What is Kambo?

Kambo is the secretion of the Phyllomedusa bicolor or known in English as the bicolored treefrog, giant monkey frog, giant leaf frog, two-colored leaf frog, waxy-monkey treefrog, and Kambô in South American countries. The word Kambô commonly has two meanings in the literature. It can be used for the treefrog P. bicolor and also for the shamanic indigenous ritual (Caramaschi and Cruz, 2002; Frost, 2021). Its skin secretion has been used for centuries by the natives of the Western Amazon in shamanic healing and purification rituals known as Kambô (Erspamer-Falconieri et al., 1970) or kapum or the “vacina do sapo” (toad vaccine in English). However, this practice has expanded to urban centers as an alternative to conventional medicine (Silva et al., 2019). It is a pharmacologically important taxon because it is considered a rich source of biologically active peptides, many of which have already been identified or characterized, although it is estimated that there are numerous compounds yet to be discovered.

The Kambo secretion contains over 24 identified peptide compounds as well as steroids, alkaloids and proteins. Many have been found to have measurable medicinal effects and have been of great interest to pharmaceutical companies. There are over 70 patents that exist on peptide analogues that are derived from the discovery of these peptides. Despite drug companies’ attempts to create versions of the peptides that are eligible for patenting, the naturally occurring peptides from the secretion often outperform the synthetic analogues in experiments.

All Kambo used by Red Thread Healing is ethically and sustainably harvested directly by the Matses Tribe people of Peru/Brazil with no harm done to the frogs.