Pelargonium

Pelargonium sidoides is a small and humble shrub that grows abundantly in the sun warmed, stony soil of the South African Eastern Cape and Lesotho grasslands. Known locally by its common name, African geranium, it can be found nestled beneath tall grasses and aromatic floral neighbours on coastal slopes. The small indigenous herb has soft, velvety textured grey-green leaves and dark magenta coloured flowers.

This insignificant looking plant however contains a treasure trove of medicinal compounds and has been part of local healing practices for millennia. Pelargonium is an example of nature’s immune boosting and pathogen fighting power. It is celebrated as Afrigetics Botanicals’ flagship commercial herb.

The original hunter gatherer inhabitants of Southern Africa, the Koi-San, knew of this herb and used it for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. Knowledge of the small bush later fell into the hands of the Cape Dutch colonists, who christened it Rooirabas, perhaps for its red tinted tuberous roots. Herdsmen dubbed the plant “Kalverbossie”, meaning ‘calf bush’ and used the woody twisted underground rhizomes to treat stomach complaints in their animals. It served in Cape herbal medicine as a tonic for weakness, fatigue and in the treatment of gonorrhoea.

The ethnobotanical potential of African Geranium was brought to Europe in the early 1900’s after a young explorer called Charles Henry Stevens was treated in South Africa for his pulmonary tuberculosis by a local healer. A bitter tea made of the roots of the plant drove his illness into remission. He then used the Umckaloabo herb to develop “Stevens’ Consumption Cure” and marketed it in England. It wasn’t until the 1970’s, well after Steven’s death that the plant ingredient of his remedy was identified as Pelargonium. In the 1990’s, a German drug manufacturer, Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, developed a highly popular herbal cough syrup

called “Umckaloabo” containing liquid extract Eps7630. In 2006, this company sold more than EUR80 million of this pelargonium based product. The drug is listed in the European and African Pharmacopoeia and has European approval as a herbal medicine and food supplement. Schwabe’s withdrawal of the patents for this medicine in 2010 has allowed other pharmaceutical companies to follow suit and explore the potential of this natural remedy.

Afrigetics Botanicals recognises the immense value in South Africa’s indigenous medicinal plants and works in partnership with KP Botanicals to provide a sustainable long-term supply of wild harvested Pelargonium.

Currently P. sidoides is listed on the Red Data List of South Africa’s species as of ‘least concern’, they state that less than 5% of the local population is being impacted by harvesting (Red Data List, 2017). Even so, strict controls by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs require collectors to obtain a bioprospecting licence. Within the constraints of the Biodiversity Act, KP Botanicals identifies areas of wild cultivation and trains harvesters in rural areas to identify and collect the Pelargonium. Care is taken to prevent overharvesting of the underground tuberous roots and so to provide a supply for posterity, protect the herb from extinction and to provide an ongoing livelihood for local collectors. Many of the collectors subcontracted by KP Botanicals are elderly members in their communities with rich traditional knowledge of indigenous plants.

Harvesters actively propagate the plant material as it is collected, by breaking off aerial shoots and replanting the cuttings. They leave the deeper, more mature roots in the soil, to allow for rapid regrowth after harvesting. In addition to supplementing their income, and under the stipulations of the Biodiversity Act, local collectors and land owners profit from a benefit sharing agreement where a rand value of their harvest is paid into a government controlled ‘Bioprospecting Trust Fund’ for distribution within the community. Afrigetics Botanicals recognises that despite its best efforts, currently

well managed wild stocks may be subject to depletion in the future and are actively working with the University of Stellenbosch towards refining a cultivation system for P. sidoides. Plant breeding practices will be used to identify cultivars with the highest levels of active ingredients and grow these on specialized farms in the Eden District using ecological cultivation methods.

With this aim in mind, our partners have entered into a benefit sharing agreement with the indigenous communities of Southern Africa who harvest our herbs through a network of 350 families.

Furthermore, as licensed collaborators of a bioprospectors permit, we are poised to continue unlocking the potential of Africa’s Green Gold, for many years to come.