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Botanical illustration of Dog's Blood
CulinarySourced entry

Dog's Blood

Rivina humilis

A small plant with red berries, known in Jamaica as dogberry and elsewhere as pigeon berry or blood berry. Its leaves are cooked as a leafy green; research so far is in the lab and in rats.

What is Dog's Blood?

Plant family
Petiveriaceae, the guinea hen weed family
Parts used
The leaves are eaten cooked, and the red berries are also eaten
Where it grows
Native to the Caribbean and tropical America; now naturalised in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Genus
Rivina
Species
humilis

Also called

Pigeon Berry, Blood Berry, Dogs Blood

Regional names

Dogberry

Traditionally used for

  • Leafy green
  • Berries
  • Blood sugar

Traditionally described as

  • Antioxidant (in lab tests)

Health topics

Where Dog's Blood appears in symptom search, and why. Being listed doesn't mean it's a proven treatment.

  • High Blood Sugar

    Lowered blood sugar in diabetic rats. It hasn't been tested in people.

Traditions that use it

  • Caribbean Folk Medicine

    Known in Jamaica as dogberry. Haitian communities grow it for its leaves, which are cooked and eaten.

What does the research say?

Traditional use

These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.

  • The Natural History Museum of Jamaica lists it under the common name dogberry. It's also called pigeon berry or blood berry.[1]

  • In French Guiana and Suriname, Haitian communities grow it for its leaves, which they cook and eat as a leafy green. The red berries are also eaten.[2]

Laboratory & animal research

Lab and animal results show what might be worth studying in people. They don't show that the herb has these effects in humans.

  • Lab analysis found the seeds are rich in carbohydrates, protein and fat, including omega fatty acids. Extracts of different parts of the plant acted as antioxidants. The berries contain betalains, the red pigments also found in beetroot.[3]

    Technical detail: seeds 50.15 g/100 g carbohydrate, 10.96 g protein, 11.25 g fat.

  • In diabetic rats, an alcohol-based extract given for 21 days lowered blood sugar, kept liver and kidney tests normal, and boosted the liver's antioxidant defenses.[4]

    Technical detail: streptozotocin- and fructose-induced type 2 diabetes; ethanol extract; improved oral glucose tolerance at 90 and 120 minutes; HbA1c normal in treated groups.

In short

Hasn't been studied in people, so its safety as a medicine is unknown.

Sources

  1. [1] Common Name Database — Natural History Museum of Jamaica, Institute of JamaicaGeneral reference
  2. [2] The Consumption of Edible Leaves by Afro-Descendants in French Guiana and Suriname: An Overview of a Constantly Evolving Ethno-Culinary Practice — Plants · DOI: 10.3390/plants15132096Peer-reviewed study
  3. [3] Phytoconstituents, GC-MS Characterization of Omega Fatty Acids, and Antioxidant Potential of Less-Known Plant Rivina humilis L. — ACS Omega · DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02883Peer-reviewed study
  4. [4] In vivo antioxidant and hypoglycaemic potentials of Rivina humilis extract against streptozotocin induced diabetes and its complications in wistar rats — Journal of Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders · DOI: 10.1007/s40200-023-01258-6Peer-reviewed study

This information is educational and traditional in nature, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.