HerbalGram 96 • November 2012 - January 2013 HerbalGram 96 • November 2012 - January 2013 Largest Echinacea Trial • Bilberry Adulteration • Sports and Supplements Federal Cannabis Crackdown • Bacopa and Memory • Butterbur and Migraine The Journal of the American Botanical Council Number 96 | November 2012 - January 2013 Turkish RoseTurkish • Trial Largest • Echinacea Bilberry Adulteration • Sports and Supplements • Cannabis Crackdown Federal • Bacopa and Memory • Butterbur and Migraine US/CAN $6.95 www.herbalgram.org Rose www.herbalgram.org The Timeless Beneficial Bloom Herb Profile Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, C. laevigata Family: Rosaceae INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Hawthorn is a large shrub or small tree (15-30 feet on The generic name, Crataegus, comes from the Greek kratos, average) in the genus Crataegus, native to temperate North meaning hard or strong, referring to the plant’s wood.13,14 America, Europe, and East Asia.1 The plants are indetermi- The common name refers to the plant’s thorns and fruit, nately thorny, with variable shape, and have perfect, radially known as haws, and may also refer to its use to form hedges, symmetrical, 5-petaled white to pink flowers (red in some which were called haws in earlier times.13 Other common M I S S I O N D R I V E N : cultivars) in corymbs (flat-topped clusters).2,3 The red fruit names for C. laevigata include English hawthorn, white are drupes (one-seeded and fleshy) but are commonly called thorn, May tree (referring to when it blooms), and two- berries in the trade. The genus Crataegus comprises approxi- style hawthorn; and English hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn, mately 250-280 species, the most commonly used in West- and one-style hawthorn for C. monogyna.3,12,15,16 General ern medicine being C. laevigata (syn. C. oxyacantha) and common names for the genus include haw, mayhaw, thornap- C. monogyna, both native to Europe; these 2 species are the ple (not to be confused with Datura stramonium [Solanaceae], subject of this article.2 The European Pharmacopoeia accepts which is also called thornapple). Educate the interchangeable use of these 2 species or their hybrids, At least 1 hawthorn species that is not the focus of this or other European Crataegus species such as C. azarolus, article (C. pinnatifida) has been used in Chinese medicine C. nigra, and C. pentagyna.4 Crataegus species are highly dating back to 659 CE to treat arteriosclerosis, high blood variable, making species boundaries unclear.2 Additionally, pressure, and heart pain.17 In current practice, the dried ripe hybridization among hawthorn species is very common, fruit, either “stir-baked” (by placing the dried berries in a suggesting that there are few pure populations.2,3 pot, stirring constantly over gentle heat until color darkens, & Inspire Traditionally, preparations of the fruit, such as syrups, were removing and cooling) or “charred” (by stir-baking until the most commonly used medicinal form, but preparations the berries become burnt-brown externally and yellowish- made from the flowers, leaves, and seeds also have been used brown internally), is indicated for treating stagnation of in traditional European medicines and phytotherapy.5-7 Plant undigested meat with epigastric distension, diarrhea and material used in commercial products is primarily obtained abdominal pain, amenorrhea due to blood stasis (local stop- Making Outstanding Extracts recognition of our work in the propagation and con- from wild collection in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, page or slowness of the blood flow or general sluggishness of servation of endangered medicinal plants. Bulgaria, Romania,8 Hungary, Macedonia,9 Poland,10 and blood circulation), epigastric pain (over the pit of the stom- Has Never Been Enough. the United Kingdom.12 Some of the commercial supply of ach), or abdominal colic after childbirth, hernial pain, and It’s seen in our higher education scholarship fund, C. monogyna is actually wild collected in non-native coun- for hyperlipemia (aka hyperlipidemia; excessive quantity of tries, namely in Chile, where it was introduced and has since fat in the blood).18 Additionally, hawthorn fruit has been Excellence in herbal extraction is at the heart of what which provides financial assistance to students of escaped from cultivation. used in China for stomach complaints and for its vitamin C we do. But the soul of Herb Pharm’s mission is to lead naturopathic medicine and clinical herbalism. Hawthorn Crataegus laevigata. Photo ©2012 Steven Foster people to embrace herbal healthcare by educating And it’s why we offer guided herb walks and educa- them on the safe and effective use of herbs, and tional seminars to share our expertise with herbal inspiring a respect for plants and nature. enthusiasts and the herbally curious. That means standing shoulder-to-shoulder with aspiring Educating, inspiring and offering herbalists who attend our renowned HerbaCulture outstanding herbal Work-Study Program to experience traditional culti- healthcare products, vation and preparation of medicinal herbs. for more than 30 It means that our organic farm is designated a years that’s been Botanical Sanctuary by United Plant Savers in our secret formula. For more information about Herb Pharm’s educational programs visit us at www.herb-pharm.com/education.html or use your smart phone to scan the image to the left. www.herbalgram.org • 2012 • I SSUE 96 • 1 www.herbalgram.org • 2012 • I SSUE 96 • 1 content to treat scurvy, as well as to make jam, sweet wine, arrhythmias, and a sensation of pressure in the chest. The graphs available, Hawthorn Leaf with Flower and Powdered blocked arteries (coronary stenosis), the inhibition of NE and candied fruit slices.17 European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP) Hawthorn Leaf with Flower.29 could provide a viable therapeutic option. Infusions and decoctions of the bark, fruit, leaves, root and also recommended herbal tea and preparations other than a A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial root bark, sap and sapwood, thorns, twigs, and young shoots hydroalcoholic extract for support of cardiac and circulatory MODERN RESEARCH published in 2009 sought to determine the usefulness of of at least 11 species of Crataegus have been used by various function in nervous heart complaints.23 Pharmacological studies suggest that the primary active hawthorn in treating 120 ambulatory patients with NYHA North American tribes to treat conditions including back components of hawthorn leaf and flower are the flavonoids class II-III chronic heart failure.32 For 6 months, patients pain, bladder ailments, consumption (pulmonary tuberculo- CURRENT AUTHORIZED USES IN and oligomeric procyanidins, specifically those with a lower received, in addition to their conventional medicine, either sis), diarrhea, mouth sores, and stomach complaints, and also COSMETICS, FOODS, AND MEDICINES degree of polymerization.1 Hawthorn fruit consists mainly 450 mg twice daily Crataegus Special Extract WS® 1442 as a mild laxative, to promote appetite, to prevent spasms, to In 2011, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) called of oligomeric and polymeric procyanidins and relatively low (Crataegutt®, 80 mg hawthorn leaf with flower dry extract 5:1 poultice swellings, and to stop menstrual flow.19 Additional for scientific data to be used by its Committee on Herbal levels of flavonoids. [w/w], standardized to 18.75% OPCs; Dr. Willmar Schwabe external and internal uses include treating “large stomachs,” Medicinal Products (HMPC) for assessment work toward In the 1990s, 13 clinical studies with 6,815 participants GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany) or placebo. Subjects took a “female weakness,” “general debility,” and “to ward off tack- the establishment of Community herbal monographs and/ showed positive effects on cardiac insufficiency.1 Most of 6-minute walking test prior to starting the study and at 3 and lers.” At least 1 tribe, the Cherokee, used an infusion of or Community list entries for both hawthorn and hawthorn these studies were conducted using a dry extract of hawthorn 6 months. There was no significant difference between the the bark of 1 species, C. spathulata, to promote circulation. leaf and flower preparations.24,25 Once these monographs leaf and flower standardized to a dose of 9 mg or more per hawthorn and placebo groups in the 6-minute walking test Furthermore, the berries have been used as food, both fresh are established, they will have relevance for the registra- day of oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs). Since the turn at 6 months, nor in the secondary quality of life scores, heart and dried, and were considered by the Thompson tribe as a tion of traditional herbal medicinal products and/or well- of this century, more than a dozen clinical trials have been failure symptom scores, functional capacity, risk or mortal- good health food for general sickness. The inner bark was established use herbal medicinal products in the European conducted assessing the safety of hawthorn (occasionally ity, neurohormone profiles, or markers of inflammation and chewed as gum, and the thorns were used as fish hooks, awls, Community. A prerequisite of product registration is that in combination with other botanical components) and its oxidative stress. As these results were not consistent with pins, and to probe boils and areas of arthritic pain. quality complies with the corresponding quality standards cardiovascular benefits, especially cardiotonic activity. previous studies, the authors suggested various