Herb library · Herb · Kigelia africana
Sausage tree
A tall shade tree of tropical Africa whose huge, hanging, sausage-shaped fruits and bark are used across the continent for the skin, the gut, women's health and sexual complaints, and now go into skin creams. It has not been studied in people.
Traditional use
Holland recorded in 1915 that people on the Gold Coast used it for rheumatism and dysentery, and that in southern Nigeria the bark and fruit, called pandoro in Yoruba, were used as medicine. PROTA, the handbook of Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, records that it is widely used throughout Africa today: the roots, bark and fruits are taken for digestive complaints and as a laxative; preparations of the fruit are rubbed on infants to help them gain weight; the fruits are applied to the breasts, for swelling or to promote their growth, and taken to help milk flow; the fruits, roots or leaves go into medicines for infertility and low libido; and the fruit is added to traditional beer. Fruit extracts are also sold in commercial skin products.
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
Skin conditions, digestion, and the other traditional uses: no study of sausage tree in people was found, including of the skin creams made with it. Extracts have been studied in the laboratory against bacteria, fungi and cancer cells, and in mice.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteThe raw fruit is used as a strong laxative and emetic (to cause vomiting) in traditional practice, so it is not a food. Taken by mouth it has no safety data in people.
- PregnancyPROTA records that the bark and leaves are used to cause abortion. Do not take it in pregnancy, and there is no safety information for breastfeeding.
- 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.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“Used by the natives of the Gold Coast in rheumatism and dysentery (Easmon, Col. Rep. Misc. No. 1, 1891, p. 55; Moloney, For. W. Afr. p. 398, K. pinnata); a remedy for dysentery in West Africa”
Sources
- Medicinal plants used in the management of cancers by residents in the Elgon Sub-Region, Uganda (BMC Complement Med Ther, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Kigelia africana fruit fractions inhibit in vitro alpha-glucosidase activity (BMC Complement Med Ther, 2024) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Kigelia africana — PROTA4U record (uses) (opens in a new tab) · PROTA · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.