Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
The orange-milk tree is a fast-growing tree of West and Central Africa. Cut its bark and it bleeds a bright orange sap. That sap gives the tree its name.
In Ghana it is called okosoa in Twi. Healers used the bark, the leaves and sometimes the sap. The usual aims were stomach trouble, loose stools, wounds and skin sores.
Here is the honest verdict on evidence. Human testing is thin, old and mostly small. Long use in tradition is not proof that it works, and not proof that it is safe.
The tree also grows in Central Africa and Madagascar. A measured bark-and-leaf extract was once sold in Europe for indigestion. That product is no longer easy to find.
No one has shown in people how this plant works. What follows comes from lab and animal work only.
In test tubes, bark extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. In animals, extracts have calmed gut cramps and reduced swelling. Whether any of that happens in a person is not known.
The bark holds orange pigments in the anthranoid family. That same family, in senna and rhubarb root, acts on the bowel. This may be why users report looser stools.
The plant also holds hypericin-type pigments, cousins of those in St John's wort. In lab tests these pigments react to light. That may explain reports of skin that burns easily in the sun after use.
One more point of caution. Because the pigments resemble those in St John's wort, some writers worry about effects on drug-processing in the liver. This has not been tested properly in people, so treat it as unknown rather than proven.
Most products are dried bark, dried leaf, or a bark extract.
Forms you may meet: - Dried bark pieces or bark powder, sold loose in markets - Dried leaves for tea - Capsules or tablets of bark and leaf extract - Tinctures, which are alcohol extracts in a dropper bottle - Fresh orange sap, used in some village practice on skin
In Europe, a measured extract of bark and leaf was once sold as a licensed stomach medicine. Tablets carried a set extract amount. Such products are now scarce.
Market bark is rarely tested for identity or purity. Mix-ups with other barks do happen. Buy only from a seller who names the plant in full.
The tree has a long record in West and Central African herbal practice.
Healers recorded uses for stomach upsets, loose stools and worms. The bark and sap were also applied to wounds, sores and skin complaints. Some communities used it in fevers and in weakness after illness.
The bright sap made the tree easy to name and easy to find. It appears in several national plant and herbal lists across the region.
In the twentieth century, European makers prepared a measured bark-and-leaf extract. It was sold in Germany and France for indigestion. Reports of sun-sensitive skin and liver concern later cooled interest.
None of this history tells you the plant is right for you. It tells you people have used it for a long time, and that modern checking has lagged behind.
Stop and see a doctor the same day if you notice yellow skin or eyes (jaundice), dark urine, pale stools, or pain under your right ribs.
Stop and get urgent care for these signs: - A severe rash or blistering after time in the sun. - Swelling of the lips, face or throat, or trouble breathing. - Blood in your stool, or black tarry stool. - Heavy watery diarrhoea with dizziness or a racing heart.
See a doctor first, not later, for fever with chills, for loose stools lasting more than a few days, or for tiredness you think is anaemia. These need a diagnosis.
In the UK and the United States it is not a licensed medicine. It may be sold as a herbal product, with no check that it works. A measured bark-and-leaf extract once held a medicine licence in Germany and France, but it is now hard to find. In West African countries it is a recognised traditional plant medicine and is sold openly in markets.
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.
One email with the summary. We'll also send a short weekly evidence update — unsubscribe any time.
