Miracle Muti: The Amazing Remedies of Hypoxis Hemerocallidea

Herb Here,

            Zululand is an awesome place so I am extending my exploration here. I have learned of a plant called Hypoxis hermerocallidea, to the Zulu people the plant is called inkomfe. Hypoxis hemerocallidea also goes by the name “the African potato” but this is a misnomer because H. hemerocallidea is a corm not a potato. Corms refer the bulbous part of the plant that is hard, fleshy, mucilaginous, white or yellow-orange in the middle. H. hemercallidea is recognizable by its yellow star shaped flowers and long narrow hairy green leaves. Peak production of the plant is summer to autumn and a great bulk of its production is found in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, although the plant can be found in dry sub-Saharan reasons and parts of South America.

Hypoxis Hemerocallidea Flowers

The medicinal portion of H. hemerocallidea is found in the corm. Traditionally, H. hemerocallidea has been used by Zulu iziNyanga, traditional healers, to remedy urinary tract infections, heart weaknesses, internal tumors, and nervous disorders. H. hemerocallidea was praised for its emetic capabilities. Modern South Africans also call H. hemerocallidea “miracle muti”, (muti being the westernized form of muthi which is the Zulu word for traditional medicines) because of its ability to alleviate immune related ailments like the common cold, the flu, and arthritis. Recently, the South African government is considering H. hemerocallidea as a treatment for HIV/AIDs because it contains hypoxide which converts to rooperol in the stomach; rooperol is a biologically active compound that helps the moderate the immune system. The most common way to ingest H. hemerocallidea is orally in the form of a tea.

Corm of H. hemerocallidea ground up to make tea

H. hemerocallidea represent the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of the Zulu peoples. The position of iziNyanga is based off of knowledge that has been circulating in Zulu society since before the 18^th century. It is the iziNyanga’s job to diagnose an individual’s ailment. In Zulu culture, sickness arises for three reasons: bewitchment by a umthakathi (witch doctor), Imimoya emibi(evil spirit) influence in one’s life, and/ or an amadlozi (ancestor) reminding an individual of an overdue sacrifice. In this way, sickness in Zulu culture is attributed to spiritual deficiency. Emetics, like H. hemerocallidea, are believed to purge the individual of malevolent spirits or maladies.

iziNayanga man

Zulu traditional medicines are gaining a lot of popularity in South Africa, Europe, and the United States with H. hemerocallidea being in the highest demand. First, traditional Zulu herbalists are popular in healthcare for indigenous South African people living in the kwaZulu-natal (Eastern Cape). Researchers like A.P. Dold and M.L. Cocks believe that Zulu herbalists are popular because they are traditional to the indigenous inhabitants and because the ratio of doctors to people in the region is 1:17400.

H. hemerocallidea in Drug Form

Traditional medicines are also increasing in popularity around the world. Dold and Cocks report that the market earns over 270 million annually. H. hemerocallidea has become the most popular herbal medicine in the market being sold over the counter and by the drug Moducare™. Due to its popularity, ecologists and economists alike are worried about the unsustainable methods used to harvest the plant, which is not currently protected by the South African government. The decrease in the plants sustainability represents the globalization of the plant.

Herb on,

Herb (Danielle Radic)

Researching sites: http://www.akita.co.za/mnp/africanpotato.htm

http://www.plantzafrica.com/planthij/hypoxis.htm

http://eprints.ru.ac.za/340/1/sajs_cocks_The_trade_in_medicinal_plants_in_the_Eastern_Cape_Province.pdf

http://www.eshowe.com/article/articlestatic/75/1/21/

http://www.bbg.org.za/tradheal.htm