Pedaliaceae · secondary tuber

Devil's claw

Harpagophytum procumbens

Human clinical trialsUse with caution

Southern African tuber mapped to human musculoskeletal-pain trials of harpagoside-containing extracts.

Safety first

Bitter tuber extracts have human osteoarthritis and low-back-pain trials. Ulcer disease, gallstones, and pregnancy are monograph cautions. Wild Kalahari harvest is conservation-sensitive.

Tradition vs trials

Traditional record. Adopted into European phytotherapy; Commission E and ESCOP record it for appetite (bitter) and later for musculoskeletal pain.

Trial literature. RCTs in osteoarthritis and low-back pain report pain-scale changes with specified extracts. Not all commercial products match trial material.

Practical ranges

Educational ranges — not a prescription. Culinary use is not an extract.

dry extract
ESCOP / trial-type adult ranges often provide extracts equivalent to about 50–100 mg harpagoside daily
ESCOP / EMA HMPC — Educational range only — not a prescription. A licensed clinician individualizes product, dose, and duration.

Pregnancy, nursing, children

Pregnancy. Avoid. European monographs advise against use in pregnancy.
Nursing. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
Children. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.

Contraindications

gastric or duodenal ulcer
gallstones (bitter/choleretic caution)
pregnancy

Key interactions

anticoagulants · note
Theoretical bleeding signal; data are limited.
acid-suppressing drugs / ulcers · caution
Bitters increase gastric secretion — ulcer caution in monographs.

Open drug–herb checker