Abstract
Allophylus africanus P.Beau P. Beauv. (Sapindaceae) is a shrub or small tree widely distributed across Africa, whose leaves are predominantly used in traditional medicine. This systematic review with narrative synthesis (SWiM) assessed its ethnobotanical uses and its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antisickling potential. A systematic review covering the period from 2000 to 2025 was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, with the search process described according to PRISMA-S principles. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched, while ResearchGate and the reference lists of relevant publications were used as supplementary sources. Studies specifically investigating A. africanus and reporting ethnobotanical, phytochemical, pharmacological, or toxicological data were included. Owing to the heterogeneity of the experimental models, extracts, doses, and the lack of dispersion data, the findings were synthesized without meta-analysis using an approach informed by the Synthesis Without Metaanalysis (SWiM) guidelines. Leaves were the most extensively studied plant part, and the reported traditional uses mainly concerned pain, inflammation, rheumatism, wounds, ulcers, and certain infectious or gastrointestinal disorders. Flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, terpenes, phytosterols, fatty acids, tocotrienols, and peptide alkaloids predominated in the chemical profile. Three studies supported anti-inflammatory activity, including two animal studies and one mechanistic in vitro study. Five studies reported antioxidant activity, including one study of an isolated tocotrienol, with marked variation according to plant part, extraction solvent, and experimental protocol. No primary study directly evaluated antisickling activity. The certainty of evidence was low to very low because of the small number of studies, heterogeneity, indirectness, and reporting deficiencies. The available evidence supports the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of A. africanus but does not allow either a pooled quantitative estimate or a clinical conclusion. Its antisickling activity remains a research hypothesis and should not be presented as established.
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