Devil's Claw Products
The ancient healers of the San People of the Kalahari Desert have been using the Devil’s Claw plant for centuries. Here at Indigo Herbs we have a growing number of African ingredients and are very happy to add the popular Devil’s Claw to our extensive range. These three high quality products; Devil’s Claw Powder, Devil’s Claw Tincture and Devil’s Claw Tea are all premium class Harpagophytum procumbens ingredients that have come from sustainable sources in South Africa. Please see below on how each of these Devil’s Claw products can be utilised.
The San Bushman of the Kalahari are a prototypical nomadic hunter/gatherer group who might be the closest representation of the very first humans on Earth. Their knowledge of the very harsh inhospitable Kalahari Desert is second to none. They claim no ownership on the land that they wander through which also serves them as the provider of all they need. The Devil’s Claw root is an integral part of their lives and is used as tonic for a great many problems both topical and internal. It has been observed by anthropologists that hardly any of the San Bushman are seen to have a limp or bad joints. It has been stipulated that this might be because of the amount of Devil’s Claw root that each tribe ingests. In 1907 a German colonial solider, G.H. Mehnert was taught by the San Bushman some of the properties of the Devil’s Claw. Mehnert then spent the next 40 years investigating the properties of the Devil’s Claw which soon became very popular in Europe. We must thank the San Bushman for this gift from the Kalahari Desert which is now used by many people across the world.
The Devil’s Claw is a very hardy desert plant which grows or crawls across the ground. The creeping fronds can reach up to 2 meters in length and produce opposite leaves with purple flowers. The spiny fruits are where this plant gets its name and are very thorny clinging to the hoofs of grazing animals which then distribute the seeds from the clinging fruits. Most of the Medicinal uses of this plant come from the secondary root system that grow from the primary root. The Devil’s Claw has adapted to drought conditions by storing a lot of moisture and nutrients in these secondary roots which can become very bulbous and swollen. The San bushman then harvest these bulbous roots and make them into a tea.