Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The African cherry (Prunus Africana): From hoe-handles to the international Herb Market

La Cerise Africaine (Prunus Africana): Du Manche De Houe Au Marche International D’herbes

  • Published:
Economic Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

I studied the uses of the African cherry (Prunus africana) by four ethnic groups who live near the Kilum-Ijim Forest Preserve on Mount Oku, Cameroon. Prunus africana is valued for its timber, which is used for tool handles and for fuel, and it is an important wildlife food. However, its greatest value is for traditional medicines. Healers use the bark and leaves to treat more than 30 human ailments and several animal diseases and it is the most important plant used in their practices. This study is the first to document this importance, particularly for animal medicines. I also examined the growing worldwide herbal use to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. Market demand has caused resource depletion and an erosion of traditional resource protection practices. Preservation of the species will depend on sustainable harvesting methods and on cultivation.

Résumé

J’ai etudié I’emploi de la cerise africaine (Prunus africana) par quatre groupes ethniques residant prés de la préserve forestiére Kilum-Ijim surle Mont Oku, au Cameroun. Prunus africana est prisé pour son bois, qui est utilisé pour fabriquer des manches d’outils, et comme combustible. C’est également un aliment important pour la faune sauvage. Pourtant, sa plus grande valeur est dans la medecine traditionnelle. Les guerisseurs en utilisent l’écorce et les feuilles pour trailer plus de 30 maladies humaines et plusieurs maladies animates; c’est la plante la plus importante utilisée dans leurs cures. Cette étude est la premiére á documenter cette importance, particuliérement dans le domaine des médicaments pour les animaux. J’ai aussi examiné son usage mondial croissant comme traitement de I’hypertrophie bénigne de la prostate. La demande économique a causé une dépletion des ressources et une érosion des pratiques traditionnelles de protection des ressources. La préservation de cette espéce exigera des méthodes de moisson soutenables ainsi que la cultivation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Awang, D.V.C. 1997. Saw palmetto, African prune and stinging nettle for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal, November 1997:37–40, 43–44, 62.

  • Bassi, P., W. Artibani, V. DeLuca, F. Zattoni, and A. Lembo. 1987. Standardized extract ofPygeum africanum in the treatment of benign prostatic hypertophy. Minerva Urology Nefrology 39(l):45–50.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balick, M. J., and R. Mendelsohn. 1992. Assessing the economic value of traditional medicines from tropical rain forests. Conservation Biology 6(1): 128–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, N., A. B. Cunningham, C. Morrow, and E. H. Harley. 1994. A preliminary investigation into the use of RAPD to assess the genetic diversity of a threatened African tree species:Prunus africana. Strelitzia 1:221–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartsch, G., R. S. Rittmaster, and H. Klocker. 2000. Dihydrotestosterone and the concept of 5-alpha-reductase inhibition in human benign prostatic hyperplasia. European Urology 37(4):367–380.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett B. C, and J. R. Hicklin. 1998. Uses of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens, Arecaceae) in Florida. Economic Botany 52:381–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berges, R. R., J. Windeler, H. J. Trampisch, and T. H. Senge. 1995.Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of #x03B2;-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Lancet 345(8964): 1529–1532.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bombardelli, E., and P. Morazzoni. 1997.Primus africana (Hook, f.) Kalkm. Fitoterapia 68:205–218.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breza, J., O. Dzurny, A. Borowka,T. Hanus, R. Petrik, G. Blane, and H. Chadha-Boreham. 1998. Efficacy and acceptability of Tedenan (Pygeum africanum extract) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH): a multicenter trial in central Europe. Current Medical Research Opinion 14(3):127–139.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brevoort, P. 1998. The booming U.S. Herb Market. HerbalGram 44:33–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browder, J. O. The limits of extractivism. Bioscience 42(3): 174-182.

  • Catalano, S., M. Gerretti, A. Marsili, and I. Morelli. 1984. New constituents ofPrunus africana bark extract. Journal of Natural Products 47(5):910–911.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collar, N. J., and S. N. Stuart, eds. 1985. Threatened birds of Africa and related islands. Pages 182-187 in The ICPB/IUCN Red Data Book 1985, InternationalCouncil on Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbet, G. B., and J. E. Hill. 1991. A world list of mammalian species. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R., H. E. Daly, and J. A. Bartholomew. 1994. Goals, agenda, and policy recommendations for ecological economics. Pages 1–19 in Costanza, R., ed. Ecological economics: the science and management of sustainability. Columbia University Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulthard, N., J. DeMarco, S. Edwards, A. Gardner, and M. Nurse. 1995. Five Year Project Planning Document (for the period 1995–2000). Unpublished report prepared for the Kilum-Ijim Mountain Forest Projects.

  • Cunningham, A. B. 1991. Development of a conservation policy on commercially exploited medicinal plants: a case study from southern Africa. Pages 337–358 in O. Akerele, V. Heywood, and H. Synge, eds., The conservation of medicinal plants. Proceedings of an International Conference 21-27 March 1988 at Chiang Mai Thailand. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • -. 1996. People, park and plant use: recommendations for multiple-use zones and development alternatives around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. People and Plants Working Paper 4. UNESCO, Paris.

  • -,and F. T. Mbenkum. 1993. Sustainability of harvestingPrunus africana bark in Cameroon: a medicinal plant in international trade. People and Plants Working Paper 2. UNESCO, Paris.

  • -,and U. Schippmann. 1997. Trade inPrunus africana and the implementation of CITES. Results of the R+D Project 808 05 080. Bonn, Germany: German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.

  • -,E. Ayuk, S. Franzel, B. Duguma, and C. Asanga. 2002. An economic evaluation of medicinal tree cultivation:Prunus africana in Cameroon. People and Plants Working Paper 10. UNESCO, Paris.

  • Dawson, I. K. 1997.Prunus africana: how agroforestry can help save an endangered medicinal tree. Agroforestry Today 9:5–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeSmet, P. A. G. M. 1999. Heavenly herbs and earthy ailments: Africa as efhnopharmacological treasury. HerbalGram 47:52–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisiy, C. F. 1994. The death of a myth system: land colonization on the slopes of Mount Oku, Cameroon. Pages 12–20 in Bakema, R. J., ed., Land tenure and sustainable land use. Agricultural Development Section. Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fotso, R. C, and J. R. Parrott. 1991. Ecology and breeding biology of the Bannerman’s Turaco,Tauraco bannermanii. Bird Conservation International 1:171–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fourneau, C,R. Hocquemiller, and A Cavé. 1996. Triterpenes fromPrunus africana bark. Phytochemistry 42(5): 1387–1389.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, P. J., J. R. Healy, M. Cheek, and N. Ndam. 1996. Seedling Identification. Pages 1–11 in A strategy for the conservation ofPrunus africana on Mount Cameroon. Technical Papers and Workshop Proceedings, 21 and 22 February, 1996. Unpublished Report Mount Cameroon Project, Limbe, Cameroon.

  • Goheen, M. 1992. Chiefs, sub-chiefs and local control: negotiations over land, struggles over meaning. Journal of the International African Institute 62(3):389–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimes, A., S. Loomis, P. Jahnige, M. Burnham, K. Onthank, R. Alarcon, W. Palacios Cuenca, C. Ceron Martinez, D. Neill, M. Balick, B. Bennett, and R. Mendelsohn. 1994. Valuing the rain forest: the economic value of nontimber forest products in Ecuador. Ambio 23(7):405–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruenwald. J., and K. Buttle. 1996. The European phytotherapeutics market: figures, trends and analyses. Drugs made in Germany 39:6–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P., and K. Bawa. 1993. Methods to assess the impact of extraction of non-timber tropical forest products on plant populations. Economic Botany 47(3):234–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, R., and A. Moore. 1991. A complete checklist of the birds of the world. 2nd ed. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, H. F.,and L. C. Westley. 1986. Ecology of pollination and seed dispersal. Pages 185–215 6 in Crawley, M.J., ed., Plant Ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, S. n. d. Medicinal plants of the Limbe Botanic Garden. Publication of the Mount Cameroon Project.

  • ICRAF. 2000. Analysis of the U.S. market opportunities ofPygeum. Unpublished report prepared for the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry.

  • Ishani, A., R. MacDonald, D. Nelson, I. Rutkis, and T. J. Wilt. 2000.Pygeum africanum for thetreatment of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis. American Journal of Medicine 109(8):564–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson, C. 1993. Dossier onPrunus africana (Hook f.) Kalkm. Roseaceae. Unpublished report prepared for the School of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor.

  • Iwu, M. M. 1996. Resource utilization and conservation of biodiversity in Africa. Pages 233–250 in M.J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky, and S. A. Laird, eds., Medicinal resources of the tropical forest. Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalkman, C. 1965. The old-world species ofPrunus subg. Laurocerasus including those formerly referred toPygeum. Blumea 13(1):1–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klippel K.F., S. M. Hilti, and B. Schipp. 1997. A multicentric, placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol (phytosterol) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. British Journal of Urology 80(3):427–32.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koloss, H. 1992. Kwifon and fon in Oku on kingship in the Cameroon Grasslands. Pages 33–42 in E. Beumers and H.-J. Koloss, eds., Kings of Africa. Foundation Kings of Africa, Maastricht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letouzey, R. 1985. Notice de la carte phytogeotraphique du Cameroun au 1:500,000. Région Afromontagnarde et étage submontagnard. IRA Younde, Cameroun. Institut de la Carte Internationale de la Vegetation, Toulouse, France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longo R., and S. Tira. 1981. Constituents ofPygeum africanum bark. Planta Medica 41:195–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maisels, F., and P. Forboseh. 1999. Phenology of the major tree and shrub species of the Kilum-Ijim forest. Unpublished report prepared for Birdlife International and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for Cameroon.

  • Mbenkum T. F., and C. F. Fisiy. 1992. Ethnobotanical survey of Kilum Mountain Forest. Project 4510. Cameroon Project Report Series No. 1. Unpublished report prepared forthe World Wildlife Fund for Nature.

  • Neba, A. S. 1987. Modern geography of the Republic of Cameroon. 2nd ed. Neba Publishers, Camden, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nkuinkeu, R. 1998. La conservation des plantes medicinales Camerounaises par la culture: les objectifs actuels vises par Plantecam. Pages 35–38 inPrunus: Bulletin Annuel d’Information de Plantecam, Numero 7.

  • Nshom, W., andB. Tabey. 1998. Summary of workshop reports on ethnoveterinary (sic). Unpublished report prepared for the Kilum-Ijim Forest Project.

  • Palmer, E., and N. Pitman. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa. Balkema Publishers, Capetown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pegel, K. H. 1997. The importance of sitosterol and sitosterolin in human and animal nutrition. South African Journal of Science 93:263–268.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, C, A. H. Gentry, and R.O. Mendelsohn. 1989. Valuation of an Amazonian rain forest. Nature 339:655–656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, L., R. L. Primka, C. Berman, G. Vergult, M. Gabriel, M. Pierre-Malice, and B. Gibelin. 1993. Comparison of finasteride (Proscar), a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, and various commercial plant extracts inin vitro andin vivo 5 alphareductase inhibition. The Prostate 22:43–51.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, J. W.,M. J. Balick, and S. A. Laird. 1997. Medicinal plants: can utilization and conservation coexist? Advances in Economic Botany. Volume 12. New York Botanic Garden, Bronx, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, A. J.,I. K. Daw.son, B. Duguma, and Z. Tchoundjeu. 1998. Passing problems: prostate andPrunus. Herbal Gram 43:49–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smits A. P., and E. J. Ploegmakers. 1998. Deadwood in and out of the Kilum Forest: a comparison of dead wood availability and annual offtake. Unpublished report prepared for Birdlife International.

  • Stuart, S. N. 1986. The conservation of the montane forests of Western Cameroon. Cambridge, UK: International Council for Bird Preservation Report.

  • Stewart, K. M. 2001. The commercial bark harvest of the African cherry (Prunus africana) on Mount Oku, Cameroon: effects on traditional uses and population dynamics. Ph.D. dissertation, Florida International University, Miami, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunderland, T., and J. Nkefor. 1996. Conservation through cultivation: a case study of the propagation ofPrunus africana. Pages 68–87 in A strategy for the conservation ofPrunus African on Mount Cameroon. Technical Papers and Workshop Proceedings, 21 and 22 February 1996. Unpublished Report Mount Cameroon Project, Limbe, Cameroon.

  • Sunderland, T. C, and C. T. Tako. 1999. The exploitation ofPrunus africana on the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. Unpublished report prepared for the People and Plants Initiative, WWF-Germany, and the IUCN/SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group.

  • Tyler, V. E. 1994. Herbs of choice: the therapeutic use of phytomedicinals. Pharmaceutical Products Press, Binghamton, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, F. 1983. The vegetation of Africa. UNESCO Natural Resources Research 20:1–356.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilt, T.J., A. Ishani, G. Stark, R. MacDonald, J. Lau, and C. Mulrow. 1998. Saw palmetto extracts for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Journal of the American Medical Association 280: 1604–1609.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Kristine M. Stewart

    Present address: Keith and Schnars, 6500 North Andrews Avenue, 33309, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, University Park, 33199, Miami, FL

    Kristine M. Stewart

Authors
  1. Kristine M. Stewart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stewart, K.M. The African cherry (Prunus Africana): From hoe-handles to the international Herb Market. Econ Bot 57, 559–569 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2003)057[0559:TACPAF]2.0.CO;2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2003)057[0559:TACPAF]2.0.CO;2

Key Words

Search

Navigation