Agriculture commodity
Prunus africana Bark (Pygeum)
Bark harvested for the benign prostatic hyperplasia extract, from Uganda and Cameroon. CITES Appendix II: every consignment needs an export permit, which makes provenance the thing a buyer is paying for.
At a glance
- Family
- Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Crops
- Sector
- Agriculture
- HS code
- 1211.90
- Forms
- 2
Traded forms
- Bark chips
- Bark dried and chipped. The form a CITES export permit is normally written against, because chips can still be inspected for how the tree was stripped.
- Bark powder
- Milled bark. Denser to ship and impossible to inspect for harvesting technique, which is exactly why provenance documentation carries more weight here.
Grading standards
European Pharmacopoeia — Pruni Africanae Cortex (Pygeum Africanum Bark)
European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare · Ph. Eur. 1886 · Ph.Eur. 1886
African Traditional Medicine — Requirements on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for Medicinal Plants
African Organisation for Standardisation · First edition 2016 · ARS 952:2016
Source Prunus africana Bark (Pygeum)
Verified prunus africana bark (pygeum), inspected and contract-ready.
Frequently asked
- What is Prunus africana Bark (Pygeum)?
- Bark harvested for the benign prostatic hyperplasia extract, from Uganda and Cameroon. CITES Appendix II: every consignment needs an export permit, which makes provenance the thing a buyer is paying for.
- Which forms is Prunus africana Bark (Pygeum) traded in?
- Prunus africana Bark (Pygeum) is traded as: Bark chips, Bark powder.
- Which standards apply to Prunus africana Bark (Pygeum)?
- Applicable grading standards include: European Pharmacopoeia — Pruni Africanae Cortex (Pygeum Africanum Bark); African Traditional Medicine — Requirements on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for Medicinal Plants.
Related commodities
Aloe Bitters (Aloin)
The bitter yellow exudate from the leaf rind, dried to a resin and sold on aloin content. A different article from the gel with different buyers, which is why it is a separate row.
Aloe Vera
Aloe barbadensis — Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia. Gel, powder, and extract.
Aloe Vera Gel
The mucilaginous inner-leaf gel, sold to cosmetic and beverage manufacturers. No Codex standard exists: the trade runs on International Aloe Science Council certification, which is a scheme rather than a limits table.
Artemisia annua (Sweet Wormwood)
The dried leaf, grown on contract for artemisinin extraction. East Africa is the third-largest growing region in the world after China and Vietnam, with roughly 5,000 contracted smallholders across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Artemisinin
The isolated sesquiterpene lactone extracted from Artemisia annua, and the starting material for artemisinin-based combination therapies. Specified by the International Pharmacopoeia monograph — there is no Codex standard, because it is a drug substance rather than a food. Extraction factories in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar ship it to manufacturers in India and Europe.
Khat (Miraa / Qat)
Catha edulis — Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia. Significant trade to Somalia and diaspora markets.
Papain
Proteolytic enzyme from papaya latex, specified by JECFA and the Food Chemicals Codex on activity rather than composition. Pharmaceutical grade above 2,000 USP U/mg sells at USD 45-70/kg. Buyers are pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturers, brewers and dairies — none of them papaya buyers.
Senna Extract (Sennosides)
Standardised extract of senna leaf or pod, sold on sennoside content against a pharmacopoeial monograph. The article a pharmaceutical buyer purchases; the leaf itself is the crop beside it.
Senna Leaves & Pods
Senna alexandrina — Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia. Pharmaceutical laxative export.