Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of Mopane (Colophospermum mopane) in Southern African Countries

Mopane (Colophospermum mopane (J. Kirk ex Benth.) J. Léonard) is a monotypic genus of the Fabaceae family. It is widespread in the savanna biome of Southern Africa and prefers clay-rich, alkaline, alluvial, and colluvial shallow soils within an altitudinal range of 300–1000 m above sea level and 400–700 mm annual rainfall. Colophospermum mopane occurs in Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. Different plant parts of C. mopane are known to possess diverse medicinal properties and have been used to treat or manage various human and animal ailments and diseases. Several phytochemical classes and compounds are reported to be present in C. mopane, including alkaloids, coumarins, polyphenols, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, saponins, triterpenes, and diterpenes. Mopane essential oil has been extracted from the aerial parts of the plant and mainly contains α-pinene and limonene, which is responsible for the turpentine odour of the pods. Colophospermum mopane plant extracts possess antibacterial, antiproliferation, anti-protease, and antioxidant activities. Diterpene; dihydrogrindelaldehyde is present in mopane bark and seeds has shown to exhibit significant cytotoxicity against a human breast cancer cell line. This chapter will give insights into the latest literature on C. mopane’s ethnobotanical uses and related Indigenous knowledge practices, and the recent discoveries related to its phytochemistry and pharmacology.