This book has been written as a way of documenting the research results done by the authors and other researchers over years on the African Garcinia plants. Generally, the book is based on the area of academic training of the authors, which is the organic chemistry and in particular, the Chemistry of Natural Products.

This book has been arranged in four chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of the Garcinia plant species growing in Tanzania, a country of domicile of the authors of this book. Furthermore, the localities in Tanzania where the plants are collected are included together with the basic features of some Garcinia plants growing in Tanzania.

Chapter two is devoted to the ethnobotanical information on the genus Garcinia whereby general botanical description of a Garcinia plant is given. In addition, the traditional uses (ethnopharmacological information) of Garcinia plants growing in Africa are included in a tabular form.

Chapter three is committed to the pharmacological activities of African Garcinia plants. This includes the biological activities on various crude extracts and compounds from African Garcinia plants, including antibacterial, antimalarial, cytotoxic, antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral activities. The table included in this chapter contains biological activities of extracts from 13 African Garcinia plant species tested either in vitro or in vivo for various microorganisms. Furthermore, the structures (1-40) of some biologically active compounds are presented.

Chapter four deals with the phytochemistry of African Garcinia plants, from which over 100 natural product compounds have been isolated. The major classes of compounds reported being benzophenones, flavonoids, triterpenoids and xanthones. In this chapter, it has been revealed that G. kola which is reported to grow in many West and Central African countries is the most studied plant among the African Garcinia species both pharmacologically and phytochemically points of view.

Phytochemists (researchers and postgraduate students). Other groups are pharmacologists, microbiologists, foresters and botanists as well as pharmaceutical industries.