Herb library · Spice · Tetrapleura tetraptera
Prekese
The long, four-winged, fragrant pod of a West African forest tree, simmered in soups across Ghana and Nigeria and used by Ghanaian herbalists for high blood pressure. It has not been studied in people.
Traditional use
The dried pod is a kitchen spice in Ghana, where it is called prekese in Twi, and in Nigeria, where it is called aridan; it is simmered whole in soups for its scent. In a 2023 survey of 36 herbalists in Ghana, it was the plant they agreed on most for high blood pressure, usually boiled with other plants and drunk as a decoction.
What studies show
No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.
- Insufficient
High blood pressure: no study of prekese in people was found. Its research is laboratory and animal work: extracts studied on cells, in rats, and as a snail-killing agent for schistosomiasis control.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteA 2025 case report from New York describes a man who developed serious liver and kidney injury after taking a supplement that combined prekese with papaya and Alstonia boonei extracts. Which ingredient caused it is not known, but it is a reason to be careful with concentrated extracts. The pod as a soup spice is a long-standing food use.
- InteractionIf you take blood pressure medicine, tell your clinician before taking prekese as a remedy; it has not been tested alongside those drugs.
- PregnancyNo safety information for medicinal amounts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
Sources
- Medicinal plants used for management of diabetes and hypertension in Ghana (Heliyon, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Complementary and alternative medicine-induced combined hepatorenal toxicity: a case report (Cureus, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Plant molluscicides: potential of Aridan, Tetrapleura tetraptera, for schistosomiasis control in Nigeria (Sci Total Environ, 1991) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Medicinal plants used for management of diabetes and hypertension in Ghana (Heliyon, 2023) — full text on PMC (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Significance for humans of the nutrient contents of the dry fruit of Tetrapleura tetraptera (Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 1994) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.