ABSTRACT In 1949 scientists in the United States announced the dramatic effects of a new drug, cortisone. They found that cortisone could be made cheaply from diosgenin, extracted from Mexican wild yam species, and began a global search for supplementary plants. By the early 1950s, South African botanists had identified the yam Dioscorea sylvatica, elephant’s foot, as promising. Boots, a major British pharmaceutical company, was keen to develop a source of diosgenin to manufacture corticosteroid medicines and started a factory in Johannesburg in 1955 to process D. sylvatica. Systematic extraction began in the eastern Transvaal and Natal. Our article focuses first on the global pharmaceutical context, as well as the identification and extraction of this plant. Second, we examine the conflicts that developed around harvesting, especially in Natal. Natal Parks Boards officers were uneasy about mass exploitation of a wild plant and attempted to enforce strict conditions. By 1960, they succeeded in terminating permits and Boots ceased production of South African diosgenin. This was a significant case for a fledgling provincial conservation authority. Third, we explore briefly issues of bioprospecting: the scientific exploitation of plant properties and whether this was a case of direct appropriation of local or indigenous knowledge.

中文翻译：

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“从象脚……到可的松”：南非的 Boots Pure Drug Company 和 Dioscorea Sylvatica，c。1950-1963 年

摘要 1949 年，美国科学家宣布了一种新药可的松的显着效果。他们发现可的松可以从墨西哥野生山药中提取的薯蓣皂苷元廉价制成，并开始在全球范围内寻找补充植物。到 1950 年代初，南非植物学家已确定象脚山药 Dioscorea sylvatica 很有前途。英国一家大型制药公司 Boots 热衷于开发薯蓣皂苷元的来源以制造皮质类固醇药物，并于 1955 年在约翰内斯堡开设了一家工厂来加工 D. sylvatica。系统的开采始于德兰士瓦东部和纳塔尔。我们的文章首先关注全球制药背景，以及这种植物的鉴定和提取。其次，我们研究了围绕收获发展的冲突，尤其是在纳塔尔。纳塔尔公园委员会的官员对大规模开发野生植物感到不安，并试图执行严格的条件。到 1960 年，他们成功地终止了许可证，Boots 停止了南非薯蓣皂苷元的生产。对于一个初出茅庐的省级保护机构来说，这是一个重要的案例。第三，我们简要探讨了生物勘探的问题：植物特性的科学开发以及这是否是直接占用当地或土著知识的案例。