Rafuma (aka. Luobuma; Apocynum venetum) is a perennial shrub in the Apocynaceae native to the broad temperate belt from Eastern Europe across Asia.
It spreads via rhizomes and forms dense stands in sandy riverbanks and plains, and adapts to extreme conditions with surface salinity up to 20%, making it valuable to transformation of barren lands and saline soils, as well as sand-fixing or stabilization. It’s flowers have the added value of pollinator support, and potential for honey production.
🌿 Rafuma is valued for its bast fibers, and for this reason is sometimes called the “king of wild fibers.” They are long, strong, antibacterial and salt‑tolerant, traditionally processed for high‑quality textiles, ropes, fishing nets, and paper, and now explored for eco‑friendly fabrics and composites.
➡️ In Traditional Chinese Medicine and related Central Asian systems, the dried leaves are used to “calm the liver and soothe the nerves,” and brewed as a tea for nerve, cardiovascular, anxiety and head comfort.
Ethnic Uygur medicine regards it as “fairy grass” for liver‑yang vertigo, edema, and kidney‑related swelling, reflecting a combined cardiovascular, neurotonic, and diuretic profile.
➡️ It is increasingly marketed across nutraceutical markets as a gentle sedative and anti‑aging tonic aimed at stress‑related cardiovascular and neurological support.
Through scientific investigation Rafuma has exhibited multiple activities, including cardioprotective, lipid balance, antioxidant, neuroprotective, immune, anti-aging, blood sugar, liver and mood support.
One often‑cited study reviewed clinical and preclinical data and found that Rafuma leaf preparations significantly lowered blood pressure, improved blood lipids, and exerted antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, with long‑term human intake (around 50 mg extract per day for over three years) showing no serious adverse events.
A recent preclinical study on doxorubicin‑induced cardiotoxicity showed that Rafuma leaf extract reshaped gut microbiota and increased indole‑3‑propionic and acetic acids, which in turn reduced cardiac injury markers (BNP, CK, LDH) and protected the myocardium via AKT/Bcl‑2–related pathways.
Together, these findings support the traditional positioning of Rafuma as a “heart‑and‑spirit” tea that modulates vascular tone, oxidative stress, and stress‑linked mood while also opening up new angles around microbiome‑mediated cardioprotection.