Making African plant knowledge accessible to everyone

PlantLens curates phytochemical data, local names and traditional uses for African plants, starting with Nigeria, backed by scientific research and open databases.

Why PlantLens exists

  • Preserve traditional knowledge

    Document the ethnobotanical knowledge shared across Africa's diverse communities.

  • Bridge science and tradition

    Connect traditional plant uses with phytochemical research and published sources.

  • Open access for all

    Make plant data freely available to researchers, students and curious minds.

  • Community-driven

    Bring together botanical research and knowledge rooted in communities across Africa.

Portrait of Deborah Fabusuyi

Meet the curator

Deborah Fabusuyi

Plant biology graduate · Frontend engineer

Deborah studied Plant Biology at the University of Ilorin, where her final-year research in ethnobotany looked at the chemistry of mango leaf, Mangifera indica. She now builds for the web as a frontend engineer, and PlantLens is where the two meet.

PlantLens is curated, not original research. Deborah gathers what databases and published studies already say about African plants, checks local names against their sources, rewrites it in plain language, and credits every claim back to the researchers who did the work.

  • B.Sc. Plant Biology, University of Ilorin
  • Ethnobotany
  • Frontend engineering

What Powers PlantLens

Every data point is sourced from phytochemical databases, ethnobotanical research and published literature.

curated plants
20
phytochemicals
58
local languages
12
research citations
128
  1. 01

    Source

    We draw from NMPPDB, Dr. Duke's database and published ethnobotanical literature.

  2. 02

    Normalize

    Plant names, compounds and uses are cleaned, cross-referenced and standardized.

  3. 03

    Review

    Entries are checked against their cited sources, with evidence and context kept alongside the data.

PlantLens is not medical advice. It documents traditional uses and research findings, not what you should take. Consult a healthcare professional before using any plant as treatment, especially during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or while taking medication.