| International Congress and 48th annual meeting of the Society of medicinal plant Research (GA), 6th International Congress on Ethnopharmacology of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology (ISE), Zurich, Switzerland, 2000.
Health Canada. Drugs Directorate Guidelines: Traditional Herbal Medicines. Ottawa, Ontario: Minister of National Health and Welfare; 1995b Oct.
Health Canada. |
| Asteraceae]
Photo © 2003 stevenfostencom
Overview
The native American medicinal plant, echinacea, is one of the most popular herbs in the U.S. marketplace. Preparations made from several plant species and plant parts of the genus Echinacea constituted the top-selling herbal medicine in all channels of sales (mass market, multilevel, and natural food stores) in 1997, capturing 9% of the total market based on $3.6 billion of total sales. Echinacea preparations ranked fourth with retail sales of over $58 million in the mainstream market in 2000. |
| Asteraceae]
Overview
The native American medicinal plant echinacea is one of the most popular herbs in the U.S. marketplace. Preparations made from several plant species and parts of echinacea are used, including the above-ground parts, or the roots, stems or leaves from Echinacea purpurea, E. pallida, and/or E. angustifolia. While all of these species variations can be effective for treating different ailments, the exact chemical compounds responsible for the therapeutic effects are not yet known.
Uses
Supportive care to treat colds and chronic infections of the upper respiratory tract. |
| Panax quinquefolius popularity prompts probe. medicinal plant Conservation 1997, Nov. 1;4:13-5.
Scudder J. The American Eclectic Materia Medica and Therapeutics. Cincinnati, OH: John M. Scudder; 1891;454.
Shaw P, But P. Authentication of Panax species and their adulterants by random-primed polymerase chain reaction. Planta Med 1995;61:466-9.
Sontaniemi E, Haapakoski E, Rautio A. Ginseng therapy in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Diabetes Care 1995;18:1373-5.
State Standard of People's Republic of China. Grade and Quality Standards of Products of Processed American Ginseng. |
Dianne Onstad
See book keywords and concepts |
 Known as a medicinal plant since ancient times, yellow dock (both leaves and root) has been used as a laxative and a mild, astringent tonic, strengthening the circulatory system, purifying the blood, and cleansing the lymphatic system. A good liver and spleen herb, yellow dock also stimulates the elimination channels (especially the skin) and promotes the elimination of excess lymph fluid. During the nineteenth century, it gained popularity as a remedy for jaundice and as a tonic for the liver and gallbladder and has since been included in nearly all herbal liver remedies. |
David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG
See book keywords and concepts |
 In: Economic and medicinal plant Research, vol.1. San Diego: Academic Press, 1985.
58. Melzer R, Fricke U, Holzl J. Vasoactive properties of procyanidins from Hypericum perforatum L. in isolated porcine coronary arteries. Arzneimittel-Forschung 1991 May;41(5):481-83.
59. Chan MM, Fong D, Ho CT, Huang HI. Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase gene expression and enzyme activity by epigallocatechin gallate, a natural product from green tea. Biochemical Pharmacology 1997 Dec 15; 54(12):1281-86.
60. Kumar S, Ziereis K, Wiegrebe W, Muller K. |
| Economic and medicinal plant Research, vol. 5. San Diego: Academic Press, 1991.
20. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/nhbpep/nhbp_pd.htm.
21. Pizzorno JE, Murray MT. Textbook of Natural Medicine. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1999.
22. Ammon, HPT and Muller AB. Forskolin: from an ayurvedic remedy to a modern agent. Planta Medica (1985); 51:473-7.
2 3. Pizzorno JE, Murray MT. Textbook of Natural Medicine.
Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1999. 24. RigelskyJM, Sweet BV. Hawthorn: pharmacology and therapeutic uses. American Journal of Health-System
Pharmacy 2002 Mar 1; 59(5):417-22.
2 5. |
| An example of a medicinal plant that does is Papaver somniferum (opium poppy). The most effective plant painkillers are controlled by law, as they have the potential to lead to dependency and addiction. Because of this, it is often more effective in practice to use indirect pathways to pain relief. The herbs listed here appear to work by addressing the cause of the pain, rather than the experience of pain. These are anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic herbs that alleviate the processes underlying most muscle contractions and tension headaches. |
| Betonica: from Vettonica, the name of a medicinal plant from the region of Spain once called Vectones or Vettones
Anethum: from the Greek anethon, meaning anise or dill Ligusticum: from the Latin name of a plant growing in Liguria, Italy
Names Commemorating People
Botanists have been ingenious in their use of binomials to commemorate people. A botanist might name a plant after the first botanist to describe the species for which a genus is named, a respected teacher, or, it seems, just about anyone else! |
Earl L. Mindell, RPh, PhD with Virginia Hopkins, MA
See book keywords and concepts |
| John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a medicinal plant with a beautiful yellow flower that's been used by the Chinese, the Greeks, the Europeans, and the American Indians for centuries to treat heart disease, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. In a study of 105 patients who had symptoms of mild to moderate depression, half the patients took 300 mg of St. John's wort extract three times a day for four weeks, and the other half took a placebo. Some 67 percent of the group taking the St. John's wort had positive results, compared to only 28 percent of the placebo group. |
David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG
See book keywords and concepts |
| In: Economic and medicinal plant Research, vol. 6. San Diego: Academic Press, 1995.
43. Elliot T. T Cell recognition of glycosylated peptides. Science and Medicine 1994; 5(3):44—53.
44. Spatzenegger M, Jaeger W. Clinical importance of hepatic cytochrome P450 in drug metabolism. Drug Metabolism Reviews 1995; 27:397-417.
45. Benet LZ, Kroetz DL, Sheiner LB. Biotransformation of drugs. In: Hardman JG, Limbird LL, Molinoff PB, et al., eds. Goodman and Gilmans The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
46. Murray M. P450 enzymes. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
See book keywords and concepts |
 Nettle Root
Familiar to everyone, nettle (Urtica dioica) is a traditional medicinal plant cited in medieval herbals for its usefulness as a diuretic and a remedy for joint ailments. It is only since around 1980 that nettle root and its preparations have been applied to the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (Noske, 1994).All experimental pharmacologic studies and several clinical studies of nettle root have used hydroalcoholic extracts prepared with relatively hydrophilic solvents, i.e., methanol or ethanol in concentrations of 20-60 %. |
Josef A. Brinckmann and Michael P. Lindenmaier
See book keywords and concepts |
 The pharmaceutical industry and academic institutions have made considerable contributions to the progress in medicinal plant research. Even though plant-based remedies have special legal status in many countries, they can be considered equal to synthetic drugs in terms of their quality, safety and efficacy standards. The special status of botanical medicines is due to their complex composition and the resulting challenges for analytical methodologies and activity tests. |
James A. Duke, Ph.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 The job took me to Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Thailand, and at every stop, I added material to my ever-expanding medicinal plant database.
Sharing theR ain Forest
Then, in 1991, a pivotal event occurred: I received my first invitation to teach a medicinal plant workshop to an ecotourist group in Amazonian Peru, about 200 miles downriver from the Upper Huallaga Valley, where I'd first looked into alternatives to coca farming years earlier during my first stint with the narcotics program. |
Josef A. Brinckmann and Michael P. Lindenmaier
See book keywords and concepts |
| Contamination with pesticides
Pesticides are commonly used in both commercial food crop and medicinal plant cultivation. Organic farming, while usually limited to smaller farms due to the higher costs involved, is increasingly practiced on a larger scale. While the use of pesticides for food crops is regulated in many industrialized countries, such legislation is lacking or largely ignored in many developing nations. It is therefore possible that pesticides, which have long been banned in the Western world (such as DDT), are still present in herbal drugs imported from those parts of the world. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
See book keywords and concepts |
| Medicinal Plant and Crude Drug
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum, Fig. 5.15) is an annual to biennial plant of the family Asteraceae growing to 2 m. It is native principally to southern Europe and northern Africa and grows in warm, dry locales. The milk thistle is a protected plant in Germany and is cultivated for medicinal purposes mainly in northern Africa and South America. It blooms in July and August at Central European latitudes.
The crude drug consists of the ripe fruits from which the pappus has been removed. |
Josef A. Brinckmann and Michael P. Lindenmaier
See book keywords and concepts |
| Origin: In open woods of southern Europe and Asia Minor; cultivated since ancient times as a decorative garden plant and as a medicinal plant. The material of commerce is imported from eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Turkey).
Constituents: While the roots of Paeonia officinalis are relatively well studied, investigations into the flower drug have been lacking; a critical reevaluation of the mosdy outdated findings is desirable. The drug contains anthocyanin pigments, particularly paeonin (= paeo-nidin-3,5-diglucoside) [1] and other flavonoids, especially kaempferol derivatives [2]. |
Dianne Onstad
See book keywords and concepts |
| The pineapple early on became an important medicinal plant. Its fermented juice was made into an alcoholic drink, used for fevers and to relieve body heat in hot weather; externally pineapple juice was used for dissolving painful corns and to cure skin ailments. Pineapples contain a fair amount of acids— notably citric, malic, and tartaric—which in their organic form exert a diuretic action, aid digestion and elimination, and help clear mucous waste from bronchial tissues. |
Josef A. Brinckmann and Michael P. Lindenmaier
See book keywords and concepts |
| Jahrestagung der Society for medicinal plant Research (GA), ETH Zurich, 3.-7. Sept. 2000, Abstract Nr. WSG/3.
[16] A. Brattstrom, Abstracts-Band der 48. Jahrestagung der GA, Zurich, 3.-7. Sept. 2000, Abstract Nr. WSG/5.
[17] Monographic Petasitidis rhizoma der Kom-mission E, BAnz. Nr. 138 vom 27.07.1990.
[18] Monographic Petasitidis folium der Kom-mission E, BAnz. Nr. 138 vom 27.07.1990.
[19] Amtliche Bekanntmachung BGA. Pyrrolizi-din-Alkaloide. Stufe II Abwehr von Arznei-mittelrisiken. BAnz. Nr. Ill vom 17. 06. 1992. Siehc dazu auch AMK, Pharm. Ztg. 146, 2678-2679 (2001).
[20] J. |
| From the perspective of modern medicinal plant research, the use of this drug in herbal tea formulas and phytomedicines remains problematic for the time being. This concern applies to both its use as a so-called antidiabetic as well as a diuretic.
Making the tea: Pour boiling water over 2.5 g kidney bean pods. Steep for 10—15 min, in a covered cup, and then pass through a tea strainer. 1 teaspoon = about 1.5 g, 1 tablespoon = about 2.5 g. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
See book keywords and concepts |
| The Greek physician Dioscorides mentioned chasteberry as a medicinal plant some 2000 years ago, noting that its Latin name agnus castus, meaning chaste lamb, referred to the property of its seeds, when taken as a drink, to reduce sexual desire. Reportedly, the herb aided medieval monks in keeping their vow of chastity; hence, the common name Monk's pepper.
Experimental studies in vitro and in live animals have shown that chasteberries have a prolactin-inhibiting action. |
| Ginkgo biloba has no tradition as a medicinal plant in Europe. Therapeutic uses of the ginkgo seed have been described in China and other parts of eastern Asia for 2000 years and the therapeutic use of ginkgo leaves in traditional Chinese medicine for pulmonary complaints dates to the Ming dynasty in 1436 [Ref: Foster S. Ginkgo, Ginkgo biloba. Botanical Booklet Series No. 304. Austin, TX: American Botanical Council, 1996.]. A major traditional Chinese use of ginkgo is in the treatment of bronchial asthma, presumably owing to its PAF-inhibiting properties (Schmid and Schmoll, 1994). |
Josef A. Brinckmann and Michael P. Lindenmaier
See book keywords and concepts |
| Herbal tea mixtures, cut, without volatile components
3 years degree of comminution >2800
Herbal tea mixtures, powdered, without volatile components
6 months
Herbal tea mixtures, cut, with volatile components (essential oil)
1 year degree of comminution >2800
Herbal tea mixtures, powdered, or crushed, with volatile
2 weeks components
Import Control and Testing
In the medicinal plant and herbal drug wholesale trade
Herbal drugs are shipped from domestic sources or imported from various parts of the world by trucks, ships, trains and airplanes. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
See book keywords and concepts |
| I Lavender Flowers
2.4.2.1 medicinal plant, Crude Drug, and Lavender Oil
Lavender flowers consist of the dried blossoms of the true lavender plant (Lavendula angustifolia), which are gathered just before they are fully open (Fig. 2.22). The plant is a small, branched shrub that grows up to 60 cm high and is native to the Mediterranean region. Lavender flowers have at least a 1.5 % content of essential oil. Their main constituents are linalyl acetate, linalool, campher, beta-ocimene, and cineol. The herb also contains up to 12 % tannins. |
James A. Duke, Ph.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Working witk Medicinal Herks
In 1977, I got a medicinal herbalist's dream job as chief of the USDA medicinal plant Laboratory, whose main function was to collect medicinal plants from around the world for the cancer screening program being run cooperatively by the USDA and the National Cancer Institute.
I inherited a team of scientists who had been involved in collecting potentially cancer-fighting plants for nearly two decades. (One was Judi duCel-lier, who became my career-long right-hand woman. She's still with me. She rode herd on this book through the entire editorial process. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
See book keywords and concepts |
| Annual Congress of the Society of medicinal plant Research, Vienna 1998.
Lowdog T, Powell KL, Weisman SM. Critical evaluation of the safety of Cimicifuga racemosa in menopause symptom relief. Menopause. 2003; 10: 299-313.
Merz PG, Schrodter A, Rietbrock S, Gorkow Ch, Loew D (1995) Prolaktinsekretion und Vertrag-lichkeit unter der Behandlung mit einem Agnus-castus-Spezialextrakt (B1095E1). Erste Ergebnisse zum Einflufi auf die Prolaktinsekretion. In: Loew D, Rietbrock N (eds) Phytopharmaka in Forschung und klinischer Anwendung. Steinkopff Verlag, Darmstadt: 93-97. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
See book keywords and concepts |
 Rubia tinctorum, which was withdrawn because of its genotoxic effect).
Rutaceae
The family includes some of the most important fruit-bearing plants known: the genus Citrus with orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, grapefruit, etc.
Important medicinal plants from the family
• Pilocarpus jaborandi Holmes and Pilocarpus spp. (pilocarpus), for the isolation of pilocarpine, which is used in ophthalmology.
• Ruta graveolens L. (rue), formerly widely used as an emmenagogue and spasmolytic, shows strong phototoxic side effects. |
The Life Extension Editorial Staff
See book keywords and concepts |
 Goldenseal is another medicinal plant that boosts immune function (Rehman et al. 1999). Myrrh oil boasts antibacterial and antifungal properties and is also known to tighten gums and ward off pyorrhea (Dolara et al. 2000).
Chamomile is a mild antimicrobial (Aggag et al. 1972), as is ted thyme oil. Finally, ingredients such as parsley, spearmint, menthol, and eucalyptus are stimulating to the gums, as well as refreshing and cooling for the mouth in general (Sato et al. 1998). |
C. P. Khare
See book keywords and concepts |
 Classical use
The Horse Chestnut was first documented as a medicinal plant in 1565 in Pierandrea Matthioli's translation of Dioscorides Materia Medica. In the West, the bark was traditionally used as a tonic and febrifuge and in intermittent fevers. The fruits were employed in the treatment of rheumatism, neuralgia and haemorrhoids.
After 1956 more than 60 research papers brought into limelight many clinical uses of the herb which were hitherto not known to the medical world. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
See book keywords and concepts |
| Heinrich M 1994 Lignans and other compounds from the Mixe Indian medicinal plant Hyptis verticillata. Phytochemistry 36:485^189 Kuhnt M, Probstle A, Rimpler H 1995 Biological and pharmacological activities and further constituents of Hyptis verticillata. Planta Medica 61:227-232 Lewis W 2000 Ethnopharmacology and the search for new therapeutics. In: Minnis PE. Elisens WJ (eds) Biodiversity and native America. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK Moerman DE 1998 Native American ethnobotany. Timber Press.
Portland, OR
Neuwinger D 2000 African traditional medicines. Medpharm. |
Email this page to a friend
