About: Mkilua
Mkilua is a genus of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Kenya and Tanzania. It contains a single species, Mkilua fragrans. Bernard Verdcourt, the British botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the fragrance (frāgrāns in Latin) of its flowers which smell like lemon. It is commonly called Mkilua Mwitu, Kilua and Kiluwa in Swahili, and Kingade in Digo (and Swahili). Volatile oils extracted from its leaves, flowers, and aerial parts have been reported to be repellent to Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes which are vectors for the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Bioactive molecules extracted from its roots have been reported to have antimicrobial activity in tests with Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus.
