical data were made on plant samples sourced from across the continent. These monographs prepared by leading African scientists, have been reviewed by international experts. Additional data include micro morphology of the plant material, distribution maps, HPLC traces and TLC chromatograms of adulterants. These data are crucial for producers, collectors and traders in medicinal plants and extracts as well as researchers, manufacturers and practitioners. The scope, quality and standard of these herbal monographs are comparable to those prepared in Europe, North America and Asia.

Medicinal plants are very important resources for the development of the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and fragrance industry. Over 50% of licensed drugs are of plant origin. Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands regroup around 60 000 of the world’s higher plant species and yet contributes less than 8% of the 1,100 drugs commercialised internationally. The steady loss of its biodiversity (1% compared to a global 0.6%), coupled with the lack of proper written documentation, has resulted in the loss of traditional knowledge - critical to the search for new leads.

This publication comes at a crucial moment in the history of African herbal medicine. Spanning 6 years of the combined efforts of 31 experts in African medicinal plants and herbal medicine, who had one common dream: generate income and employment for all those working in Africa in this sector by unlocking the health potential of African medicinal plants.