Echinacea preparations are commonly used as nonspecific immunomodulatory agents. Alcohol extracts from three widely used Echinacea species, Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida, and Echinacea purpurea, were investigated for immunomodulating properties. The three Echinacea species demonstrated a broad difference in concentrations of individual lipophilic amides and hydrophilic caffeic acid ...

The genus Echinacea (Asteraceae) is native to North America and consists of nine species (McGregor 1968). E. angustifolia DC, a narrow leafed species, is distributed on barrens and dry prairies from Minnesota to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (McGregor 1968; Kindscher 1989; Foster 1991). E. angustifolia grows lower an...

The genus Echinacea, Asteraceae, is comprised of nine species, which are perennial herbs indigenous to North America and which have been traditionally used as medicinal plants for centuries. Three Echinacea species, E. angustifolia DC var. angustifolia, E. purpurea (L.) Moench, and E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., are currently being traded internationally in the natural products market. Echinacea pro...

Low and erratic seed germination presents a major production problem in the medicinal plants that collectively are called echinacea or purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia and E. pallida). In this study, nine seed lots of each E. pallida and E. angustifolia from a wide variety of commercial sources and germplasm collections were collected and treated with a solution of 1.0 mM [144.5 mg·L-1...

The syntheses of three diacetylenic isobutylamides of Echinacea angustifolia have been achieved by direct synthetic routes by way of a common intermediate. The key step is the alkylation of the anion of the silylated diacetylene. We report the presence of all three diacetylenic isobutylamides in six of the nine Echinacea species: E. angustifolia, E. sanguinea, E. simulata, E. tennesseensis, E. ...

Title:Antiplasmodial activity of solvent fractions of methanolic root extract of Dodonaea angustifolia in Plasmodium berghei infected mice

OBJECTIVE To investigate the safety and efficacy of 2 extracts of echinacea for preventing upper respiratory tract infections. DESIGN Three-armed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Four military institutions and 1 industrial plant. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred two volunteers without acute illness at time of enrollment. INTERVENTIONS Ethanolic extract from Echinac...

Because of the popularity of Echinacea as a dietary supplement, researchers have been actively investigating which Echinacea constituent or groups of constituents are necessary for immune-modulating bioactivities. Our prior studies indicate that alkylamides may play an important role in the inhibition of prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) production. High-performance liquid chromatography fractionation,...

Depending on how this Asteraceae family member is classified, there are up to 12 different species of Echinacea. The most commonly used species for medicinal purposes is Echinacea purpurea, which is easy to cultivate and therefore, product demand does not put a stress on native populations of Echinacea species that are difficult to cultivate. Most preparations found in the market are derived fr...

Echinacea species are popularly included in various formulations to treat upper respiratory tract infections. These products are of commercial importance, with a collective sales figure of $132 million in 2009. Due to their close taxonomic alliance it is difficult to distinguish between the three Echinacea species and incidences of incorrectly labeled commercial products have been reported. The...