Nigerian medicinal plants on the road to drug discovery: prospects and challenges

Abstract Many naturally occurring plants in Nigeria have medicinal properties that have long been employed in the traditional treatment or management of various diseases and health conditions. Several of them have also been subjected to scientific evaluations to ascertain and validate their bioactive constituents for activity/efficacy against these diseases/health conditions, while others remain largely unexplored. This review examines the progress of Nigerian medicinal plants along the drug discovery and development pipeline, highlighting their potentials in key therapeutic areas, including anticancer, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and psychotropic activities. Nigerian medicinal plants with scientific evidence of activity within each category are also discussed in terms of their bioactive properties, experimental evidence, and the current stage along the drug development pipeline. Additionally, the critical factors that hinder the progression of these preliminary pharmacological findings into clinically approved therapies, including gaps in drug discovery standardization, preclinical evaluation due to inadequate laboratory equipment, and systemic structures affecting research in Nigeria, are identified. Future research directions are proposed to advance Nigerian medicinal plants in drug discovery. This study highlights the need for a more standardized exploration of herbal medicine, mechanistic studies on bioactive reactions, collaborative efforts between the government and the scientific community, and increased funding to support drug research and development. This narrative review synthesizes ethnopharmacological knowledge and experimental evidence to examine the progress of Nigerian medicinal plants along the drug discovery and development pipeline.