Translating South African plant ethnobotanical reports into evidence-based data for neuroscience drug discovery: Low resource research environment screening tool

South-African plants are rich in phytocompounds that could be a source of novel therapies for neurological disorders. The aim of this study was to validate a 5-step screening process in a resource-constrained research environment. The process was used to translate anecdotal and ethnobotanical reports into evidence-based data for lead discovery. The plant families of Apocynaceae (Gomphocarpus fruticosus), Lauraceae (Ocotea bullata), Melianthaceae (Bersama lucens), and Meliaceae (Ekebergia capensis) were selected from our database [ 1 ]. During phase-1, selected plant families (one plant/family) were subjected to a qualitative phytochemical and elemental analysis. Subsequently, chromatographic fingerprinting (Phase-2) and computational analysis (Phase-3) followed. Calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) were present in all plant families, while magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P) were undetectable in the lauraceae and meliaceae families, respectively. Flavonoids, phenolics, alkaloids, and terpenoids were present in all plant families. Furthermore, subsequent flavonoids (luteolin, quercetin, and rutin) and phenolics (6-Gingerol, chlorogenic acid and kaempferol) were confirmed by chemical fingerprinting in the apocynaceae and meliaceae families. The presence of macrominerals has been linked to better brain health. Additionally, phenolics, flavonoids, and alkaloids are known to have neuroprotective and neuromodulation potential. The results indicate the robustness of the screening process in generating preliminary data for the selection of the most promising plant family for the discovery of neuroscience drugs in low-resource research settings. Further studies are necessary using diseased neurological models in vitro (Phase-4) and in vivo (Phase-5) to complete the validation of the screening process and the comprehensive translation of ethnobotanical reports into evidence-based data. Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany