Cat’s Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) – Powdered Vine from Brazil

A forest vine with a place in Amazonian plant knowledge

Cat’s Claw takes its name from the curved hooks that help this woody vine climb towards the forest canopy. Known as uña de gato in Spanish and unha de gato in Portuguese, Uncaria tomentosa carries a history shaped by local remedies, the training of traditional healers and the movement of plant knowledge through Amazonian communities. Maya offers the vine material as a fine powder from Brazil.

Botanical identity

Uncaria tomentosa belongs to the coffee family, Rubiaceae, and grows across tropical Central and South America, including Brazil and Peru. Its hooked structures are climbing aids, allowing a substantial woody stem to use neighbouring vegetation for support. The common name is also applied to Uncaria guianensis, a separate species with its own distribution and local uses. This powder is identified as U. tomentosa.

Cat’s Claw in plant dietas

There is a documented spiritual context for this vine. Field research in Peru’s Ucayali region recorded U. tomentosa bark decoctions among the preparations used during dietas: periods of retreat and disciplined apprenticeship supervised by experienced healers. Participants placed Cat’s Claw in the purification and cleansing stage, preparing an apprentice for later encounters with the plants’ spiritual mothers.

Within this understanding, cleansing involved physical and spiritual impurities believed to be carried in the blood. The wider dieta combined plant preparations, seclusion and dietary restrictions under a teacher’s guidance. These practices prepared apprentices to learn from plants within a particular healing tradition; taking vine powder does not reproduce that relationship.

Traditional use and modern research

Accounts from Peru also describe Cat’s Claw preparations in relation to joint and digestive complaints. These uses helped stimulate research into the plant’s chemistry, especially its oxindole alkaloids. The relative proportions of these compounds can differ between plants, which is why a botanical name alone does not make all extracts chemically equivalent.

A small randomised study published in 2002 investigated a specifically characterised U. tomentosa extract in 40 people receiving conventional treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. It reported a modest improvement in one measure of joint tenderness. The study concerned a purified extract used alongside medication, and its findings cannot establish an equivalent effect for powdered vine. Its value here is in showing how narrowly a research result must be tied to the material actually studied.

The powder in Maya’s collection

The supplied material is ground vine, with the woody, earthy character associated with Cat’s Claw. Keep it closed and dry, away from direct sunlight and strong surrounding odours. Our shredded Cat’s Claw from Brazil offers the same named species in cut form.

This product is sold as a botanical specimen. Information on traditional, cultural and reported uses is provided for educational and ethnobotanical purposes only and is not a recommendation for any particular use. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.