|
Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi
''Arctostaphylos uva-ursi'' is a plant species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos'' widely distributed across Circumboreal Region, circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick (First Nations in Canada, First Nations for "smoking mixture") is a common name in Canada and the United States. Growing up to in height, the leaves are evergreen. The flowers are white to pink and the fruit is a red berry (botany), berry. One of several related species referred to as bearberry, its specific epithet ''uva-ursi'' means "grape of the bear" in Latin (), similar to the meaning of the generic epithet ''Arctostaphylos'' (Greek language, Greek for "bear grapes"). Description ''Arctostaphylos uva-ursi'' is a small procumbent woody groundcover shrub growing to high. Wild stands of the species can be dense, with heights rarely taller than . Erect branching twigs emerge from long flexible prostrate stems, which are produced by single roots. The trailing stems will layer, sendin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as . Linnaeus was born in Råshult, the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his higher education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his ' in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') inside. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries (polypyrenous drupes are exceptions). The definitive characteristic of a drupe is that the hard, lignified stone is derived from the ovary wall of the flower. In an aggregate fruit, which is composed of small, individual drupes (such as a raspberry), each individual is termed a drupelet, and may together form an aggregate fruit. Such fruits are often termed ''berries'', although botanists use a different definition of ''berry''. Other fleshy fruits may have a stony enclosure that comes from the seed coat surrounding the seed, but such fruits are not drupes. Flowering plants that produce drupes include coffee, jujube, mango, oli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', from Medieval Latin ''tannāre'', from ''tannum'', oak bark) refers to the use of oak and other bark in tanning animal hides into leather. By extension, the term ''tannin'' is widely applied to any large polyphenolic compound containing sufficient hydroxyls and other suitable groups (such as carboxyls) to form strong complexes with various macromolecules. The tannin compounds are widely distributed in many species of plants, where they play a role in protection from predation (acting as pesticides) and might help in regulating plant growth. The astringency from the tannins is what causes the dry and puckery feeling in the mouth following the consumption of unripened fruit, red wine or tea. Likewise, the destruction or modification of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arbutin
Arbutin is a glycoside; a glycosylated hydroquinone extracted from the bearberry plant in the genus ''Arctostaphylos'' among many other medicinal plants, primarily in the family Ericaceae. Applied topically, it inhibits tyrosinase and thus prevents the formation of melanin. Arbutin is therefore used as a skin-lightening agent. Very tiny amounts of arbutin are found in wheat, pear skins, and some other foods. It is also found in ''Viburnum opulus'' and ''Bergenia crassifolia''. Arbutin was also produced by an in vitro culture of ''Schisandra chinensis''. It can be prepared synthetically from the reaction of acetobromoglucose and hydroquinone in the presence of alkali. Folk medicine Bearberry, which contains arbutin, is a traditional treatment for urinary tract infections. Skin lightening agent Bearberry extract is used in skin lightening treatments designed for long term and regular use. An active agent in brands of skin lightening preparations, it is more expensive than trad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydroquinone
Hydroquinone, also known as benzene-1,4-diol or quinol, is an aromatic organic compound that is a type of phenol, a derivative of benzene, having the chemical formula C6H4(OH)2. It has two hydroxyl groups bonded to a benzene ring in a ''para'' position. It is a white granular solid. Substituted derivatives of this parent compound are also referred to as hydroquinones. The name "hydroquinone" was coined by Friedrich Wöhler in 1843. Production Hydroquinone is produced industrially in two main ways.Phillip M. Hudnall "Hydroquinone" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. 2005 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. . * The most widely used route is similar to the cumene process in reaction mechanism and involves the dialkylation of benzene with propene to give 1,4-diisopropylbenzene. This compound reacts with air to afford the bis(hydroperoxide), which is structurally similar to cumene hydroperoxide and rearranges in acid to give acetone and hydroquinone. * A se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on naturally occurring resins. Plants secrete resins for their protective benefits in response to injury. The resin protects the plant from insects and pathogens. Resins confound a wide range of herbivores, insects, and pathogens, while the volatile phenolic compounds may attract benefactors such as parasitoids or predators of the herbivores that attack the plant. Composition Most plant resins are composed of terpenes. Specific components are alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, delta-3 carene, and sabinene, the monocyclic terpenes limonene and terpinolene, and smaller amounts of the tricyclic sesquiterpenes, longifolene, caryophyllene, and delta-cadinene. Some resins also contain a high proportion of resin acids. Rosins on the other hand are less ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essential Oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does ''not'' mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, '' sfumatura'', absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, wax embedding, and cold pressing. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallic Acid
Gallic acid (also known as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a trihydroxybenzoic acid with the formula C6 H2( OH)3CO2H. It is classified as a phenolic acid. It is found in gallnuts, sumac, witch hazel, tea leaves, oak bark, and other plants. It is a white solid, although samples are typically brown owing to partial oxidation. Salts and esters of gallic acid are termed "gallates". Isolation and derivatives Gallic acid is easily freed from gallotannins by acidic or alkaline hydrolysis. When heated with concentrated sulfuric acid, gallic acid converts to rufigallol. Hydrolyzable tannins break down on hydrolysis to give gallic acid and glucose or ellagic acid and glucose, known as gallotannins and ellagitannins, respectively. Biosynthesis Gallic acid is formed from 3-dehydroshikimate by the action of the enzyme shikimate dehydrogenase to produce 3,5-didehydroshikimate. This latter compound aromatizes. Reactions Oxidation and oxidative coupling Alkaline solutions of gallic a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tannic Acid
Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity ( pKa around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as C76H52O46, which corresponds with decagalloyl glucose, but in fact it is a mixture of polygalloyl glucoses or polygalloyl quinic acid esters with the number of galloyl moieties per molecule ranging from 2 up to 12 depending on the plant source used to extract the tannic acid. Commercial tannic acid is usually extracted from any of the following plant parts: Tara pods (''Caesalpinia spinosa''), gallnuts from '' Rhus semialata'' or ''Quercus infectoria'' or Sicilian sumac leaves (''Rhus coriaria''). According to the definitions provided in external references such as international pharmacopoeia, Food Chemicals Codex and FAO-WHO tannic acid monograph only tannins obtained from the above-mentioned plants can be considered as tannic acid. Sometimes extracts from chestnu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ursolic Acid
Ursolic acid (sometimes referred to as urson, prunol, malol, or 3β-hydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid), is a pentacyclic triterpenoid identified in the epicuticular waxes of apples as early as 1920 and widely found in the peels of fruits, as well as in herbs and spices like rosemary and thyme. Natural occurrence Ursolic acid is present in many plants, such as ''Mirabilis jalapa'', as well as in many fruits and herbs used in daily life (e.g. apples, basil and holy basil, bilberries, cranberries, elder flower, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, hawthorn, and prunes). Apple peels contain large quantities of ursolic acid and related compounds. Potential biochemical effects A number of potential biochemical effects of ursolic acid have been investigated, but there has been no clinical study demonstrating benefits to human health. ''In vitro'', ursolic acid inhibits the proliferation of various cancer cell types by inhibiting the STAT3 activation pathway, and may also d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytochemical
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes . Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons and others as traditional medicine. As a term, ''phytochemicals'' is generally used to describe plant compounds that are under research with unestablished effects on health, and are not scientifically defined as essential nutrients. Regulatory agencies governing food labeling in Europe and the United States have provided guidance for industry to limit or prevent health claims about phytochemicals on food product or nutrition labels. Definition Phytochemicals are chemicals of plant origin. Phytochemicals (from Greek ''phyto'', meaning "plant") are chemicals produced by plants through primary or secondary metabolism. They generally have biological activity in the plant host and play a role in plant growth or defense against competitors, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köhler's Medicinal Plants
''Köhler's Medicinal Plants'' (or, ''Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen'') is a German herbal written principally by Hermann Adolph Köhler (1834 - 1879, physician and chemist), and edited after his death by Gustav Pabst. The work was first published in the late 19th century by Franz Eugen Köhler of Gera. Its complete title is . Publication history Originally, Köhler published the herbal in two volumes: the first in 1887, the second in 1890. Volume one is illustrated with 84 full-page, multi-colour plates, and volume two with 110. A third volume was added in 1898, entitled ''Neueste Medizinalpflanzen und Verwechslungen'', which is a supplement containing additions and corrections. Among the additions are 80 more colour plates. A fourth volume was announced by the publisher, but never released. All the colour plates in the herbal were produced through a process called ''chromolithography''. The botanical illustrators were Walther Otto Müller, C. F. Schmidt, and K. Gunther. A repri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Resin")
