It consists of the dried and purified latex obtained form the unripe fruits of Carica papaya, Family: Caricaceae. Commercial Importance Papain contains several proteolytic enzymes and being similar to pepsin it is referred to as vegetable pepsin. Its protein-cleaving property gives it immense commercial value and it is used for a wide variety of functions such…
There is a large market for valerian for use in pharmaceuticals, food and cosmetic industries. Majority of valerian in trade comes from cultivated material. Most of the drug is now produced in Europe which is also its largest market. Germany is the largest consuming country. Majority of the standardized extracts and crude, cut and sifted…
Valerian flower extracts were used in perfumery since the 6th century. Employed as an anti-anxiety agent and sleep aid for more than 1,000 years, valerian is also used an antispasmodic in hysteria and other nervous disorders. Valerian was especially popular during World War I, when it was used to treat shell-shock. It possesses mild sedative…
The drug yields 0.5% to 1% volatile oil and it should contain NLT 15% of alcohol (60%) extractable matter. The volatile oil consists of esters, alcohols, eugenol, terpenes and sesquiterpenes. It also contains epoxy-iridoid esters called valepotriates, the principal component of which is valtrate (0.4% to 2%). About 0.05% to 1% alkaloids are also present…
The plant is a hardy perennial growing to a height of 1–2 m. It bears sweet-scented white or pink flowers. Propagated from the seeds and from seedling plantings, valerian is to be harvested in the second year of growth. The vertical rhizomes of the valerian plant with horizontal branches or stolons at about the ground…
Native to Europe and parts of Asia, V. officinalis is presently obtained from wild and cultivated plants in Britain, Russia, Holland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, eastern Europe and Japan. It is also cultivated in the United States. Polyploidy is common with V. officinalis and there are diploid, tetraploid and octaploid types. British valerian is usually octaploid and central European…
It consists of the dried underground parts of Valeriana officinalis, Family: Valerianaceae. Commercial Importance One of the top selling sedatives in Europe, valerian was a much esteemed root both for its medicinal uses and as a spice and perfume. It is one of the 10 most popular medicinal plants in North America. Valerian preparations are widely…
Used as medicine since times immemorial, this widely revered drug created international trade by the 3rd century AD, when China’s demand for ginseng allowed it to exchange its silk and medicine with Korea for wild ginseng. By the 1900s the demand for ginseng outstripped the available wild supply and Korea began the commercial cultivation of…
For about 2,000 years, the roots of P. ginseng have held an honoured place in Chinese medicine. Revered for its strength-giving and rejuvenating powers, the drug was used in the treatment of anaemia, diabetes, insomnia, neurasthenia, gastritis and sexual impotence. North American Indians used ginseng in many of their herbal formulas. The widespread use of ginseng is…
Ginseng contains a complex mixture of triterpenoid saponin glycosides, which are either tetra-cyclic triterpenes based on steroidal skeleton or pentacyclic triterpenoids structurally related to oleanolic acid. Termed ginsenosides by Japanese workers and panaxosides by the Russian researchers, these are derivatives of two main aglycones, protopanaxadiol and protopanaxatriol. Over 30 ginsenosides have been characterized from different…