Bulbine Natalensis: The Forgotten Testosterone Herb That Changed the Way I Look at Natural Performance Supplements
A journey through traditional South African medicine, one of the most talked-about animal studies in supplement history, and the herb that's remained in my personal stack for over twenty years.
🛂 Tourist of Molecules Passport
Destination: Bulbine natalensis
Country of Origin: South Africa 🇿🇦
First Explored: Early 2000s
Current Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ "One of the most intriguing—but still under-researched—testosterone-supporting botanicals I've encountered."
Introduction
If you've followed my work - whether through Tourist of Molecules, the Newtown Supplement Store videos, or simply because you've gone searching for evidence-based information on supplements - you'll know I've always been fascinated by ingredients that sit somewhere between traditional herbal medicine and modern science.
Not because I'm looking for miracle supplements.
Quite the opposite.
I'm drawn to the ingredients that make researchers stop and ask, "There's something interesting happening here... we just don't fully understand it yet."
Bulbine natalensis is one of those herbs.
In fact, it may well be the ingredient that sparked my lifelong fascination with researching natural testosterone-supporting botanicals.
Before YouTube, Before Podcasts...
It's hard to explain to younger lifters just how different the supplement world was in the early 2000s.
There were no influencers.
No TikTok.
No podcasts breaking down the latest ingredients.
If you wanted to learn about supplements, you had to go digging.
Night after night I'd disappear down rabbit holes on Anabolic Minds, Mind & Muscle, bodybuilding forums and, later on, Examine.com as it became one of the best evidence-based supplement resources on the internet.
It felt like treasure hunting.
Every now and then someone would post about an obscure herb nobody had heard of.
Most disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived.
Occasionally though, one would refuse to go away.
One day I stumbled across a little South African plant called Bulbine natalensis.
The traditional history was interesting enough.
Then I found one of the early animal studies.
I genuinely thought I was reading it incorrectly.
The researchers weren't reporting a modest improvement.
They weren't talking about a subtle hormonal shift.
They were describing roughly a three-fold increase in testosterone in the treated animals, alongside changes in reproductive physiology and sexual behaviour that immediately caught the attention of the supplement community.¹
Needless to say...
People started paying attention.
My First Experience with Bulbine
At the time, very few companies were producing Bulbine Natalensis supplements.
The very first one I managed to get my hands on was SNS Bulbine, which used ProLensis™—the trademarked Bulbine Natalensis extract that was generating considerable excitement because it was the same standardised extract being investigated in the scientific literature.
I still remember waiting for that parcel to arrive from the United States.
Back then, that was half the fun.
Every new ingredient felt like an experiment.
Around the same time I was also experimenting with Tongkat Ali, Safed Musli and many of the classic Universal Nutrition products that lifters from that era will probably remember.
Tongkat Ali certainly had its place, but personally I often found it came with a slight edge. A little more intensity. A little less patience.
Bulbine felt... different.
Tourist of Molecules Note
From here on, I'm talking about my own experience—not scientific evidence.
One of the reasons Bulbine has remained in my personal supplement rotation for more than twenty years is that I found it delivered many of the benefits I was looking for without the slight irritability I occasionally experienced from Tongkat Ali.
The biggest thing I noticed was an increase in libido and an overall sense of wellbeing.
I also noticed something I'd never experienced with another herb.
Everything simply felt... fuller.
Not swollen.
Not uncomfortable.
Just more engorged.
Years later, while revisiting the original animal literature, I noticed the researchers had reported increased testicular weight in the treated animals.¹
Does that mean the same thing was happening in me?
Absolutely not.
Animal findings don't automatically translate to humans.
But it was one of those fascinating moments where my own observations and the published literature seemed to rhyme in an interesting way.
From ProLensis™ to Finding My Own Sweet Spot
Like many niche ingredients from that era, ProLensis™ eventually disappeared from the market.
A few years later another trademarked Bulbine Natalensis extract emerged under the name Anatest®, developed by the South African company Afrigetics. It kept Bulbine alive within the sports nutrition world for a while, but that standardised extract has also largely disappeared from commercial products.
By that point, however, I'd already spent years experimenting with the herb.
More importantly, I'd learnt something that has shaped how I look at botanical extracts today.
I wasn't convinced the magic was tied to a particular trademark.
What seemed to matter was the quality of the extract itself.
Over the years I experimented with several Bulbine extracts and eventually found myself gravitating towards high-quality 10:1 extracts, the type commonly produced by specialist botanical extraction houses. Whether those manufacturers are ultimately sourcing their raw Bulbine from South Africa—as I'd suspect—they've consistently produced the versions that have worked best for me.
After countless bottles over the last two decades, I've settled on what remains my personal sweet spot:
400 mg per day of a quality 10:1 Bulbine Natalensis extract.
Is that because the extraction process concentrates the most biologically relevant compounds?
Is it because of differences in standardisation?
Or is it simply that this particular extract suits me better as an individual?
At this stage, nobody can answer those questions with confidence.
What I can say is that, after more than twenty years of experimenting with Bulbine Natalensis in its various forms, this is the version I continue coming back to.
Even today I still use it conservatively. I generally take it during the week, have weekends off, and often give myself a couple of weeks between bottles. That's not because human research says it's necessary—rather, it's simply my own philosophy whenever long-term human data are still evolving. If I can enjoy an ingredient while also taking a cautious approach, that feels like a sensible balance.
More Than Just Another "Test Booster"
Today, Bulbine Natalensis is rarely part of the conversation.
Tongkat Ali dominates the headlines.
Cistanche has enjoyed a well-deserved resurgence.
Shilajit has become almost mainstream.
Meanwhile, Bulbine has quietly faded into the background.
Personally, I think that's a shame.
Not because I believe it's a miracle herb.
But because it represents something that's becoming increasingly rare in the supplement industry—an ingredient with centuries of traditional use, genuinely intriguing preclinical research, encouraging anecdotal reports, and just enough unanswered questions to keep both researchers and curious supplement enthusiasts coming back for another look.
So where did this unusual South African plant come from?
And why were traditional healers using it long before scientists ever placed it under a microscope?
Let's start at the beginning.
References
- Yakubu MT, Afolayan AJ. Effect of aqueous extract of Bulbine natalensis stem on the sexual behaviour of male rats. International Journal of Andrology. 2009;32(6):629-636. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18710410/
From the African Grasslands to Modern Supplement Shelves
Every Great Supplement Has a Story
One of the biggest mistakes people make when researching supplements is assuming the story begins inside a laboratory.
More often than not...
It begins hundreds of years earlier.
Long before scientists ever isolated an active compound.
Long before anyone measured testosterone.
Long before PubMed existed.
It begins with people.
Communities who lived alongside these plants for generations, learning through observation which herbs soothed a burn, eased a cough, settled the stomach—or, in the case of Bulbine Natalensis, earned a reputation for supporting male vitality.
Whether every traditional use ultimately stands up to modern scientific scrutiny is almost beside the point.
Traditional medicine is where curiosity begins.
Science is where curiosity gets tested.
Bulbine Natalensis is a perfect example of that journey.
🌍 At a Glance
Scientific Name
Bulbine natalensis
Plant Family
Asphodelaceae (the same botanical family as Aloe)
Native To
South Africa, particularly KwaZulu-Natal and neighbouring grassland regions.
Traditional Uses
Traditionally used in southern African herbal medicine for a variety of topical applications and as a botanical associated with male vitality and general wellbeing.
Why Scientists Became Interested
Its longstanding traditional reputation eventually led researchers to investigate whether there might be measurable physiological effects under controlled laboratory conditions.
A Plant That Doesn't Look Like Much
If you were walking through the grasslands of eastern South Africa, there's a good chance you'd walk straight past Bulbine Natalensis without giving it a second thought.
It's hardly an exotic-looking plant.
Long fleshy leaves.
Bright yellow flowers.
A hardy perennial that's perfectly adapted to the dry grasslands where it naturally grows.
To most people...
It's just another plant.
Yet that's often how the best stories begin.
Some of the world's most interesting medicinal plants aren't spectacular to look at.
They're spectacular because of what generations of people believed they could do.
A Place Rich in Botanical History
South Africa is one of the world's great biodiversity hotspots.
Thousands of unique plant species are found nowhere else on Earth.
For centuries these plants formed the backbone of traditional healing systems practiced by Zulu, Xhosa and many other indigenous communities.
Knowledge wasn't written in textbooks.
It was passed from one generation to the next.
Parents taught children.
Healers taught apprentices.
Communities refined that knowledge over hundreds of years through observation rather than laboratory experiments.
Bulbine Natalensis became one of many plants woven into this remarkable botanical tradition.
Historical ethnobotanical records describe the fresh gel from the leaves being applied to cuts, burns, cracked skin and insect bites in a manner not unlike Aloe vera.²
Other parts of the plant were prepared in traditional remedies, where Bulbine developed a reputation as a botanical associated with male vitality and reproductive wellbeing.
It's important to pause here.
Traditional use is not clinical proof.
It doesn't tell us whether something works.
What it does tell us is that generations of people thought the plant was important enough to keep using—and that alone often provides scientists with a compelling reason to investigate further.
The Bridge Between Tradition and Science
One thing I've learnt after more than twenty years researching supplements is that science rarely starts with a blank page.
Often, scientists are following breadcrumbs left behind by traditional medicine.
Someone notices a plant appears to do something.
Generations continue using it.
Eventually researchers ask the obvious question.
"Is there actually something biologically active inside this plant?"
Sometimes the answer is no.
Sometimes traditional beliefs don't survive scientific testing.
But occasionally...
Researchers stumble across something genuinely intriguing.
Bulbine Natalensis would become one of those plants.
🎒 Tourist of Molecules Note
One of the reasons I've always loved herbal medicine is that it feels like detective work.
You're trying to piece together three very different forms of evidence.
Traditional knowledge.
Modern science.
Personal experience.
None of those should stand alone.
Traditional medicine can be wrong.
Animal studies can exaggerate effects.
Personal anecdotes can be misleading.
But when all three begin pointing in roughly the same direction...
That's when my curiosity really kicks in.
🧪 Molecule Spotlight
One of the biggest misconceptions about herbal supplements is the idea that each plant contains one "magic ingredient."
Bulbine Natalensis doesn't work like caffeine.
Or creatine.
Or vitamin C.
It's a chemically complex botanical.
Researchers have identified numerous naturally occurring compounds within Bulbine species, including:
• Anthraquinones
• Flavonoids
• Phenolic compounds
• Glycosides
• Tannins
• Various antioxidant phytochemicals
Exactly which of these compounds—or perhaps which combination—is responsible for the biological effects reported in the research remains one of the biggest unanswered questions surrounding the plant.
That's also why extraction methods matter.
Different extraction techniques can concentrate different groups of phytochemicals, potentially producing extracts that behave quite differently despite coming from the same species.
It's one reason I eventually settled on 10:1 extracts after experimenting with several different forms over the years.
Whether they're objectively superior still hasn't been established scientifically.
It's simply where my own experience eventually led me.
🧭 Timeline
Centuries Ago
Traditional use develops among indigenous communities across southern Africa.
↓
Early Ethnobotanical Research
Scientists begin documenting traditional medicinal plants and their historical applications.
↓
2008–2010
Several landmark rodent studies investigating Bulbine Natalensis are published, attracting worldwide attention after reporting remarkably large hormonal changes.
↓
Early Supplement Era
Products such as SNS Bulbine introduce the ProLensis™ extract to bodybuilding enthusiasts around the world.
↓
Later Years
The trademarked Anatest® extract from Afrigetics enters the market before eventually disappearing from commercial products.
↓
Today
Experienced users—including myself—often favour high-quality 10:1 extracts, although the specific phytochemicals responsible for Bulbine's activity remain an active area of research.
Then Everything Changed
For centuries Bulbine Natalensis was simply another medicinal plant growing across the South African landscape.
Then scientists decided to test it.
Nobody expected what happened next.
The first published animal studies didn't report modest hormonal changes.
They reported results so dramatic that they immediately divided opinion across both the scientific community and the supplement industry.
Some researchers became fascinated.
Some became sceptical.
Bodybuilders, naturally...
Wanted to know where they could buy it.
To understand why Bulbine Natalensis became one of the most talked-about herbs of the late 2000s, we need to dive into those animal studies in detail.
Because that's where the real story begins.
References
- Van Wyk B-E, Gericke N. People's Plants: A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa.
- Van Wyk B-E, Wink M. Medicinal Plants of the World.
