The drinking of an aqueous extract of the bark of Adansonia digitata is used in African traditional medicine as a treatment for sickle cell anaemia. The aqueous and methanolic extracts of the bark, as well as their ether fractions, were incubated with 2% sodium metabisulphite sickled washed HbSS blood samples. The results showed that the extracts possess reversal antisickling properties. However, no inhibitory antisickling activity was observed for any of the extracts when they were incubated with the HbSS blood samples for 6 h prior to deoxygenation by sodium metabisulphite. It is concluded that the low level of reversal activity compared to p-hydroxybenzoic acid and the absence of inhibitory activity in vitro do not justify the use of A. digitata for the prevention of sickling crises. Plant extracts from Zanthoxylum xanthoxyloides [Z. zanthoxyloides] and Cajanus cajan, which are not used by traditional medical practitioners, have been reported to possess both activities in vitro.
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