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Sangre de drago (dragon's blood)

The blood-red sap of an Amazonian tree, painted on cuts and insect bites and taken for diarrhea in South American folk medicine. A purified drug made from it, crofelemer, is a U.S. prescription medicine for one kind of diarrhea; the sap itself has not been properly tested.

Traditional use

In South American folk medicine the red sap is dabbed on wounds, insect bites and skin sores and taken by mouth for diarrhea and stomach ulcers, according to a 2003 review of its traditional uses and research. The sap is collected by cutting the bark of the tree.

What studies show

  • Limited

    Diarrhea (the purified drug, not the sap): crofelemer, a compound purified from the sap, was tested in a randomized trial of 376 people with HIV and chronic non-infectious diarrhea; at 125 mg twice a day, 17.6% responded compared with 8.0% on placebo. It is a prescription medicine; the raw sap sold as a supplement is not the same product and has no such trial.

  • Insufficient

    Wounds, insect bites and stomach ulcers: the sap acts in lab and animal studies, and a review mentions small human studies of sap products for insect bites, but no well-designed trial of the sap itself was found.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • Note"Dragon's blood" names several different plant resins from different continents. Check that a product names Croton lechleri.
  • NoteThe raw sap is a concentrated plant product with no standardized dose; a related species' sap damaged DNA in mice. Do not take it by mouth for long periods without a clinician.
  • ConditionDiarrhea that lasts more than a few days, or comes with fever, blood or signs of dehydration, needs a clinician, not a home remedy.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found; avoid it then.
  • 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

  1. Efficacy and safety of crofelemer for noninfectious diarrhea in HIV-seropositive individuals (ADVENT trial) (HIV Clin Trials, 2013) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Crofelemer (LiverTox, NIDDK) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Randomized Clinical Trial: Crofelemer Treatment in Women With Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Clin Transl Gastroenterol, 2019) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Dragon's blood Croton palanostigma induces genotoxic effects in mice (J Ethnopharmacol, 2013) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  5. Review of sangre de drago (Croton lechleri) — a South American tree sap in the treatment of diarrhea, inflammation, insect bites, viral infections, and wounds: traditional uses to clinical research (J Altern Complement Med, 2003) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.