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South African company, Afriplex, is busy with its first hoodia gordonii (hoodia) harvest in the Northern and Western Cape. The company has planted about 12-million plants over 120 ha since 2004, and the first harvest is expected to yield about 80 t of dry hoodia, which is sold as an appetite suppressant in various forms. "We are confident that we will reach the 80-t target. We have already harvested 10 t, which will be processed this month, and we expect to process another 20 t to 30 t throughout June and July," Afriplex MD Danie Nel tells Engineering News. Because there are no limits on when hoodia can be harvested, and the harvest is sold in advance, it is up to the customers whether or not they will take the rest of the 80 t this season or next season. Most of the harvested hoodia is exported to companies mainly in the US or Europe, but there are a few companies in South Africa which are using hoodia in some of their products. The hoodia is harvested by slicing off a portion of the plant with a sterile blade, to ensure that no bacterial infection of the plant takes place. This must be done in a sustainable way, to ensure that the plant will continue to grow, and, for this reason, the process is closely monitored by Western Cape conservationists, who must issue permits for harvesting before it is allowed to take place.  The hoodia is harvested by slicing off the plant with a sterile blade A variety of slimming products containing hoodia have been and are being introduced into the market, from tablets, to bars, milkshakes, juices, chocolate bars and yoghurt. It is not common for hoodia to be culti-vated, and a large amount of poaching of wild hoodia plants has been taking place. Afriplex now advocates for no permits to be issued for the harvesting of wild hoodia. Last year, 50 t of hoodia was exported from South Africa, mainly from the wild, which was not enough to supply the demand in the market. With an increase in production and the amount of hoodia available comes a lowering of costs, which will benefit the consumer. Hoodia is similar to but not related to the cactus family, and has been used by the San as a source of food and water for hundreds of years. Hoodia is marketed as a natural appetite suppressant, and demand is high. Dietary supplement companies market hoodia supplements, claiming they can lower blood pressure and reduce the appetite. Products said to contain hoodia have in the past created controversy, because it was found that a large percentage (up to 60%) of products sold claiming to contain hoodia, did not actually contain any active ingredients at all, and the market was flooded with counterfeit products. A number of the producers of these pro- ducts may have thought they were buying hoodia, but were buying other dried succulent ingredi- ents, or producers were fraudulently claiming their products contained the hoodia active ingredients. “The scams of the past did have a negative impact on market growth, but now we are moving into a more sophisticated arena where authorities are stepping up the monitoring of the process – from growing the plant to marketing and exporting it, and also increasing consumer awareness. “With time, the weaker products using adulterated hoodia will be exposed, making it difficult for bogus operators to sell,” concludes Nel. |