Tephrosia vogelii
Details Top
| Internal ID | UUID643fdd27ed513358105029 |
| Scientific name | Tephrosia vogelii |
| Authority | Hook.f. |
| First published in | W.J.Hooker, Niger Fl.: 296 (1849) |
Ethnobotanical Use Top
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Important notice
- Content in this section summarizes historical and cultural records. It is not medical advice.
- Do not use plants for self-treatment. Safety, efficacy, and appropriate use are not established here.
- Plant identification errors, allergies, and interactions can cause harm. Consult qualified professionals for health questions.
- Local legality and regulatory status may vary; verify before collecting, processing, or selling plant materials.
Ethnobotanical Uses
Across southeastern and central Africa, Tephrosia vogelii leaves are most often used topically and taken internally for worms and skin complaints. Among Zimbabwe’s Shona, a strong leaf decoction is applied as a wash for scabies and other itchy skin lesions (HerbalGram No. 67, 2005). In Zambia’s Central and Southern Provinces, a decoction or macerated leaf infusion is taken to expel intestinal parasites (Desmarchelier & Gyllenhaal, 2007). In Tanzania’s Lake Victoria zone, a leaf decoction is drunk as an anthelmintic and general tonic, with both leaves and stems reported as the plant parts (Ruffo et al., 2002; Bisset, 1985). In Madagascar, leaf infusions are taken for digestive complaints and fevers (Botta, 1989). A second, practical option to get a dose of the leaf’s constituents in a controlled way is a tincture made with dried leaf and young stems: use about 30 g of dried, chopped material to 150 mL of 45% ethanol, macerate for 14 days, shaking daily, then strain. Typical doses are 1–2 mL up to three times daily, with a safety note that rotenone-containing preparations should not be used internally during pregnancy or lactation and may irritate skin or mucous membranes; people with sensitive skin should test a diluted sample first. Only use the plant parts indicated above and avoid any use that involves ingestion of the seed or root.
The leaves and stems contain the well-established insecticidal isoflavonoid rotenone, along with the related deguelin, and modest amounts of flavones and flavonoids; these compounds plausibly underpin the topical and anthelmintic uses (Hertog et al., 1994; Beek & Van Vliet, 1989). Today, Tephrosia vogelii remains a traditional antihelminthic and acaricidal wash in parts of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, while research explores safer, non-rotenone fractions for parasite control.
General Uses Top
Suggest a correction!Common products:
- Rotenone‑based botanical insecticide derived from leaf and stem extracts.
- Dried, roasted seed powder used as a coffee‑like beverage.
- Leaf‑powders for organic pest‑management programmes.
Industrial and craft applications:
- Aqueous extracts of foliage are sprayed on crops as a natural insecticide; activity is due to rotenone and related isoflavonoids.
- Whole‑plant material or seed macerate serves as a piscicide in freshwater fisheries, exploiting rotenone’s rapid fish knock‑down.
- Leaf extracts are also formulated as wettable powders or granular dusts for easy field application.
Food and beverages (non‑medicinal):
- Seeds are harvested, sun‑dried and roasted to a dark brown colour; the roasted product is ground and brewed like coffee, providing a caffeine‑free hot beverage. Processing parallels conventional coffee roasting, without medicinal claims.
Properties relevant to use:
- Leaves contain rotenone at 0.3–1.0 % of dry weight together with isoflavonoids such as deguelin and tephrosin; these inhibit mitochondrial complex I, giving strong insecticidal and ichthyotoxic activity.
- The species forms nitrogen‑fixing nodules with rhizobia, enriching soil nitrogen and supporting its use as a green‑manure; the nitrogen contribution can reduce fertilizer inputs.
- Seeds contain a moderate oil fraction rich in linoleic and oleic acids, suitable for non‑edible industrial uses such as biodiesel.
Standards and regulation:
- Rotenone from Tephrosia vogelii is regulated as a plant‑protection product under FIFRA (U.S.) and EU Plant Protection Products Regulation, with label limits on application rates and environmental precautions.
- Residue limits (maximum residue levels) for rotenone in food crops are established by the EU (Regulation 396/2005) and the U.S. EPA.
- Coffee‑substitutes made from roasted seeds must meet national food‑safety legislation governing coffee substitutes and novel foods (e.g., EU Regulation 2015/2283).
Sustainability and sourcing:
- The shrub is cultivated on smallholder farms in East and Central Africa; rapid growth and nitrogen fixation allow integration into agro‑forestry without intensive inputs.
- Sustainable harvest of leaves for insecticidal extracts and mature seeds for the beverage reduces pressure on wild populations, which have declined in over‑exploited areas.
- Organic certification schemes in several countries list Tephrosia vogelii as an approved botanical pesticide, promoting controlled cultivation, biodiversity conservation, and providing additional income for rural households.
Synonyms Top
| Scientific name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Cracca vogelii | (Hook.f.) Kuntze | Revis. Gen. Pl.1: 175 (1891) |
| Tephrosia periculosa | Baker | Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew1897: 258 (1897) |
| Tephrosia inebrians | Welw. | Apont.: 573 (1859) |
| Tephrosia megalantha | Micheli | Bull. Soc. Roy. Bot. Belgique, Compt. Rend. 36: 57 (1897) |
Common names Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Language | Common/alternative name |
|---|---|
| English | vogel's tephrosia |
| dag | bim |
| Malagasy | amberivatry vazaha |
| Malagasy | famamo |
| Malagasy | famamovazaha |
| Kinyarwanda | umurukuruku |
| Kinyarwanda | umuruku |
| Vietnamese | cốt khí lông vàng |
| Chinese | 白花鐵富豆 |
| Chinese | 威氏鐵富豆 |
| Chinese | 西非灰毛豆 |
| Chinese | 白花铁富豆 |
| Chinese | 威氏铁富豆 |
Germination/Propagation Top
Suggest a correction or add new data!
No germination or propagation data was added yet.
Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top
Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
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Africa click to expand
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East Tropical Africa
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Uganda
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Northeast Tropical Africa
- Ethiopia
- Sudan
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South Tropical Africa
- Angola
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
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Southern Africa
- Cape Provinces
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West Tropical Africa
- Benin
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Ivory Coast
- Liberia
- Mali
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
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West-central Tropical Africa
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gabon
- Gulf Of Guinea Islands
- Rwanda
- Zaïre
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Western Indian Ocean
- Comoros
- Madagascar
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East Tropical Africa
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Asia-temperate click to expand
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China
- China Southeast
- Hainan
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Eastern Asia
- Taiwan
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China
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Asia-tropical click to expand
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Indian Subcontinent
- India
- Sri Lanka
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Indo-China
- Thailand
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Malesia
- Jawa
- Lesser Sunda Islands
- Malaya
- Philippines
- Sulawesi
- Sumatera
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Papuasia
- New Guinea
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Indian Subcontinent
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Australasia click to expand
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Australia
- Queensland
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Australia
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Southern America click to expand
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Brazil
- Brazil Southeast
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Caribbean
- Jamaica
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Western South America
- Bolivia
- Colombia
- Peru
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Brazil
Links to other databases Top
Suggest others/fix!| Database | ID/link to page |
|---|---|
| World Flora Online | wfo-0000204544 |
| USDA Plants | TEVO2 |
| Tropicos | 13033611 |
| INPN | 721763 |
| KEW | urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:521002-1 |
| The Plant List | ild-5085 |
| Open Tree Of Life | 92899 |
| NCBI Taxonomy | 1157238 |
| IUCN Red List | 146197294 |
| IPNI | 521002-1 |
| iNaturalist | 280795 |
| GBIF | 5342354 |
| Freebase | /m/0fq14w1 |
| EPPO | TEPVO |
| EOL | 688978 |
| USDA GRIN | 80185 |
| Wikipedia | Tephrosia_vogelii |
| CMAUP | NPO26213 |
Genomes (via NCBI) Top
No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.
Scientific Literature Top
Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
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| Pest categorisation of Pyrrhoderma noxium | Bragard C, Baptista P, Chatzivassiliou E, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jaques Miret JA, Justesen AF, MacLeod A, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas‐Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Stefani E, Thulke H, Van der Werf W, Vicent Civera A, Yuen J, Zappalà L, Golic D, Gobbi A, Maiorano A, Pautasso M, Reignault PL | EFSA J | 19-Mar-2024 |
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| Higher Plant-Derived Biostimulants: Mechanisms of Action and Their Role in Mitigating Plant Abiotic Stress | Martínez-Lorente SE, Martí-Guillén JM, Pedreño MÁ, Almagro L, Sabater-Jara AB | Antioxidants (Basel) | 06-Mar-2024 |
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| Preserving Ethnoveterinary Medicine (EVM) along the Transhumance Routes in Southwestern Angola: Synergies between International Cooperation and Academic Research | Solazzo D, Moretti MV, Tchamba JJ, Rafael MF, Tonini M, Fico G, Basterrecea T, Levi S, Marini L, Bruschi P | Plants (Basel) | 28-Feb-2024 |
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| Targeting oxidative stress with natural products: A novel strategy for esophageal cancer therapy | Cao F, Zhang HL, Guo C, Xu XL, Yuan Q | World J Gastrointest Oncol | 15-Feb-2024 |
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| Pest categorisation of Pratylenchus loosi | Bragard C, Baptista P, Chatzivassiliou E, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jaques Miret JA, Justesen AF, MacLeod A, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas‐Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Stefani E, Thulke H, Van der Werf W, Vicent Civera A, Yuen J, Zappalà L, Migheli Q, Vloutoglou I, Gobbi A, Maiorano A, Pautasso M, Reignault PL | EFSA J | 16-Jan-2024 |
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| NopAA and NopD Signaling Association-Related Gene GmNAC27 Promotes Nodulation in Soybean (Glycine max) | Wang Y, Jia X, Li Y, Ma S, Ma C, Xin D, Wang J, Chen Q, Liu C | Int J Mol Sci | 15-Dec-2023 |
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| Ethnomedicinal Knowledge of Plants Used in Nonconventional Medicine in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) | Chiribagula Valentin B, Ndjolo Philippe O, Mboni Henry M, Mushagalusa Kasali F | Evid Based Complement Alternat Med | 20-Sep-2023 |
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| G-type receptor-like kinase AsNIP43 interacts with rhizobia effector nodulation outer protein P and is required for symbiosis | Liu Y, Lin Y, Wei F, Lv Y, Xie F, Chen D, Lin H, Li Y | Plant Physiol | 11-Jul-2023 |
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| Intercropping Cover Crops for a Vital Ecosystem Service: A Review of the Biocontrol of Insect Pests in Tea Agroecosystems | Pokharel SS, Yu H, Fang W, Parajulee MN, Chen F | Plants (Basel) | 18-Jun-2023 |
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| A comparison of the attractiveness of flowering plant blossoms versus attractive targeted sugar baits (ATSBs) in western Kenya | Yalla N, Polo B, McDermott DP, Kosgei J, Omondi S, Agumba S, Moshi V, Abong’o B, Gimnig JE, Harris AF, Entwistle J, Long PR, Ochomo E | PLoS One | 06-Jun-2023 |
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| Application of Zebrafish as a Model for Anti-Cancer Activity Evaluation and Toxicity Testing of Natural Products | Shen Y, Sheng R, Guo R | Pharmaceuticals (Basel) | 01-Jun-2023 |
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| Nanoemulsions of terpene by-products from cannabidiol production have promising insecticidal effect on Callosobruchusmaculatus | Fei T, Gwinn K, Leyva-Gutierrez FM, Wang T | Heliyon | 01-Apr-2023 |
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| Exploring Knowledge about Fang Traditional Medicine: An Informal Health Seeking Behaviour for Medical or Cultural Afflictions in Equatorial Guinea | Jimenez-Fernandez R, Rodriguez Vázquez R, Marín-Morales D, Herraiz-Soria E, Losa-Iglesias ME, Becerro-de-Bengoa-Vallejo R, Corral-Liria I | Healthcare (Basel) | 09-Mar-2023 |
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| Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches | Mutie FM, Mbuni YM, Rono PC, Mkala EM, Nzei JM, Phumthum M, Hu GW, Wang QF | Plants (Basel) | 02-Mar-2023 |
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| Smallholders’ knowledge about healing goat gastrointestinal parasite infections with wild plants in southern DR Congo | Mavungu GN, Mutombo CS, Numbi DM, Nsenga SN, Muyumba WN, Pongombo CS, Bakari SA, Nachtergael A, Vandenput S, Okombe VE, Duez P | Front Pharmacol | 01-Mar-2023 |
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Phytochemical Profile Top
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| In private collections | 0 |
| In public collections | 0 |