Hoodia gordonii

Hoodia gordonii, also known as Bushman's hat, is a leafless spiny succulent plant supposed to have therapeutic properties in folk medicine. It grows naturally in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. The species became internationally known and threatened by collectors, after a marketing campaign falsely claimed that it was an appetite suppressant for weight loss. The flowers smell like rotten meat and are pollinated mainly by flies. The indigenous San people of the Namib desert call this plant ǁhoba (pronounced – the initial sound is a lateral click) – and the Afrikaans name ghaap is used to refer to all species of Hoodia. The genus became internationally known and threatened by collectors, after a marketing campaign falsely claimed that it was an appetite suppressant for weight loss. Folk medicine practitioners indigenous to Southern Africa believed the plant to be an appetite suppressant and to have other medicinal properties, such as treating indigestion and small infections. In 1977, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) isolated the ingredient in hoodia—now known as P57—which may be responsible for its putative appetite-suppressant effect, and patented it in 1996. The CSIR then granted United Kingdom-based Phytopharm a license, and they collaborated with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to isolate active ingredients from the extracts and look into synthesizing them for use as an appetite suppressant. Pfizer released the rights to the primary ingredient in 2002. Paul Hutson, associate professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy, told the Wisconsin State Journal, 'For Pfizer to release something dealing with obesity suggests to me that they felt there was no merit to its oral use.' Pfizer states that development on P57, the active ingredient of hoodia, was stopped due to the difficulty of synthesizing it. Jasjit Bindra, lead researcher for hoodia at Pfizer, states there were indications of unwanted effects on the liver caused by other components, which could not be easily removed from the supplement, adding, 'Clearly, hoodia has a long way to go before it can earn approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Until safer formulations are developed, dieters should be wary of using it.' In 2002, CSIR officially recognized the San tribespeople’s rights over hoodia, allowing them to take a percentage of the profits and any spin-offs resulting from the marketing of hoodia. H. gordonii is a protected plant which may only be wild-harvested by individuals and the few companies which have been granted a license. According to a 2006 review, no published scientific evidence supported hoodia as an appetite suppressant in humans. One review suggested that any weight loss effects from consuming hoodia dietary supplements may simply be secondary symptoms of potentially serious adverse effects that may occur from using it. The United States Federal Trade Commission recommends against the use of such diet products marketed with exaggerated claims for losing body weight through the use of dietary supplements, skin patches or creams. As H. gordonii and the whole genus Hoodia are threatened with extinction if international trade is not monitored, the genus is listed under CITES at Appendix II, and it is illegal to export plant material in any form from Africa without a CITES certificate being issued by proper authorities. In the USA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of Agriculture, and United States Customs and Border Protection regulate the importation and re-exportation of species such as H. gordonii. Current U.S. laws stipulate that not only must a CITES certificate accompany shipments, but also the importers must possess a permit issued by the USDA to import terrestrial plants. A CITES re-export certificate is needed to re-export H. gordonii. The primary testing methods for authenticating H. gordonii are: