African mahogany bark

What is African mahogany bark?

African mahogany bark is the bark of Khaya senegalensis, a tall tree of the West African savannah. In Hausa the tree is called madaci. The bark is stripped, dried, and usually boiled in water to make a very bitter drink.

In West Africa it has been used for fever and malaria, stomach upsets, worms, and as a bitter tonic. It is also a well known animal remedy, given to cattle and horses. The bark is sold in open markets as chips or powder, often with no label.

Here is the honest verdict on the evidence. There are no good human trials of this bark for any illness. Most of what is known comes from test tubes and from rats and mice.

Long use in a tradition is not proof that something works. It is also not proof that it is safe. That point applies to this whole page, so it is made once here.

The main real-world risk is not exotic. People use the bark for fever instead of getting tested for malaria, and malaria can kill within days.

How does African mahogany bark work?

No one has shown in people how this bark works, or that it works at all.

In test tubes, extracts of the bark slow the growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the worst malaria. The amounts needed are high. Whether a boiled bark drink reaches those levels in the blood is not known.

In laboratory tests the bark also slows some bacteria and fungi. That is common for bitter, tannin-rich barks. It does not show that it clears an infection in a person.

In rats, bark extracts have lowered blood sugar and reduced some markers of swelling. These are animal findings only. Dose, timing and safety in humans have not been worked out.

The same animal work raises the main worry. At higher doses, rodents given bark extracts showed signs of liver and kidney injury. Blood tests changed, and tissue damage was seen under the microscope.

The bitter taste itself may explain part of the traditional use. Bitter plants can prompt saliva and stomach juices, which some people feel as better appetite. That is a mild, short effect, not a treatment.

What forms does African mahogany bark come in?

The common forms are simple and home-made.

- Bark chips or strips, boiled in water as a decoction - Dried bark powder, stirred into water or pap - Cold water soaks, left to stand overnight - Bark added to mixed herbal blends sold in markets - Alcohol tinctures, mostly outside West Africa - Capsules of bark powder, sold online by small sellers

Market blends are the hardest to judge. They may hold several plants, and the label, if any, rarely lists them. Some blends have been found to contain added drugs.

The tree is also a timber and shade tree. Bark is sometimes taken from trees treated with pesticide or growing beside busy roads.

Where it comes from:

West African healers have used madaci bark for a long time, across the Sudan and Sahel belt. Written records of it go back to colonial-era plant surveys of the 1800s and 1900s.

Traditional healers used bark decoctions for fever and malaria, jaundice, stomach pain, diarrhoea and worms. Some used it as a bitter tonic for poor appetite. Washes were applied to sores and skin complaints.

It also had a strong place in animal care. Herders gave bark drinks to cattle and horses, including for the wasting disease carried by tsetse flies.

In some communities the bark was used to bring on abortion. That use is recorded in ethnobotany reports, and it shapes the safety advice on this page.

The bark served other trades too. It was used in tanning and dyeing, and the tree gives valued timber. None of this history shows that the bark treats any illness, and none of it is a reason to dose yourself.

What does African mahogany bark help with?

• Malaria and fever: This is the best known use and the most risky one. Lab tests show bark compounds slow the malaria parasite in test tubes. There are no controlled human trials showing that a bark drink cures or shortens malaria. Modern malaria drugs work and are cheap. Treating fever at home with bark can delay care, and severe malaria can kill in a few days, mostly in children.
• Diarrhoea and stomach upset: Tradition used the bitter decoction for loose stools and belly pain. The bark is high in tannins, which do bind and dry in a test tube. Human evidence is absent. The bark also holds anthraquinones, which can loosen the bowels instead. In practice it may help one person and worsen another.
• Intestinal worms: Bark drinks were a common home deworming step. Some extracts kill or stun worms in a dish, and in a few animal studies. No human trial shows it clears worms. Tested, low-cost deworming tablets exist and are far more reliable.
• Poor appetite (bitter tonic): Bitter plants have long been taken before meals to wake up the appetite. A bitter taste can raise saliva and stomach juices. This is a mild, short-lived effect. It has not been measured for this bark in people.
• Skin sores and wounds, as a wash: Bark washes were used on sores and boils. In laboratory tests the extracts slow some bacteria. Whether that happens on skin is not established. Deep or spreading wounds need proper care, not a plant wash.
• Diabetes (traditional use): Some healers gave the bark for the thirst and weight loss of diabetes. In rats, bark extracts lowered blood sugar. There is no human trial. Mixing an unmeasured blood-sugar effect with diabetes medicine is a real risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia).

Which foods are rich in African mahogany bark?

This is a tree bark, not a food. It is not eaten as part of any normal diet. The related mahogany seed is also used in folk medicine, but it is a different material and is not covered here.

What are the side effects of African mahogany bark?

• Strong bitter taste and gagging
• Nausea and vomiting
• Belly pain and cramps
• Diarrhoea, or sometimes constipation
• Dizziness and weakness
• Yellow eyes or skin, and dark urine (signs of liver strain)
• Passing much less urine than usual (a sign of kidney strain)
• Miscarriage or bleeding in pregnancy

Good to know:

Gut upset is the common complaint, and it is usually mild and short.

The serious concerns are liver and kidney injury. These are seen clearly in rats and mice given bark extracts. Human case reports are scarce, but so is proper monitoring in the places where the bark is used most.

The pregnancy risk deserves its own line. The bark has a recorded history as an abortion agent. That is enough reason never to use it while pregnant.

How much African mahogany bark should you take?

• Recommended daily: This page gives no amount, and there is a plain reason. No health authority has set a safe daily amount for this bark. There is no standard extract, so strength varies from bag to bag. Animal studies show liver and kidney damage at higher doses, and the human threshold is unknown. Traditional practice relied on a healer judging the person and the batch. That judgement cannot be printed as a number for a stranger. Any figure you see online is a guess. If you are considering this bark, talk it through with a doctor or pharmacist first.
• Best time of day: Time of day has not been studied for this bark, and it is unlikely to matter. Bitter drinks taken before meals are the usual tradition for appetite. That is custom, not tested advice.
• With or without food: Most traditional use was on an empty stomach, often in the morning. The bark can irritate the gut and cause nausea. Taking it with food may ease that, but it has not been tested. Neither way makes it safe.
• Time to effect: There is no reliable answer, because no human trial has measured one. Any bitter-taste effect on appetite would be felt within minutes. A gut effect, good or bad, would show within hours. For fever or infection, there is no evidence of a timeline at all. It may do nothing useful. Treat any claimed timeline with doubt.
• How long to take it: No safe length of use can be stated. Traditional use was short and tied to an illness, not a daily habit for months. Long or repeated courses are the pattern most linked to organ damage in animal work. There is no human data on safe duration.