Tribulus terrestris
Encyclopedia
Tribulus terrestris is a flowering plant
in the family Zygophyllaceae
, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World
in southern Europe
, southern Asia
, throughout Africa
, and Australia
. It can thrive even in desert
climates and poor soil
. Like many weedy species, this plant has many common names, including bindii, bullhead, burra gokharu, caltrop
, cat's head, devil's eyelashes, devil's thorn, devil's weed, goathead, puncturevine, and tackweed.
It is a taproot
ed herbaceous
perennial plant
that grows as a summer annual
in colder climates. The stems radiate from the crown to a diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m, often branching. They are usually prostrate, forming flat patches, though they may grow more upwards in shade or among taller plants. The leaves
are pinnately compound with leaflets less than 6 mm (a quarter-inch) long. The flower
s are 4–10 mm wide, with five lemon-yellow petals. A week after each flower blooms, it is followed by a fruit
that easily falls apart into four or five single-seeded nutlets. The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two to three sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle
tires and to cause painful injury to bare feet.
name tribulus originally meant the caltrop
(a spiky weapon), but in Classical times already the word meant this plant as well.
in the Americas
and also in Australia south of its native range. In some states in the United States
, it is considered a noxious weed and an invasive species
.
It has been reported that the seeds or nutlets have been used in homicidal weapons in southern Africa; murderers smear them with the poisonous juice of Acokanthera venenata
and put them where victims are likely to step.
The extract is claimed to increase the body's natural testosterone
levels and thereby improve male sexual performance and help build muscle. Its purported muscle-building potential was popularized by American IFBB bodybuilding champion Jeffrey Petermann in the early 1970s. However, T. terrestris has consistently failed to increase testosterone levels in controlled studies. It has also failed to demonstrate strength-enhancing properties.
Tribulus has been shown to enhance sexual behaviour in an animal model. It appears to do so by stimulating androgen receptors in the brain.
Some body builders use T. terrestris as post cycle therapy or "PCT". After they have completed an anabolic-steroid
cycle, they use it under the assumption that it will restore the body's natural testosterone levels.
Tribulus terrestris is known under the name bai ji li (白蒺藜).
According to Bensky and Clavey, 2004 (Materia medica 3rd edition, pp. 975–976) Tribulus terrestris is ci ji li (刺蒺藜). "Confusion with Astragali complanati Semen (sha yuan zi) originally known as white ji li (白蒺藜 bai ji li), led some writers to attribute tonifying properties to this herb..."
Tribulus terrestris has long been a constituent in tonics in Indian ayurveda
practice, where it is known by its Sanskrit
name, "gokshura/ sarrata" It is also used as an aphrodisiac
, diuretic and nervine in Ayurveda, and in Unani
, another medical system of India.
Animal studies in rats, rabbits and primates have demonstrated that administration of Tribulus terrestris extract can produce statistically significant increases in levels of testosterone
, dihydrotestosterone
and dehydroepiandrosterone
, and produces effects suggestive of aphrodisiac activity. On the other hand, one recent study found that T. terrestris caused no increase in testosterone or LH in young men, and another found that a commercial supplement containing androstenedione
and herbal extracts, including T. terrestris, was no more effective at raising testosterone levels than androstenedione alone.
The active chemical in T. terrestris is likely to be protodioscin
(PTN). In a study with mice, Tribulus was shown to enhance mounting activity and erection better than testosterone cypionate, However, testosterone cypionate is a synthetic ester
of testosterone engineered for its longer activity, rather than an immediate effect. Testosterone cypionate has a half-life of 8 days and is administereed every 2–4 weeks in humans for testosterone replacement. The proerectile aphrodisiac properties were concluded to likely be due to the release of nitric oxide
from the nerve endings innervating the corpus cavernosum penis. Also, T. terrestris was shown to have strong inhibitory activity on COX-2.
Adverse effects from supplementation with Tribulus terrestris are rare and tend to be insignificant. However, some users report an upset stomach
, which can usually be counteracted by taking it with food. Another rare side effect which has been reported is gynaecomastia, which while potentially problematic does tend to support the purported androgenic-anabolic effects of this plant, if it really was T. terrestris that caused it and not androgens, as the source doesn't say that the product was tested in order to detect what chemicals it contained.
Another avenue of physical eradication is to crowd out the opportunistic weed by providing good competition from favorable plants. Aerating compacted sites and planting competitive desirable plants including broad-leaved grasses such as St Augustine can reduce the impact of puncture vine by reducing resources available to the weed.
, benefin, or trifluralin
will provide partial control of germinating seeds. These must be applied prior to germination (late winter to midspring).
After plants have emerged from the soil (postemergent), products containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid
("2,4-D"), glyphosate, and dicamba
are effective on puncture vine. Like most postemergents they are more effectively maintained when caught small and young. Dicamba and 2,4-D will cause harm to most broad-leaved plants so the user should take care to avoid over-application. They can be applied to lawns without injuring the desired grass. Glyphosate will kill or injure most plants so it should only be used as spot treatments or on solid stands of the weed.
Another product from DuPont called Pastora is highly effective, but expensive and not for lawn use.
s, Microlarinus lareynii and M. lypriformis, native to India, France, and Italy, were introduced into the United States as biocontrol
agents in 1961. Both species of weevils are available for purchase from biological suppliers, but purchase and release is not often recommended because weevils collected from other areas may not survive at the purchaser's location.
Microlarinus lareynii is a seed weevil that deposits its eggs in the young burr or flower bud. The larvae feed on and destroy the seeds before they pupate, emerge, disperse, and start the cycle over again. Its life cycle time is 19 to 24 days. Microlarinus lypriformis is a stem weevil that has a similar life cycle, excepting the location of the eggs, which includes the undersides of stems, branches, and the root crown. The larvae tunnel in the pith where they feed and pupate. Adults of both species overwinter in plant debris. Although the stem weevil is slightly more effective than the seed weevil when each is used alone, the weevils are most effective if used together and the puncture vine is moisture-stressed.
(staggers) in sheep that eat Tribulus terrestulis are the beta-carboline
alkaloid
s harman
(harmane) and norharman (norharmane). The alkaloid content of dried foliage is about 44 mg/kg.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the family Zygophyllaceae
Zygophyllaceae
The Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. It includes around 285 species in 22 genera.In the APG III system of classification, the families Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae compose the order Zygophyllales...
, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
in southern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, throughout Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It can thrive even in desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
climates and poor soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
. Like many weedy species, this plant has many common names, including bindii, bullhead, burra gokharu, caltrop
Caltrop
A caltrop is an antipersonnel weapon made up of two or more sharp nails or spines arranged in such a manner that one of them always points upward from a stable base...
, cat's head, devil's eyelashes, devil's thorn, devil's weed, goathead, puncturevine, and tackweed.
Growth
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
ed herbaceous
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
perennial plant
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
that grows as a summer annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
in colder climates. The stems radiate from the crown to a diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m, often branching. They are usually prostrate, forming flat patches, though they may grow more upwards in shade or among taller plants. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are pinnately compound with leaflets less than 6 mm (a quarter-inch) long. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are 4–10 mm wide, with five lemon-yellow petals. A week after each flower blooms, it is followed by a fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
that easily falls apart into four or five single-seeded nutlets. The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two to three sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
tires and to cause painful injury to bare feet.
Etymology
The LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name tribulus originally meant the caltrop
Caltrop
A caltrop is an antipersonnel weapon made up of two or more sharp nails or spines arranged in such a manner that one of them always points upward from a stable base...
(a spiky weapon), but in Classical times already the word meant this plant as well.
Cultivation and uses
The plant is widely naturalisedNaturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and also in Australia south of its native range. In some states in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it is considered a noxious weed and an invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
.
It has been reported that the seeds or nutlets have been used in homicidal weapons in southern Africa; murderers smear them with the poisonous juice of Acokanthera venenata
Acokanthera venenata
Acokanthera venenata is a shrub used as the source of an arrow poison and to coat caltrops made from the sharp fruits of the puncture vine . All three plants of the genus Acokanthera contain toxic cardiac glycosides strong enough to cause death...
and put them where victims are likely to step.
Dietary supplement
T. terrestris is now being promoted as a booster for the purpose of increasing sex drive. Its use for this purpose originated from a Bulgarian study conducted in the 1970s, which found effects on free testosterone and luteinizing hormone in men belonging to infertile couples. A research review conducted in 2000 stated that the lack of data outside of this study prevents generalizing to healthy individuals.The extract is claimed to increase the body's natural testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
levels and thereby improve male sexual performance and help build muscle. Its purported muscle-building potential was popularized by American IFBB bodybuilding champion Jeffrey Petermann in the early 1970s. However, T. terrestris has consistently failed to increase testosterone levels in controlled studies. It has also failed to demonstrate strength-enhancing properties.
Tribulus has been shown to enhance sexual behaviour in an animal model. It appears to do so by stimulating androgen receptors in the brain.
Some body builders use T. terrestris as post cycle therapy or "PCT". After they have completed an anabolic-steroid
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
cycle, they use it under the assumption that it will restore the body's natural testosterone levels.
Medicinal uses
In traditional Chinese medicineTraditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
Tribulus terrestris is known under the name bai ji li (白蒺藜).
According to Bensky and Clavey, 2004 (Materia medica 3rd edition, pp. 975–976) Tribulus terrestris is ci ji li (刺蒺藜). "Confusion with Astragali complanati Semen (sha yuan zi) originally known as white ji li (白蒺藜 bai ji li), led some writers to attribute tonifying properties to this herb..."
Tribulus terrestris has long been a constituent in tonics in Indian ayurveda
Ayurveda
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
practice, where it is known by its Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
name, "gokshura/ sarrata" It is also used as an aphrodisiac
Aphrodisiac
An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire. The name comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality and love. Throughout history, many foods, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable...
, diuretic and nervine in Ayurveda, and in Unani
Unani
Unani-tibb or Unani Medicine also spelled Yunani Medicine means "Greek Medicine", and is a form of traditional medicine widely practiced in South Asia...
, another medical system of India.
Animal studies in rats, rabbits and primates have demonstrated that administration of Tribulus terrestris extract can produce statistically significant increases in levels of testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
, dihydrotestosterone
Dihydrotestosterone
Dihydrotestosterone is an androgen or male sex hormone. The enzyme 5α-reductase synthesises DHT in the prostate, testes, hair follicles, and adrenal glands...
and dehydroepiandrosterone
Dehydroepiandrosterone
5-Dehydroepiandrosterone is a 19-carbon endogenous steroid hormone. It is the major secretory steroidal product of the adrenal glands and is also produced by the gonads and the brain. DHEA is the most abundant circulating steroid in humans....
, and produces effects suggestive of aphrodisiac activity. On the other hand, one recent study found that T. terrestris caused no increase in testosterone or LH in young men, and another found that a commercial supplement containing androstenedione
Androstenedione
Androstenedione is a 19-carbon steroid hormone produced in the adrenal glands and the gonads as an intermediate step in the biochemical pathway that produces the androgen testosterone and the estrogens estrone and estradiol.-Synthesis:Androstenedione is the common precursor of male and female sex...
and herbal extracts, including T. terrestris, was no more effective at raising testosterone levels than androstenedione alone.
The active chemical in T. terrestris is likely to be protodioscin
Protodioscin
Protodioscin is a steroidal saponin compound found in a number of plant species, most notably in the Tribulus, Trigonella and Dioscorea families. It is best known as the putative active component of the herbal aphrodisiac plant Tribulus terrestris.Extracts from T...
(PTN). In a study with mice, Tribulus was shown to enhance mounting activity and erection better than testosterone cypionate, However, testosterone cypionate is a synthetic ester
Ester
Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...
of testosterone engineered for its longer activity, rather than an immediate effect. Testosterone cypionate has a half-life of 8 days and is administereed every 2–4 weeks in humans for testosterone replacement. The proerectile aphrodisiac properties were concluded to likely be due to the release of nitric oxide
Nitric oxide
Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, is a diatomic molecule with chemical formula NO. It is a free radical and is an important intermediate in the chemical industry...
from the nerve endings innervating the corpus cavernosum penis. Also, T. terrestris was shown to have strong inhibitory activity on COX-2.
Adverse effects from supplementation with Tribulus terrestris are rare and tend to be insignificant. However, some users report an upset stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
, which can usually be counteracted by taking it with food. Another rare side effect which has been reported is gynaecomastia, which while potentially problematic does tend to support the purported androgenic-anabolic effects of this plant, if it really was T. terrestris that caused it and not androgens, as the source doesn't say that the product was tested in order to detect what chemicals it contained.
Eradication
Where this is a non-indigenous species, eradication methods are often sought after. There are both biological and herbicidal solutions to the problem, but neither of them provide a solution which is both quick and long-lasting, because T. terrestris seeds remain viable for up to 3–7 years on average.Physical
In smaller areas, puncture vine is best controlled with manual removal using a hoe to cut the plant off at its taproot. While this is effective, removing the entire plant by gripping the taproot, stem or trunk and pulling upward to remove the taproot is far more effective. This requires monitoring the area and removing the weed throughout the preseeding time (late spring and early summer in many temperate areas). This will greatly reduce the prevalence of the weed the following year. Mowing is not an effective method of eradication, because the plant grows flat against the ground.Another avenue of physical eradication is to crowd out the opportunistic weed by providing good competition from favorable plants. Aerating compacted sites and planting competitive desirable plants including broad-leaved grasses such as St Augustine can reduce the impact of puncture vine by reducing resources available to the weed.
Chemical
Chemical control is generally recommended for home control of puncture vine. There are few pre-emergent herbicides that are effective. Products containing oryzalinOryzalin
Oryzalin is an herbicide. It acts through the disruption of microtubules, thus blocking anisotropic growth of plant cells....
, benefin, or trifluralin
Trifluralin
Trifluralin is a commonly used pre-emergence herbicide. With about 14 million pounds used in the United States in 2001, it is one of the most widely used herbicides. Trifluralin is generally applied to the soil to provide control of a variety of annual grass and broadleaf weed species...
will provide partial control of germinating seeds. These must be applied prior to germination (late winter to midspring).
After plants have emerged from the soil (postemergent), products containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is a common systemic pesticide/herbicide used in the control of broadleaf weeds. It is the most widely used herbicide in the world, and the third most commonly used in North America...
("2,4-D"), glyphosate, and dicamba
Dicamba
Dicamba is an herbicide. Brand names for formulations of this herbicide include Banvel, Oracle and Vanquish...
are effective on puncture vine. Like most postemergents they are more effectively maintained when caught small and young. Dicamba and 2,4-D will cause harm to most broad-leaved plants so the user should take care to avoid over-application. They can be applied to lawns without injuring the desired grass. Glyphosate will kill or injure most plants so it should only be used as spot treatments or on solid stands of the weed.
Another product from DuPont called Pastora is highly effective, but expensive and not for lawn use.
Biological
Two weevilWeevil
A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
s, Microlarinus lareynii and M. lypriformis, native to India, France, and Italy, were introduced into the United States as biocontrol
Biological pest control
Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...
agents in 1961. Both species of weevils are available for purchase from biological suppliers, but purchase and release is not often recommended because weevils collected from other areas may not survive at the purchaser's location.
Microlarinus lareynii is a seed weevil that deposits its eggs in the young burr or flower bud. The larvae feed on and destroy the seeds before they pupate, emerge, disperse, and start the cycle over again. Its life cycle time is 19 to 24 days. Microlarinus lypriformis is a stem weevil that has a similar life cycle, excepting the location of the eggs, which includes the undersides of stems, branches, and the root crown. The larvae tunnel in the pith where they feed and pupate. Adults of both species overwinter in plant debris. Although the stem weevil is slightly more effective than the seed weevil when each is used alone, the weevils are most effective if used together and the puncture vine is moisture-stressed.
Phytochemistry
Two alkaloids that seem to cause limb paresisParesis
Paresis is a condition typified by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. When used without qualifiers, it usually refers to the limbs, but it also can be used to describe the muscles of the eyes , the stomach , and also the vocal cords...
(staggers) in sheep that eat Tribulus terrestulis are the beta-carboline
Beta-carboline
β-Carboline is an organic amine that is the prototype of a class of compounds known as β-carbolines.-Pharmacology:...
alkaloid
Alkaloid
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...
s harman
Harmala alkaloid
Several alkaloids that function as monoamine oxidase inhibitors are found in the seeds of Peganum harmala , including harmine, harmaline, and harmalol, which are members of a group of substances with a similar chemical structure collectively known as harmala alkaloids...
(harmane) and norharman (norharmane). The alkaloid content of dried foliage is about 44 mg/kg.