Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
African pear is the fruit of the tree Dacryodes edulis. In Igbo it is called ube. It is a food first, not a medicine.
The fruit is dark purple and oblong, about the size of a small plum. Under the skin sits a thick, buttery pulp around one large seed. Heat softens the pulp, and the taste is mild, oily and a little sour.
In Nigeria, Cameroon and nearby countries it is sold fresh and eaten with roasted or boiled maize. The leaves, bark and tree resin have also been used as folk remedies.
Here is the honest verdict. Human studies on African pear are very thin, and most research is lab or animal work. Long traditional use shows people valued the fruit; it is not proof that it works, and not proof that medicine-sized doses are safe.
Most claims for African pear come from the laboratory, not from people.
The pulp is rich in oil and fibre. In test-tube work, extracts of the pulp, leaf and bark mop up free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules linked to cell damage.
In rats and mice, leaf and bark extracts have lowered blood sugar and blood fats in some studies. In lab dishes, extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. None of this has been confirmed in people.
As a food the picture is simpler and better supported. The fruit supplies fat, fibre, potassium and some vitamin C. That part you can count on.
Almost all use is as fresh fruit.
- Fresh fruit, softened in hot water or over a fire. - Roasted fruit, eaten with maize as a street food. - Pressed pulp oil, used for cooking and in soaps and skin creams.
- Dried leaf or bark, boiled into folk drinks (decoctions). - Tree resin, used as glue, a fire starter and a folk salve. - Seeds, mostly used for animal feed or replanting.
Capsules and standardised extracts are rare and poorly regulated. If you see one, there is no agreed strength behind it.
African pear has been grown and eaten in West and Central Africa for centuries. It is a staple backyard tree in Igbo, Yoruba and Bamileke farming areas.
Market records and colonial-era plant surveys describe it as a seasonal income crop. Fruiting runs roughly from May to October in Nigeria.
Folk healers used the bark, leaf and resin rather than the fruit. Reported uses included wound dressings, mouth and tooth pain, fever, and loose bowels. These accounts describe what people did; they are not a recommendation to try it yourself.
Call emergency services if your lips, tongue or throat swell, or if you struggle to breathe after eating it. That is a severe allergic reaction.
See a doctor if you get a rash, hives or repeated mouth itching after eating the fruit.
See a doctor if vomiting or diarrhoea lasts more than two days, or if you notice yellow skin or eyes after using bark or resin remedies.
In Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and nearby countries, African pear is an ordinary market food. In the UK, EU and US it is not an approved medicine, and no health claim is authorised. Foods new to the European market may need 'novel food' clearance before they can be sold.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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