About Buchu

History at a glance

Early 1700s

The indigenous Khoikhoi and San people introduce early European settlers to buchu.

Late 1700s

Cape settlers introduce buchu into Europe. It was known as the “noble tea” and only affordable to the wealthy.

1821

Naturalist William John Burchell introduces buchu to the medical profession. He created buchu vinegar, which he used to heal skin wounds, as well as Buchu brandy, which he proclaimed “faster disappeared than could be accounted for by the wants of my patient”.

1821

Buchu is officially registered in the British Pharmacopoeia as a diuretic

1860s

Buchu leaf imported into the United States as a panacea for a wide variety of ailments

10 April 1912

The Titanic sets sail from Southampton carrying eight bales of buchu, as noted in the ill-fated ship’s cargo manifest.

1920

Frank Versfeld plants the first commercial buchu fields on top of Piketberg mountain.

1970

Oil is extracted from the Buchu plant by means of steam distillation for the first time, making it possible to blend and produce pure buchu oil.

1977

Buchu is indexed in the American Merck Index, the British Martindale’s Edition and Scottish Medical Journal.

15 January 2020

Mouton’s Valley, Puris Natural Aroma Chemicals, Skimmelberg Fynbos Oils and Waterfall Health farms establish the Buchu Association.

9 March 2022

Parceval joins the Buchu Association.

14 September 2023

The Buchu Association signs an industry-wide benefit-sharing agreement with the Khoikhoi and San peoples as the traditional knowledge holders on buchu.