← The ApothecaryVitaceaestemsFact-checked 24 October 2026

Veldt grape

Cissus quadrangularis

Also calledHadjod (Hindi) · Asthisandhan (Sanskrit) · Phet Sang Khat (Thai) · Adamant creeper · Winged treebine

A succulent, four-angled climbing vine of Africa and tropical Asia whose Sanskrit and Hindi names both mean 'bone setter'. It is used in Ayurveda for fractures and in Thai medicine for haemorrhoids, and is now sold as a supplement for bones and weight loss. Small, mostly low-quality trials in fracture patients suggest less pain; a 2025 meta-analysis found no clear change in bone-mineral markers apart from a rise in parathyroid hormone.

What it is used for

Fractures and bone healing
Limited
Its main use, in Ayurveda and Eastern medicine, is helping fractures heal. Small randomised trials, mostly in jaw fractures in India (500 mg to 10 g a day for 4–12 weeks), reported less bone pain and some faster X-ray healing. Most were open-label or had some risk of bias, and a 2025 meta-analysis rated the evidence on bone markers as very low certainty.^1,2
Osteoporosis and bone health
Limited
In two 24-week trials in postmenopausal women with osteopenia (including 1.2 or 1.6 g/day of dried stem powder), bone-turnover markers fell but bone mineral density did not change compared with placebo. Reviewers say the evidence is too thin to recommend it as the only treatment for osteoporosis.^2,1
Weight
Limited
Sold to help with fat loss and appetite. A 2025 randomised placebo-controlled trial in Cameroon (248 overweight adults, 300 mg extract daily for 16 weeks) reported about 5–6% weight loss. This is a single trial, and versions of its abstract report different figures; it has not been independently replicated.^3,4
Haemorrhoids
Traditional
An ethnobotanical review of Thai sources found it was the most-cited of 181 species used to treat haemorrhoids, across 18 ethnic groups. This use has not been confirmed by controlled trials in that review.⁵

How it is prepared

dry extract / capsule

Dried stem powder or stem extract in capsules or tablets, sometimes combined with other herbs (for example the Indian tablet Reunion, with Dalbergia sissoo).

Trial doses reviewed in 2025 ranged from 500 mg to 10 g a day for 4–24 weeks; the osteopenia trial used 1.2 or 1.6 g/day of dried stem powder.

Pain (general) · Osteoporosis and bone health

Amounts are as recorded by the named source, not a recommendation.

Safety

Pregnancy: Insufficient data
Breastfeeding: Insufficient data

Side effects

Mild stomach upset (seen in placebo groups too)
Nausea (2 patients in one fracture trial of a combination tablet)

Toxicity

The trials and animal studies reviewed reported no serious toxicity. A 2025 meta-analysis found it raised serum parathyroid hormone. The authors caution that long-lasting high PTH could favour bone loss, and that long-term safety data are lacking.

In the healing traditions

Ayurveda
Asthisandhan / Hadjod
The 'bone setter', valued for helping fractures heal and as an analgesic. Ayurvedic sources also use it for gastrointestinal complaints.
Southeast Asian (Jamu, Thai, Philippine…)
Phet Sang Khat
In Thai traditional medicine it is the plant most often cited for haemorrhoids.
African traditional medicine
Veldt grape
Used in Cameroon as a weight-reducing plant.

Active compounds

ketosteroids and phytosterols (including β-sitosterol): proposed to drive the plant's bone-forming effects in lab and animal studies
resveratrol, piceatannol: stilbenes found in the stem and leaf
quercetin and other flavonoids: antioxidant and anti-inflammatory in lab studies

History

Its Sanskrit name Asthisandhan and Hindi name Hadjod both mean 'bone setter', which reflects its long use in India for broken bones. In the 2010s and 2020s it was studied in small Indian trials of jaw and limb fractures, and it is now sold widely as a supplement for bones and weight loss.

Sources

Reference, not prescription. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and be dangerous in pregnancy; tell your doctor or pharmacist about anything you take.