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Utazi

  • Igbo Utazi
  • Yoruba Arokeke

Gongronemopsis latifolia · also called Arokeke

What it is used for

Tap a use to read how it is prepared and how well it is supported.

How each use is prepared

Parts used: leaf.

  • Food vegetable and spice

    Traditional use

    Nutrition · leaf

    How it is prepared: Cooked as a leafy vegetable, and used as a spice, as stated in the background of the fruit study

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    The background of source 6 states that the leaves are used as leaf vegetable and spice in traditional Nigerian dishes. The survey in source 5 (Nsukka) also lists the plant among leafy vegetables eaten as food. These show food use only. They do not show a health effect in people. [6][5]

  • Diabetes, reported by users

    Traditional use

    Blood sugar

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    A survey of herbs used by Nigerian adults with type 2 diabetes records utazi once (1 respondent, 0.9%). The survey shows use only. It does not report an interaction, a clinical effect or a dose. [9]

  • General traditional remedy

    Traditional use

    Other · leaf

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    The 90-day study says the leaves have long been used traditionally as a remedy for a variety of ailments in Africa. The specific uses listed in the full text were not read in detail, so this entry records only that traditional use is reported. [1]

  • Cough

    Traditional use

    Cough and breathing · leaf

    How it is prepared: Leaf crushed in a mortar and mixed with ginger or garlic, then drunk

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    Ethnobotanical survey in Abia State, Nigeria, lists utazi for cough and diabetes, with the leaf prepared as above. A qualitative study in Ebonyi State describes squeezing utazi with scent leaf and drinking the extract against cough. Both are reports of traditional use only. No dose or clinical outcome is given. [10][12]

  • Diabetes, leaf drink

    Traditional use

    Blood sugar · leaf

    How it is prepared: Leaves infused in hot water and drunk after cooling

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    Survey of plants used by traditional healers in southeastern Nigeria for diabetes. The leaf infusion is recorded in the table row for utazi in source 11. This is a traditional report only and does not show that the infusion lowers blood sugar. source 10 also names diabetes as a use of utazi. [11][10]

  • Diabetes, boiled root

    Traditional use

    Blood sugar · root

    How it is prepared: Root decoction taken orally three times a day

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    The same southeastern Nigerian survey records a root decoction of utazi taken by mouth three times a day for diabetes. The table in source 11 lists root, leaf and bark for utazi, so the root use is kept separate from the leaf infusion. Traditional report only. No dose in milligrams is given, and no clinical outcome is reported. [11]

  • Obesity

    Traditional use

    Other · leaf

    How it is prepared: Leaf boiled in hot water and drunk, a cup daily; or soaked in alcohol, a quarter cup daily

    People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

    Ethnobotanical survey of plants used for obesity in the North Central zone of Nigeria, not the South East. The table lists utazi (Igbo name) with leaf used in hot water and alcohol preparations. Traditional report only. The size of the cup and the strength of the alcohol preparation are not stated. [13]

  • Blood sugar

    Lab or animal studies

    Blood sugar · leaf

    How it is prepared: Aqueous leaf extract given to alloxan-diabetic rats; the dose is not stated in the abstract read

    Tested in the laboratory or in animals, not in people.

    Rat study in which alloxan was used to induce diabetes. The authors report an antihyperglycaemic effect and changes in related gene expression. Animal evidence only; no human trial was found in the sources read, so the effect in people is unknown. [3]

  • Diabetic kidney damage

    Lab or animal studies

    Blood sugar · leaf

    How it is prepared: Aqueous leaf extract given to diabetic rats at 6.36, 12.72 and 25.44 mg/kg body weight, as reported in the abstract

    Tested in the laboratory or in animals, not in people.

    Rat study of diabetic nephropathy. The authors report that the extract modulated hyperglycaemia and reduced redox imbalance and inflammation. Animal evidence only. The full text was not read, so the dose and route are taken from the abstract only. [4]

Safety

Safety data come from rats and mice only. A 90-day oral study of an ethanolic leaf extract in rats found a marked body-weight and brain-weight effect in female rats at the highest dose, and enlarged livers in both sexes. A mouse study looked at a compound isolated from the leaf. Use in pregnancy, children and with diabetes medicines has not been studied in the sources read, so do not use it as a remedy without advice.

Side effects

  • No side effects in people were found in the sources read. In the 90-day rat study the liver was significantly enlarged in treated rats of both sexes, and the highest dose showed gender-specific adverse changes (see toxicity). [1]

Poisoning and overdose

  • 90-day oral toxicity study of ethanolic leaf extract in Sprague Dawley rats at 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day. No behavioural or physiological changes and no deaths were reported in the abstract read. The liver was significantly enlarged in treated rats of both sexes. At the highest dose, females showed marked body-weight gain and reduced cerebrum weight. The authors conclude that more research is needed on the safety of high doses. [1]
  • Mouse study of a compound (a marsdenin glycoside) isolated from the leaf, looking at brain and kidney function indices. The findings were not stated in the abstract read, so they are not summarised here. [2]
  • The sources read do not give oxalate, cyanogenic or other toxic constituent data for this species, so those are not established here.

If you take other medicines

  • No drug interaction study was found in the sources read. The leaf lowered blood sugar in diabetic rats, so use with diabetes medicines could add to the effect. This is an inference from animal data, not a reported interaction. A survey of Nigerian adults with type 2 diabetes lists utazi among herbs used, with no interaction reported. [3][4][9]

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

  • Data are lacking. No study in the sources read tested the leaf in pregnancy. [1]

Children

  • Data are lacking. No study in the sources read tested the leaf in children. [1]

About this plant

A climbing or herbaceous plant of the Apocynaceae whose leaves are eaten as a bitter vegetable and used as a spice in Nigeria. Its named Nigerian forms are utazi (South Eastern Nigeria) and arokeke (South Western Nigeria). The studies on its leaves are in rats and mice, with no human trial found in the sources read. Reports that it lowers blood sugar come from animal studies only.

How to recognise it

Gongronema latifolium (also filed here as Gongronemopsis latifolia) is described in two sources read with different habits. One calls it a climbing perennial. The other calls it an herbaceous shrub. Both describe it as edible, with a sharp, bitter and slightly sweet taste, especially when eaten fresh. The leaves are used as a leaf vegetable and spice in traditional Nigerian dishes. The flowers are yellow. Leaf shape, size, height and fruit are not described in the sources read, so a botanical source is needed before these are added.

Where it grows

Described in the sources read as a climbing or herbaceous plant that grows in the tropics, with a bitter, edible leaf that is sold and eaten fresh. Specific habitats, such as forest, scrub or disturbed land, are not stated in the sources read.

Native to
Not established in the sources read. One source describes the plant as widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, especially Africa and South America, with moderate representation in Northern and South-Eastern Asia. That is a broad distribution statement and does not establish the native range.
In Nigeria
Known in Nigeria as utazi in South Eastern Nigeria and arokeke in South Western Nigeria. No source read gives the states where the plant grows. Cross River State is the collection site for the plant in one study. A collection site is not a distribution record, so it is not listed as a state.

Scientific details

Scientific name
Gongronemopsis latifolia
Family
Apocynaceae
Older names
Gongronema latifolium

Sources

Not yet reviewed Drafted with AI from the sources below. Treat with care.

  1. Al-Hindi B, Yusoff NA, Ahmad M, et al.. Safety assessment of the ethanolic extract of Gongronema latifolium Benth. leaves: a 90-day oral toxicity study in Sprague Dawley rats. BMC Complement Altern Med, 2019. PMID 31253153.
  2. Ani OG, Medayedupin OA, Azeez AA, et al.. Toxicity assessment of 3-O-[6-deoxy-3-O-methyl-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β-D-oleandropyranosyl]-17β-marsdenin isolated from Gongronema latifolium leaf on selected brain and kidney function indices in mice. Toxicon, 2024. PMID 38936671.
  3. Ajiboye BO, Oyinloye BE, Agboinghale PE, et al.. Antihyperglycaemia and related gene expressions of aqueous extract of Gongronema latifolium leaf in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Pharm Biol, 2019. PMID 31513755.
  4. Ojo OA, Osukoya OA, Ekakitie LI, et al.. Gongronema latifolium leaf extract modulates hyperglycaemia, inhibits redox imbalance and inflammation in alloxan-induced diabetic nephropathy. J Diabetes Metab Disord, 2020. PMID 32550199.
  5. Aba PE, Udechukwu IR. Comparative hypoglycemic potentials and phytochemical profiles of 12 common leafy culinary vegetables consumed in Nsukka, Southeastern Nigeria. Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology, 2018. PMID 29641414.
  6. Agwaramgbo A, Ilodigwe EE, Ajaghaku DL, Onuorah MU, Mbagwu SI. Evaluation of Antioxidant, Immunomodulatory Activities, and Safety of Ethanol Extract and Fractions of Gongronema latifolium Fruit. International Scholarly Research Notices, 2014. PMID 27433504.
  7. Ojo FT, Idowu OA, Ademolu KO, Olukunle JO. In vivo anthelmintic potentials of Gongronema latifolium and Picralima nitida against gastrointestinal parasite (Heligmosomoides bakeri). Helminthologia, 2023. PMID 38222486.
  8. Al-Hindi B, Yusoff NA, Atangwho IJ, et al.. A Soxhlet Extract of Gongronema latifolium Retains Moderate Blood Glucose Lowering Effect and Produces Structural Recovery in the Pancreas of STZ-Induced Diabetic Rats. Medical Sciences (Basel), 2016. PMID 29083373.
  9. Ezuruike U, Prieto JM. Assessment of Potential Herb-Drug Interactions among Nigerian Adults with Type-2 Diabetes. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2016. PMID 27559312.
  10. Oyedemi et al. (full author list and initials not confirmed). Pharmacological Evaluation of Selected Medicinal Plants Used in the Management of Oral and Skin Infections in Ebem-Ohafia District, Abia State, Nigeria. The Scientific World Journal, 2018. PMID 30111991.
  11. Oyedemi RA, et al. (initials from search metadata). Alpha-Amylase Inhibition and Antioxidative Capacity of Some Antidiabetic Plants Used by the Traditional Healers in Southeastern Nigeria. The Scientific World Journal, 2017. PMID 28367491.
  12. Agu et al. (full author list and initials not confirmed). Examining the use of complementary and alternative medicine among older persons in Ebonyi State, Southeast Nigeria: a qualitative study. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 2026. PMID 42056961.
  13. Anyanwu et al. (full author list and initials not confirmed). An Ethnobotanical Survey and Pharmacological and Toxicity Review of Medicinal Plants Used in the Management of Obesity in the North Central Zone of Nigeria. Journal of Obesity, 2025. PMID 40026359.