The American Botanical Council (ABC) welcomes Afrigetics Botanicals’ adoption of the South African herb bulbine (Bulbine natalensis, Xanthorrhoeaceae) through ABC’s Adopt-an-Herb botanical research and education program.

Afrigetics Botanicals’ adoption supports ABC’s extensive HerbMedPro database, ensuring that this unique research and educational resource remains up to date for researchers, health professionals, industry members, students, consumers, and other members of the herbal and dietary supplements and natural medicine communities.

HerbMedPro is a comprehensive, interactive online database that provides access to important scientific and clinical research data on the uses and health effects of more than 265 herbs, spices, and medicinal plants.

Afrigetics Botanicals’ mission is to commercialize African medicinal plants. According to Steve Hurt, CEO and sales director of Afrigetics Botanicals, more than 3,000 medicinal plant species are used in southern Africa, but only a limited number of those, including rooibos (Aspalathus linearis, Fabaceae), devil’s claw (Harpagophytum spp., Pedaliaceae), pelargonium (Pelargonium sidoides, Geraniaceae), and sceletium (Sceletium tortuosum, Aizoaceae), are used in products in the U.S.

Hurt hopes the adoption of B. natalensis will help introduce the plant to the North American market and encourage additional scientific studies on its potential medicinal benefits. “In my opinion, as it appears to me from the trade shows I’ve been to and the people with whom I’ve spoken, ABC is the authority on herbs and herbal medicine in the United States,” Hurt said. “So, we thought that ABC would be a good partner to work with.” He added that B. natalensis may be a promising ingredient for bodybuilding and fitness enthusiasts because stem extracts of the plant have been shown to increase testosterone levels in animal models. Human studies are needed, however.

Stefan Gafner, PhD, ABC’s chief science officer, said: “We are grateful to Afrigetics Botanicals for its adoption of Bulbine natalensis. The African continent has a rich history of medicinal plant use, and a large number of these plants are relatively unknown to the Western world. The adoption allows us to make the science behind Bulbine natalensis easily accessible and introduce this plant to a larger audience in the United States and elsewhere.”

Bulbine natalensis is a perennial evergreen in the same plant family (Xanthorrhoeaceae) as aloe (Aloe vera). The medicinal uses of Bulbine species, including B. natalensis, generally resemble those of aloe. Traditionally, the leaf gel of B. natalensis has been used to treat wounds, burns, rashes, itches, ringworm, and cracked lips. In addition, root preparations have been used in local healing traditions for vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, venereal diseases, diabetes, and rheumatism.

In an animal study, male rats that were given an aqueous extract of B. natalensis stem exhibited increased testosterone levels, but more evidence is needed to support the traditional use of the plant to treat male sexual dysfunction. In a separate study on pigs, wounds that were treated with either B. natalensis or B. frutescens leaf gels improved significantly compared to untreated wounds. In a third study on rats, an extract of B. natalensis leaves demonstrated antiplatelet aggregation activity.