Karoo Hoodia

Hoodia gordonii Information

Information about Hoodia gordonii

Hoodia gordonii is a leafless spiny succulent plant (not a cactus) with fleshly finger-like Hoodia stems. Rows of thorns are present along the stems, bearing flesh colored flowers. The strong smell of decaying meat, attract flies to the flowers and by laying their eggs inside, they pollinate them. Hoodia gordonii contains an (when extracted, patented molecule) active ingredient, P57.

Hoodia reduces the appetite by fooling the brain into thinking that it has eaten and sending the signals to the body that it is full. This results in eating smaller portions of food and curbing of appetite in general.

Hoodia species occur in summer rainfall areas in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa as well as winter rainfall areas in Namibia (MET 2002). Only one species if found east of 26 degrees longitude, i.e. H. currorii subsp. lugardii, which occurs in Botswana and the Limpopo province of South Africa. The centers of diversity for Hoodia are in Namibia (11 taxa) and South Africa (9 taxa).

Although the genus Hoodia is widespread in Southern Africa, herbarium records indicate that Hoodia gordonii only occurs in South Africa and Namibia. ***Any claims about other areas of Hoodia gordonii distribution should be verified by a competent taxonomist.

Hoodia gordonii is a natural plant that takes 5 years to mature, it hasn't been cultivated until very recently (early 2004) so there's not much of it about, which makes it expensive when there, is a lot of demand for it. Take into account the long lasting draught and the bio-piracy that have greatly affected the wild supply and it becomes understandable why there is only a limited supply of real South African Hoodia gordonii on the market.

Most Hoodia gordonii material currently on the market is harvested by farm owners whom are licensed by the Western Cape Nature Conservation. The increased Hoodia gordonii supply might help to rid the market of the many fake products currently being sold. People who are uninformed will easily buy either the diluted Hoodia product or the fake ones currently being distributed on a global scale. Sadly many of the vendors selling the fake product is so well marketed that they just keep on selling the material without any loss to their swindling income. This means that the scammers who just want to make money by tapping the new-found Hoodia boom are going to use small quantities of real Hoodia gordonii blended with either Oppuntia, Sawdust, Starch, Silica leaves or other non toxic material to cut their costs but still profit from the Hoodia gordonii name.

What alarms us most is that one cannot be guaranteed that only non toxic material is used to stretch the material and as such some standard should be set. Don't be fooled by fake marketing techniques and manipulation when buying, insist on independent referencable analysis!