Pharmacognosy with the Basics of Plant Biochemistry - Kovalyov, V. M. 2004

Special Part
Vitamins
Medicinal plants and raw materials containing carotenoids

MARIGOLD FLOWERS — FLORES CALENDULAE

Pot marigold (calendula) — Calendula officinalis L., fam. Asteraceae

Pot marigold, garden marigold

Description of the plant is given in the section "Essential Oils".

Chemical composition of the raw material. Marigold flowers contain xanthophylls, carotenoids (carotene, lycopene, violaxanthin, citraurin, rubixanthin, flavoxanthin — 3% in total); Vitamin C, and Flavonoids.

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Folic acid

The biologically active form of folic acid is 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolic acid

Vitamin B_c is widespread in the plant kingdom. It is found in all fresh vegetables, especially in green spinach leaves, lettuce, cereals, beans, cabbage, parsley, onions, black currants, corn, etc.

Deficiency of folic acid leads to The Development of macrocytic anemia. The vitamin stimulates the maturation of erythrocytes in the Bone Marrow. The daily requirement is 200 mcg, and during Pregnancy and Lactation, the dose increases 2–3 fold.

Cyanocobalamin (vitamin B₁₂, anti-anemic factor) is a complex porphyrin-like compound in which cobalt is coordinatively bound to a cyano group and a specific nucleotide. It is a constituent of Coenzymes involved in methylation and certain other reactions. In nature, it is synthesized by microorganisms, mainly Bacteria, as well as microscopic Fungi and Algae. In The Human Body, the synthesis of vitamin B₁₂ is carried out by the microflora of the digestive tract and supplemented by foods of animal origin. It is practically absent in plants, although there is evidence that analogues of this vitamin have been found in kelp thalli and soybean seeds in amounts of 1 mg/100 g. The daily requirement is 3 mcg.

Information on Medicinal plant raw Materials and preparations containing Vitamins is given in Table 17 of the Appendices, as well as essential oil, resins, mucus, inulin, organic acids, phytosterols, and Enzymes.

Biological activity and application^. Pot marigold exhibits anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, and wound-healing properties. Tinkures and ointments are used for cuts, purulent ulcers, and Burns, and for gargling in case of tonsillitis. Karophylen, which contains a sum of carotenoids, serves as an anti-inflammatory agent.

ROWAN FRUITS — FRUCTUS SORBI

Rowan (mountain ash) — Sórbus aucuparia L., fam. Rosaceae

Rowan, mountain ash; the name possibly derives from the Latin sorbere — to absorb, since most species are edible, avis — bird, and capere — to attract or catch.

Plant description. A tree or shrub with smooth gray bark. Leaves are alternate, imparipinnate, dark green on the upper side and glaucous on the underside. Leaflets are oblong or oblong-lanceolate, serrate. Flowers are bisexual, regular, pentamerous, white, arranged in dense, many-flowered corymbose inflorescences. The fruits are false, pome-like, bilocular to pentalocular, globose or oval-globose, up to 9 mm in diameter, glossy, with a calyx consisting of five inconspicuous, closing Teeth. The fruit pulp contains 2 to 7 slightly sickle-curved, oblong, pointed, smooth reddish-brown seeds. The fruits are bright red, orange-red, or yellowish-orange; the odor is faint and characteristic; the taste is bittersweet. It blooms in May, and the fruits ripen in September.

Distribution. It grows in the forest and forest-steppe zones of Ukraine in forests, among shrubs, on ravine slopes, limestone outcrops, and high sandy and rocky river banks. It is cultivated as an industrial and ornamental plant.

Harvesting. The fruits are harvested from both wild and cultivated trees in autumn (September–October) during the period of full ripeness, before the onset of frosts. The fruits are picked in entire clusters, freed from pedicels, withered for a few hours at 40 °C, and dried in ovens or dryers at 60 °C. Fresh fruits are also used: they are either stored in a cold room or frozen.

Chemical COMPOSITION OF THE raw material. Rowan fruits are a multivitamin raw material. They contain carotenes (3–15 mg %), folic acid (0.18–0.25 mg %), vitamins C (40–100 mg %), B₂ (0.05–0.07), K (0.4 mg %), and E (0.8–5.1 mg %), Phenolic Compounds (catechins, anthocyanins, flavonols), organic acids (malic, tartaric, succinic, oxalic, sorbic), sugars (5.9–8 %), sorbitol, pectic and Tannins substances, mineral salts, etc.

Biological activity and application. Rowan fruits are used primarily as a multivitamin remedy for hypo- and avitaminosis. Fresh berries are processed into vitamin syrup, and dried ones are included in vitamin herbal mixtures. In addition, the fruits exhibit astringent, laxative, diuretic, choleretic, hemostatic, and estrogenic effects. Preparations made from rowan lipophilic substances reduce Blood Cholesterol and Liver fat levels, making them beneficial for obesity. Infusions, decoctions, or juices of the fruits are used for digestive disorders, hepatitis, hepatocholecystitis, impaired Bile excretion, Kidney and Bladder stones, symptoms of senile atony of the large and small intestines, dysentery, hemorrhoids, and menopausal uterine bleeding. Fresh rowan fruits are useful for atherosclerosis, Hypertension, and urolithiasis.