Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Harpagophytum procumbens
Family: Pedaliaceae
Part used: Root (secondary tuber)
Taste: Very bitter
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Drying

No pre-1900 source found for this reading.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Avoid — traditional oxytocic activity at higher doses

While breastfeeding

Insufficient lactation data; avoid during breastfeeding as precaution.

For children

Not well-studied in children; use only under practitioner guidance

Cautions

GI upset (bitter) — take with food; may worsen gastritis/GERD; bitter may aggravate peptic ulcer

General contraindications

Active peptic ulcer; gallstones (stimulates bile); duodenal obstruction

Stewardship

Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) is wild-harvested in Namibian Kalahari; Namibian herbal export is economically important. Choose fair-trade certified. Stewardship: the African medicinal trade is a justice issue — source matters to the land and to the people.

In the traditional record

Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) — used by the Khoisan, San, and Damara peoples of southern Africa for centuries as a remedy for joint pain, dyspepsia, and fevers; introduced to Western materia medica in the early 20th century and documented in the Commission E and ESCOP Monographs as a digestive bitter and anti-inflammatory.

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.