Objective. To investigate the safety (risk) and efficacy (benefit) of Echinacea purpurea extract in the prevention of common cold episodes in a large population over a 4-month period. Methods. 755 healthy subjects were allocated to receive either an alcohol extract from freshly harvested E. purpurea (95% herba and 5% root) or placebo. Participants were required to record adverse events and to r...

BACKGROUND Echinacea sales represent 10% of the dietary supplement market in the United States, but there is no guarantee as to the content, quality, variability, or contamination in Echinacea preparations. OBJECTIVE To qualitatively and quantitatively assess the contents of Echinacea-only preparations available in a retail setting. METHODS One of each single-herb Echinacea preparations tha...

The objective of this study was to examine and demonstrate how harvesting age (flower age) contribute to the variations in the quality of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench. The effects of different flower developmental stages on caffeic acid derivatives and isobutylamide content are described. These phytochemicals were extracted from fresh plants with 60% ethanol and quantified by the HPLC analysi...

The introduction of plants is an important task modern botanical science. Relevance significantly increased when introduced species are multifunctional in use. According to our research, these criteria met by representatives the genus Echinacea (Echinacea Moench.), which for most part, previously positioned only as medicinal plants.

For genetic analysis of mechanisms of leaf morphogenesis, we chose Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. as a model for leaf development in dicotyledonous plants. Leaves of the angustifolia mutant were the same length as but narrower and thicker than wild-type leaves. The total number of cells in leaf blades of angustifolia plants was the same as in the wild type. At the cellular level in the angust...

The paper focuses on the in vitro antimicrobial activity of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. (lavender) essential oil in combination with four commercial antimicrobial agents. Stock solutions of chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, nystatin, and fusidic acid were tested in combination with L. angustifolia essential oil. The antimicrobial activities of the combinations were investigated against the Gram-...

In Agave angustifolia Haw., a leaf-succulent constitutive crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant of tropical Panama, we tested whether nocturnal CO2 uptake and growth were reduced at night temperatures above 20 C. Unlike some CAM model species from habitats with pronounced day-night temperature variations, in A. angustifolia temperature affected little the relative contributions of CAM and C3...

Aim: This study aims to investigate the possible effects of aqueous Echinacea (E. Purpurea, whole plant) extract on Adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in cancerous and non-cancerous human gastric and colon tissues. Materials and Methods: Thirty three cancerous and 33 non-cancerous human gastric tissues, and 25 cancerous and non-cancerous human colon tissues removed by surgical operations were s...