Below is the History of Hoodia Gordonii:

Latin Name: Hoodia gordonii
Other Names: hoodia, xhooba, !khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus, South African desert cactus

Hoodia (pronounced HOO-dee-ah) is a cactus-like plant that grows primarily in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. The written history of Hoodia Gordinii began in 1937 when a Dutch anthropologist was studying the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert.  He noted their frequent use of Hoodia Gordonii which he later found out was used to suppress their appetite.  The San Bushmen  have relied on Hoodia for thousands of years to ward off hunger and thirst during long hunting trips which made it an ideal candidate for the weight loss market.

Hoodia Gordonii grows in clumps of green upright stems. Although it is often called a cactus because it resembles one, hoodia is actually a succulent plant.  It takes about five years before Hoodia Gordonii’s pale purple flowers appear and the plant can be harvested.

The History of Hoodia Gordonii – 37 Years Later:

It took a number of years before the scientific community decided to extensivley study this plant to find out the exact reasons for it appetite suppressing qualities.  In 1963, scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) South Africa’s national laboratory, began to study about hoodia. Their studies claimed that laboratory animals began to lose weight after they were given Hoodia Gordonii over set time frames, which was an exciting discovery for the medical community and the weight loss industry.

South African scientists then began to work with a British company called Phytopharm.  They soon discovered and isolated, what they believed to be an active ingredient in hoodia gordonii, a steroidal glycoside, which they named as “P57″.  The company spent more than $20 million in Hoodia research for the weight loss market.  Soon the commercial side of the discovery kicked in and in 1995 they obtained a patent for P57 and Phytopharm then granted the pharmaceutical company ,Pfizer the rights to study the “P-57″ molecule in order to develop a synthetic extract for use as an anti-obesity drug in 1998.  Unfortunately the synthesized molecule developed by Pfizer showed little or no effect in comparison to the natural Hoodia gordonii powder which resulted in Pfizer returning the rights to Phytopharm in 2003.

Subsequently, in December 2004, Phytopharm granted the exclusive global rights for its Hoodia gordonii extract to Unilever.  The first hoodia products from Unilever came in the form of the SlimFast brand.

Although there has always been a demand for diet pills, after the ban on the herb ephedra, the market was particularly ripe for the next new diet pill and Hoodia took its place.  The demand for the natural milled powder from this cactus plant has sky-rocketed in the past years and continues to do so.   Although the supply of authentic Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa remains limited,   there was a change in 2006 when larger amounts of commercially cultivated plant became available which contained the same natural characteristics as the naturally growing ones.

We hope you found this article on the history of hoodia gordonii of benefit.