Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
African copaiba balsam tree is a large savanna tree of West Africa. Its botanical name is Daniellia oliveri. In Hausa it is called maje.
Cut the bark and the tree weeps a sticky, sweet-smelling balsam. Healers have used this balsam, the bark, the roots and the leaves. The tree is also valued for timber and shade.
It is not a food and not a common shop supplement. Most of what is sold is raw bark or raw resin, with no label and no testing.
Here is the honest verdict on the evidence. Almost all study of this plant has been done in test tubes and in rodents. Long use in West African medicine is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
No one has shown how this tree acts in the human body. Everything below comes from the lab bench, not from patients.
In test-tube work, bark and leaf extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. Whether that happens on your skin or in your gut is not known.
In rats and mice, bark extracts have cut signs of swelling and pain. Animal results often fail to repeat in people.
The resin holds beta-caryophyllene. In cell studies this compound binds a cannabinoid receptor, a cell switch linked to pain and swelling. That is a laboratory finding, not a treatment effect.
Some rodent work also points to lower blood sugar and lower blood pressure. These signals are weak and untested in humans, but they matter for drug safety.
Outside West Africa you will rarely see this plant for sale at all.
The common traditional forms are: - Raw balsam tapped from the cut bark. - Dried bark, whole or ground to powder. - Water decoctions, made by boiling bark or root.
Other forms turn up less often: - Leaf infusions, steeped like tea. - Alcohol tinctures. - Resin blended into salves for the skin.
Twigs have also been used as chewing sticks for the teeth. The resin has been burned as incense.
None of these forms is standardised. Strength, purity and plant part are usually unknown to the buyer.
Maje has a long, well-recorded place in West African folk medicine. It was used across Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Ghana.
Healers applied the fresh balsam to wounds, sores and skin complaints. Bark decoctions were given for fever, cough, chest pain and stomach trouble.
Other recorded uses included toothache, joint pain, worms and swelling. The resin was burned as a scented smoke in homes and at ceremonies.
The tree also served daily life, not just healing. People used the wood for timber, the bark for cord, and the shade for gathering.
These records describe what people did. They are not instructions, and none of them has been tested in a proper human trial.
Stop using it and see a doctor if a rash spreads, blisters or weeps.
Get medical help the same day if you have belly pain with yellow skin or yellow eyes, dark urine, or vomiting that will not stop.
Go to an emergency department now if you have trouble breathing, swelling of the lips, face or tongue, fainting, or chest pain.
Any fever with chills in a malaria area needs a test and a doctor, not a herb.
In the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union it is not approved as a medicine and is not a common supplement. The timber is traded, but the bark and resin have no food or drug standing there. In parts of West Africa it is sold openly in markets as a traditional remedy.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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