Harpagophytum procumbens - Devil's claw

الوصف

Description

Devils claw belongs to the Pedaliaceae family and is also known as grapple plant, wood spider, and harpago. It is native to the southern part of the African continent and may be found in the Kalahari Sands of Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Devils claw is a ground trailing, weedy perennial about *8 inches long with a stout central taproot growing up to two meters deep. Secondary storage tubers, resembling elongated sweet potatoes, branch off horizontally. Leaves are large, have **5 lobes, and are covered in white mucilaginous cells, making them appear a grayish-green color. Flowers are trumpet shaped and pink, red, or purple with a yellowish center. The fruit grows from the flower and is woody, radiates numerous long, barbed spines, and gives the plant its commonly known names.





Active Constituents

The major chemical constituents of Harpagophytum are iridoid glycosides (primarily harpagoside, harpagide, and procumbide), sugars (mainly the tetrasaccharide, stachyose), triterpenoids (oleanolic and ursolic acid), phytosterols (primarily beta-sitosterol), aromatic acids (caffeic, cinnamic, and chlorogenic acids), and flavonoids such as luteolin and kaempferol. Harpagoside, harpagide, and procumbide, found in the tubers of the plant, appear to be the most therapeutically important constituents. Secondary storage tubers contain twice as much harpagoside as the tap root. All extracts are not equally effective; whole-plant extracts appear to have a better therapeutic effect than those prepared from isolated parts. A review of clinical trials utilizing H. procumbenspreparations for the treatment of joint and lower back pain found studies utilizing extracts containing ****0 mg harpagoside daily gave more reliable data and were more effective at alleviating pain and improving mobility than extracts with lower amounts.



Extract from Alternative Medicine Review Volume *3, Number 3 ***8