**1. Introduction**

The products of African traditional medicine have been used as the main sources of healthcare for the majority of the population despite the integration of conventional medicine in our healthcare system according to the West Africa Health Organization.

Traditional medicine is crucial for primary health care and in this chapter, we will focus on a particular plant specimen which has a therapeutic potential in the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic due to its phytochemicals constituents.

One such plant with an extensive use in herbal medicine is *Annona muricata*.

*Annona muricata* is a tropical medicinal plant which is recognized for its utility in many diseases such as malaria and cancer. These plants are natural sources of antiinflammatory, and anti-cancer agents.

It belongs to the annonaceae family and also known as guanabana, soursop and graviola.

The management of various health conditions in west Africa such as food borne disease, malaria worm infections, bacterial infections, has been supported by herbal medicine for ages since people have limited access to modern medicine in developing countries. These plants are widely distributed worldwide especially in west Africa and have helped people into the preservation of health for decades.

In Cameroon, central African region, there is a rich biodiversity with almost 9000 plant species, some of which are commonly used to treat microbial infections and some other diseases as malaria, diabetes, and parasitic infections.

*Annona* plant species are widely studied for their biological activities including anti-tumor, anti-parasitic, and anti-microbial properties.

In this chapter, we are going to describe the botany, local distribution, the phytochemicals, and finally the potential uses of *Annona muricata* in the current COVID 19 pandemic.
