Raphia hookeri G. Mann & H. Wendl (Arecaceae), commonly known as ‘Raffia Palm’ is an underutilized plant native to Africa. Like other palms, it is a good source of medicine with diverse ethnomedicinal and industrial applications. Despite these discernible therapeutic and economic benefits of R. hookeri, the plant remains underutilized, albeit some achievement has been made in this area. Hence, this review highlights the existing scope and knowledge gaps regarding its folkloric uses and phytochemistry with a view to lending credence to its pharmacological properties, particularly in the treatment of diabetes. Information are also provided on its biotechnological applications. Despite the pharmacological significance and ethnomedicinal uses of R. hookeri, a major challenge that persists is the lack of comprehensive data on its phytochemical characterization as well as inadequate information on its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In view of this, the concepts of molecular dynamics and “-omics” (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics etc.) as currently being embraced as modern strategies enhancing translational studies, could find relevance and may provide more comprehensive data supporting the safety profile and therapeutic efficacy of R. hookeri against markers implicated in the pathogenesis and physiological perturbations associated with diseases. These strategies are proposed for adoption in future studies seeking to provide evidence-based data on the therapeutic scope and overall economic benefits of R. hookeri.

Raphia hookeri G.Mann＆H.Wendl（木兰科），俗称“拉菲亚棕榈”，是一种原产于非洲的未充分利用的植物。像其他手掌一样，它是具有多种民族和工业用途的良好药物来源。尽管钩虫具有这些明显的治疗和经济利益，但该植物的利用仍未得到充分利用，尽管在该领域已取得了一些成就。因此，本综述着重介绍了其民间用途和植物化学方面的现有范围和知识差距，以期证明其药理特性，特别是在糖尿病治疗方面。还提供有关其生物技术应用的信息。尽管R. hookeri具有药理学意义和民族医学用途，持续存在的主要挑战是缺乏有关其植物化学特征的全面数据以及有关其药代动力学和药效学的信息不足。有鉴于此，分子动力学和“-组学”（基因组学，蛋白质组学，代谢组学和转录组学等）的概念目前被视为加强翻译研究的现代策略，可以找到相关性并提供支持安全性的更全面的数据钩端螺旋体抗与疾病相关的发病机制和生理扰动相关的标志物的分子谱和治疗功效。建议将这些策略用于将来的研究中，以期提供有关霍克氏钩虫病的治疗范围和总体经济效益的循证数据。