Echinacea purpurea – Echinacea, eastern purple coneflower
Asteraceae, formerly Compositae – Aster family, formerly composite
The raw material is the echinacea herb and root – Herba et Radix Echinaceae purpureae, harvested during blooming (July, August) in the second and third year of cultivation, processed fresh (juice, alcoholature) or dried in drying rooms in max. 45° C. The roots are harvested in the autumn, then cleaned, washed, cut and dried in drying rooms in max. 50° C.
Echinacea – appearance and origin:
A perennial found in North America, Europe and Asia as a cultivated and ornamental plant, including Poland. It requires fertile, moist and deacidified soil. It is propagated by seed. The stem grows up to 60-180 cm, erect, single, alternately leaved. The upper leaves are sessile, lanceolate, entire or remote serrate, coarse on both sides. The lower leaves have long petioles, ovate, ovate-lanceolate. The inflorescences are large, placed at shoot tips. The flowers are ray-like, burgundy-brown. It blooms from July to September.
Echinacea – effects and use:
Echinacea contains caffeic acid derivatives (caffeoyltartaric acid and small amounts of chicoric acid), quercetin- and kaempferol-derived flavonoids, polysaccharides, traces amounts of oil, polyacetylenes, alkylamides and alkylamines, traces of non-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Echinacea extracts support the body's natural immunity. Products containing its aqueous and alcoholic extracts and stabilized juice are used externally: for stubborn wounds, eczema, psoriasis, and internally: for prevention and treatment of chronic respiratory infections, flu, arthritis, as an aid and treatment for prostatic hyperplasia and cancer. Echinacea is used in many homeopathic products.
PL