The African Hoodia "Cactus"

The Hoodia for a long time, has been incorrectly mistaken a cactus. It is rather a leafless succulent plant coming from family Apocynaceae. It has large flesh-colored flowers with thorns along its finger-like stems. The flowers carry an odorous smell which attracts flies to lay their legs inside and in effect pollinates the plant.

The Hoodia is native to Africa, which shelters around 13 species of the Hoodia family. It matures in 7 years and thrives in African places found to be with the highest temperatures. Although the plant occurs in various parts of the continent, they are found to be most abundant in South Africa and Namibia, where they thrive in large areas in numbers.

The plant plays a significant role in the culture of Africa. Since time immemorial, the plant had been used by the indigenous African tribes as food, although not at the top for preferred items for consumption. Despite the difficulty in propagating the plant in an unnatural environment and the smell its flowers bring, the Hoodia has been popular for horticultural purposes because it is a very striking plant. It is then grown in African homes as garden plants.

Records have shown that Africans believed that the plant contains medicinal purposes. In fact, it is used as alternative cure for the ordinary illnesses such as severe abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids and indigestion to the more extreme cases like hypertension, tuberculosis and diabetes. One of the amazing discoveries of its medicinal effect is that one of the species, Hoodia gordonii, has shown to contain elements that aid in weight loss to cure obesity.

In some parts of Africa, the Hoodia is a protected plant. Prospective Hoodia growers and sellers then, before commencing business, are required to register and obtain a permit. In fact, after the rage began over one of the Hoodia species, the Hoodia gordonii, which is believed to contain powerful elements for weight loss, African countries like Namibia, Botswana and South Africa have requested that all other species of the plant be protected. It is because exploiters might be mistaken that the other Hoodia species is the Hoodia gordonii.

The first use of the Hoodia gordonii as a thirst and hunger suppressant is credited to the San Bushmen of the African Kalahari Desert who eat the plant to help them ward-off feelings of starvation and thirst during long hunting trips and famines. They eat the plant fresh by cutting a part of the stem and shaving off the thorns from it. Because of the high demand of the Hoodia gordonii in the West, especially in the United States, the once impoverished San Bushmen natives, estimated to be totaling 90,000 are fortunate to be digging up a secret goldmine. The high demand for their native hoodia is believed to be the answer to their economic improvement as a people.