Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and matricine.
744,745
The plant also contains flavonoids apigenin, luteolin, patuletin, and quercetin
and related glycosides.
746
Coumarins, spiroethers, and polysaccharides have been shown to be pres-
ent in
Matricaria.
At least four chemotypes of the drugs can be distinguished depending on the composition
of the oil: chemotypes with or without chamazulene (European origin); those with α-bisabolol
(Portuguese and Spanish origin); those with α-bisaboloxide A (African, Bulgarian, and Turkish
origin); and those with α-bisaboloxide B (Argentine origin).
747
Pharmacological Studies —
Extracts and tincture of the plant have been shown to possess many
and varied pharmacological properties due to its many biologically active compounds. It appears
that the anti-inflammatory activity is the predominant effect of
Matricaria
extract when applied
externally, and smooth muscle-relaxing effects predominate when taken internally. The azulenes
of both species of chamomile have been shown to be antiallergenic and anti-inflammatory.748
748
One
of its major constituents, α-bisabolol, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial,
antimycotic, and ulcer-protective properties.
744
In experimental animals, the compound was also
found to inhibit ulcer development induced by indomethacin, stress, and ethanol and reduced the
healing times for ulcers induced by chemical stress or heat coagulation.
749
Natural (-)-α-bisabolol
has been shown to be more effective than the synthetic racemic bisabolol in healing burns; it also
decreases the temperature of skin exposed to UV light.
744,745
Bisabolol has a spasmolytic activity
comparable to that of papaverine.
583
Other constituents of
Matricaria
with spasmolytic activity
include apigenin (2-5 times the activity of papaverine), apiin, patuletin, α-bisaboloxide A and B,
and the cis-spiroethers (10 times as active as papaverine). The wound-healing property of the drug
is aided by the immunostimulating activity of the polysaccharides, which activate macrophages and
B lymphocytes.
750
In a comparative evaluation,
Matricaria
ointment (Kamillosan) was found to be
more effective in experimentally induced toxic contact dermatitis than the ointment base or 0.1%
hydrocortisone acetate ointment; the topical preparation was assayed by a profilometry determina-
tion of the structural changes of the epidermal surface.
751
Toxicity —
The drug has low toxicity. The acute LD
50
of the volatile oil is approximately 15
ml/kg in rats and mice. The teas prepared from pollen-laden flower heads cause contact dermatitis
and anaphylaxis on hypersensitive individuals.
752,753
Sensitivity to
Matricaria
has been ascribed to
type I immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated immunologic response, and persons suffering from pol-
len-induced hay fever are particularly susceptible.
754
Cross-reactivity has been demonstrated among
chamomile tea extract and the pollens of
Matricaria, Ambrosia trifida
(giant ragweed), and
Artemisia
vulgaris
(mugworth) using an ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) inhibition study.
758
MAYTENUS BUCHANANII
Botanical Name —
Maytenus buchananii
( L oes.) Wilczek
Synonyms —
Gymnosporia buchananii
Loes.,
Maytenus ovata
(Walp.) Loes. var.
ovata
Family —
Celastraceae
African Names —
Digo: mudziadzyah; Katenga: mukululubishia; Rwanda: umutukuza,
urutka; Shona (Zambia): mutumbwishia; Kindembo (Zaire): musoma; Musaka (Zaire): umushubi;
Kitabwa (Zaire): mubamba ngoma, mumpulukuswa, pulukusva; Kiluba (Zaire): musonga, sombo;
Kinyaruanda (Zaire): umusakara, umutakaza
Description —
This is a glabrous woody shrub or small evergreen tree 2-12 m high, with
paired spines up to 2.8 mm long. It has a fairly hard slash, with the inner bark of large stems red
with a thin, bright yellow layer just under the outer gray surface; small stems have pink slash with-
out a yellow layer. The leaves are simple, petiolate, and spirally arranged. The lamina is elliptic or
elliptic-oblong to ovate, oblanceolate, or suborbicular, 1-1.7 m long, 0.8-8 cm wide, apex obtuse
to rounded or rarely acute to shortly acuminate, especially when young, with lateral nerves and
