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Features Reproductive Health A Herbal Associated with Impotence Management to Flavour Yogurt
| A Herbal Associated with Impotence Management to Flavour Yogurt |
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A herbal medicine that is popularly linked with management of impotence problems – mkombelo - may soon be used to flavour yoghurt or purchased in super markets and pharmacists following plans to produce it on large scale.
Mkombelo, a Luhya name meaning desire, is being crushed into a powder form by researchers at International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri). The new product is known as Mondia Tonic and is packed in a 50 grams tin. There are also plans to develop sachets out of it, which could be dropped in a cup of hot or cold liquid or beverages. The venture is hoped to earn communities around the Kakamega forest and beyond more than 29 million shillings by the year 2004. It will also help to conserve a herb that is very fast disappearing in Kenya. Kakamega forest, the only remaining tropical rainforest in Kenya, and where the herb can be found, has so far lost more 217,000 acres of land. Besides, there are information that scientists from developed countries have great interest in the herb, and some are engaging in biopiracy because of the herb’s many curing properties. Recent studies show that Mkombelo, a tree climbing herb, is used as an appetizer, enhancing milk in lactating mothers, management of diabetes, hypertension as well as clearing hangovers, managing allergy problems and flavouring foods. It is also said to help in the management of STDs because of its anti-biotic properties. Studies done two years ago on the herb, which is scientifically known as Mondia whytei, show that it has also an aromatic smell and ability to modifying test. But researchers at ICIPE and Kefri caution that they are not settling on the herb because of its much-rumoured impotence curing or sex enhancing properties. “ There many important uses of the Mkombelo such as the ones enumerated above. But, these have been overshadowed by the belief that the herb is a cure of impotence or makes one desire sex,” says Dr Wilber Lwande, senior scientist at ICIPE. “ That is why we are educating people to conserve the herb for the benefit of these other vital uses. And we hope if our project succeeds, it will boast the cultivation of the species on the farms as it will be generating more income for the local community,” adds Kefri’s Mukonyi Kavaka. Experience has shown that many people shy away from using the herb for other purposes because they think they will be perceived as those who want to stimulate their libido. The researchers are still doing more work on the herb, and are in the process of deciding how much a 50 grams tin or a packet of sachets will cost. But the believe that the herb enhances desire for sex together with its flavouring properties and ability to manage STDs seems to be the cause why it is being depleted very fast in Kenya. Due to the high demand of the herb for such purposes, it has been classified as one of the endangered species needing protection. In central Kenya, for instance, where the local communities used it to flavour soup, there is no trace of its existence. Indeed, researchers from Kefri as early as 1998 tried to patent the compound of mondia flavouring properties without much success. Kenya Industrial Property Organisation that issues patents is yet to clear Kefri’s application. Currently, local researchers are desperately fighting to save Mkombelo due to its unsustainable use. Some NGOs are even pushing for family planning practices as the population surge continue to eat into the remaining acres of Kakamega forest. One of the problems on the conservation front is that Kenya has no gene bank to preserve such herbal species. Yet, it is estimated that over one tonne of mkombelo roots are consumed every month in Kakamega town alone. In Funyula division of Busia district, some women who claim certain family planning methods are making them loose sexual urge are eating the herb in order to keep pace with their husbands. Also, some of these roots find their way into Nairobi, where residents are complaining that they are equally hard to find. And if one is lucky to get them, then the prices are just too high. In Africa, the herb is exploited in West Africa, South Africa, Malawi and Uganda. The South African government is now also fighting to save the plant from extinction. In Pretoria region, the plant is a protected species. And through the use of biotechnology techniques, South African scientists are trying to reproduce as many seedlings as possible through what is known tissue culture. With such developments researchers at Kefri and ICIPE are trying to see how they can help conserve the species here. As a result, the community around Kakamega forest is being encouraged to rescue the herb by planting it on their farms. Knowing the economic value of Mkombelo, the community has since the year 2000 planted over 27,000 seedlings. They will be harvested for the first time next year, as the herb takes three years to mature. Studies sponsored by African Academy of Sciences and done by Prof Isaiah Ndiege of Kenyatta University and Kavaka put Mkombelo in number one slot as a medicinal plant that can fetch more money for people in Western Kenya than any other herb. Also, recent research in Kenya on the economic viability of the herb indicated that a farmer might generate around Sh 78, 000 (US $ 1000) per acre per year from sales of Mkombelo roots. At wholesale prices, a sack of fresh roots of mkombelo, which is about 17kg costs about Ksh 1,248. When the roots are crashed, they give a powder weighing two kilograms. One kilogram is estimated to cost a minimum of Ksh. 1,500. Hence 17kg of fresh roots processed in powder can fetch a minimum of Ksh. 3,000. In the current Icipe/Kefri project, 100,000 seedlings are targeted for planting by the year 2004. Although many people planting the herb are doing so for economic purposes, they are unconsciously conserving the environment. Literature indicates that in Africa, this conservation is the first initiative of its kind. If the plans to manufacture and use it in other products succeed, then farmers in the Western region may start reaping huge profits. Meanwhile, in Kenya, as is in most regions where the herb exist or existed, it is largely associated with the ability to improve the sexual ability of people, particularly men. But Kavaka, the officer in-charge of bioprospecting at Kefri, thinks otherwise on the herbs sexual potency. He says through research, they have established that Mkombelo does not lead to an erection like viagra. Scientists think due its ability to lower stress, a powerful ingredient for successful sexual desire, mkombelo has been perceived as having properties similar to Viagra. Besides this, communities like the Luhya use it for spiritual purposes as a sign of peace. Among the Maasai community, where the herb is called Olmkonkora, it is thought to give power to leaders. Hence because of its demand, the Kamba’s who supply the Maasai have been reaping huge profits. They tell the Maasai to give bulls and cows because the herb is hard to find. At the moment, scientists are researching to find out the correlation between mukombelo’s ability to increase milk lactation in females and the effect on sexual potency. This is because any substance that stimulates the secretion of milk does the same to sex.              |
