About Bulbine Natalensis
Bulbine Natalis is a naturally growing perennial plant which is indigenous to South Africa.
Bulbine Natalis has been used for thousands of years by Zulu men and it’s safety has been established through ‘traditional use’.
The Medicines Control Council regards traditional herbs that are well known as ‘safe to use, unless proven otherwise’.
Traditional African medicines abound in the world market, such as Aloe ferox used in Swedish Bitters, Buchu which is used as a natural diuretic and even flavoured ‘Diet Coke’, Irvingia gabonensis which is used as a weight loss supplement and many more.
All of these herbs were discovered through their ‘traditional use’ by generations of users without any reported negative side effects. Some other African herbs that have been safely taken as supplements in the global marketplace are Fadogia, Massularia, Sutherlandia, Griffonia (5HTP), Hoodia and several others.
In a recent study Bulbine Natalis was shown to increase testosterone levels in rats by as much as 350%.
The following abstract outlines the primary research article that
shows Bulbine’s ability to enhance testosterone production:
Anabolic and androgenic activities of Bulbine natalensis stem in male Wistar rats.
Yakubu MT, Afolayan AJ.
Centre for Phytomedicine Research, Department of Botany, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.
Aqueous extract of Bulbine natalensis Baker (Asphodelaceae) stem at 25, 50 and
100 mg/kg body weight was investigated for anabolic and androgenic effects in
male Wistar rats.
Sixty male rats were grouped into four (A-D) consisting of 15 each.
Group A (control) was orally treated with 0.5 mL of distilled water for 14 days
while groups B, C and D were treated like the control except they received 0.5
mL containing 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively.
All the doses of the extract increased (P <0.05) the testicular-body weight ratio
as well as alkaline phosphatase activity, glycogen, sialic acid, protein, and
cholesterol content of the testes except the single administration of 100 mg/kg
body weight which compared well (P>0.05) with the controls for glycogen and
cholesterol.
The testicular and serum testosterone concentration were increased except in the
100 mg/kg body weight where the effect on the tissue and serum hormone did not
manifest until after the first and seven daily doses respectively.
Testicular acid phosphatase activity, serum follicle stimulating and luteinizing
hormone concentrations also increased at all the doses except in the 100 mg/kg
body weight where the effect on the enzyme and the hormone did not manifest
until after seven days.
The increases were most pronounced in the 50 mg/kg body weight extract treated
animals. The results indicate anabolic and androgenic activities of Bulbine
natalensis stem in male rat testes with the 50 mg/kg body weight of the extract
exhibiting the highest anabolizing and androgenic activities.
These activities further support the folkloric use of the plant most especially
at 50 mg/kg body weight in the management of male sexual dysfunction in South
Africa.