African medicinal tree bark Yohimbe remains a top-seller in the United States
by Market Insider
Monday, 08 Sep. 2014
Yohimbe (Pausinystalia johimbe) tree bark is a product of
African biodiversity. The yohimbe tree is native to Middle African regions of
Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabonese Republic, Republic of Cameroon, Republic
of the Congo, and Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
In the United
States, products that contain yohimbe bark or yohimbe bark extract (alone or in
combination with other ingredients) are marketed as herbal dietary supplement
products generally labeled as athletic performance and/or sexual enhancement
products.
Once annually, the non-profit organization American
Botanical Council (ABC) publishes its HerbalGram herb market report that is
based on herb supplement sales statistics obtained from the Nutrition Business
Journal (NBJ) and market research firms IRI and SPINS. The report published this
week shows that yohimbe dietary supplement products ranked at #2 in mainstream
multi-outlet channel for 2013. Retail sales of yohimbe products in this channel
in the United States amounted to US$67,393,961, a 19.2% increase over 2012
sales.
The HerbalGram report covers only retail sales of herbal
dietary supplements and does not reflect the sales of most herbal teas (even if
they are regulated as dietary supplement products), botanical ingredients in
natural cosmetics, or government-approved herbal drug ingredients in
over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription herbal medicinal products.
If
global demand should continue to increase for this African tree bark,
sustainable harvesting practices, resource management and monitoring, and
sustainable use remain considerable challenges and issues for the herb trade and
consumers to deal with.
Sources:
Betz JM. Yohimbe. In:
Coates PM et al (eds). Encyclopedia of Dietary Supplements, Second Edition.
Informa UK Ltd. 2010;861-868.
Lindstrom A, Ooyen C, Lynch ME,
Blumenthal M, Kawa K. Sales of Herbal Dietary Supplements Increase by 7.9% in
2013, Marking a Decade of Rising Sales: Turmeric Supplements Climb to Top
Ranking in Natural Channel. HerbalGram Journal of the American Botanical
Council. 2014;103:52-56.
Orwa C, Mutua A, Kindt R, Jamnadass R,
Simons A. Pausinystalia johimbe. In: Agroforestree Database: a tree reference
and selection guide version 4.0. 2009. Available at: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/AFTPDFS/Pausinystalia_johimbe.pdf
Sunderland TC et al (2004). Yohimbe (Pausinystalia johimbe) in
Clark L and Sunderland T (2004). The Key Non-Timber Forest Products of Central
Africa: State of the Knowledge. Technical paper No.122, United StatesAgency for
International Development.
Image: HerbalGram Summer 2014 cover: http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/images/HG102/HG102_coverweb.jpg