Conservation status, traditional uses and pharmacological aspects of selected indigenous plants of Eswatini for potential use in functional and nutraceutical beverages

Eswatini has a wide diversity of potentially useful indigenous plants for beverage production. Warburgia salutaris (pepper bark), Siphonochilus aethiopicus (African ginger), Athrixia phylicoides (bush tea), Lippia javanica (lemon bush or fever tea) and Artemisia affra (African wormwood) are common indigenous plants with a great potential in the production of functional and nutraceutical beverages, as they provide food and are used for traditional medicine.
In light of the changing health and economic landscape, there is a significant opportunity to harness indigenous plants for beverages, given the growing interest in the role of functional foods in the global health sector.
Therefore, developing industrial products such as beverages and other nutraceuticals may reduce threats to most plants, thereby promoting sustainable use.
This review highlights five common indigenous plants of Eswatini with potential for nutraceutical beverages, drawing on their traditional uses, phytochemical composition, pharmacological properties, and conservation status.
Furthermore, the importance of sustainable biodiversity use and management throughout commercialisation is addressed.

IV International Symposium on Beverage Crops

P.C. Carmichael, K.A. Nxumalo, M.Z. Zikalala, M.P. Ngwenya, G.D. Crispin, V.S. Vilane, G.F. Sibandze

biodiversity, phytochemical composition, pharmacological properties, traditional medicine, indiginous plants

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2026.1466.37