Herbs - General

Allspice is mostly used as a spice, but it does have a history of traditional and folk medicinal uses. Some uses of the herb as herbal medicine have, to a certain degree, been substantiated by scientific methods but more and thorough studies are needed to rate the herb’s effectiveness fully. Allspice has been used  for […]

It is known that kudzu has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2000 years, and it is still regarded as one of the 50 most important herbs in Chinese herbal medicine. It has been used as a medicinal herb for a variety of ailments such as alcoholism, angina, cancer, headache, a migraine and high blood […]

Avicenna (980-1037), a Persian physician and philosopher, wrote about the uses of hemp agrimony as a medicinal plant. This herb also was used by others who practiced Arabic herbal medicine in the early Middle Ages, primarily as an invigorating tonic and detoxifying agent. The plant contains flavonoids, a benzofuran (Euparin), phenols, tannins, resin, and inulin. […]

The cnidium seeds have antiseptic and disinfectant properties and are often used as an ingredient in lotions, powders or ointments for external uses as remedies for skin conditions such as eczema, ringworm and scabies. The seeds are considered particularly valuable in diseases related to sexual organs, such as vaginal inflammation (vaginitis) and vaginal discharge. The herb […]

Horsetail contains silicic acid, saponins, flavonoids, sterols, tannins, potassium, aluminum salts, manganese, magnesium, sulfur and calcium. Historically, horsetail has been used to stop bleeding, repair broken bones and as an herbal remedy for arthritis. It has also been beneficial in the treatment of dropsy, gravel and kidney infections, including ulceration and ulcers in the urinary passages. […]

The plant contains 0.2 to 1 percent essential oil, which consists primarily of linalool and methyl chavicol, but it also contains small amounts of cineole, methyl cinnamate, and other terpenes. Other constituents include tannins, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and phenylpropanoids. Sweet basil is a highly aromatic herb, which in addition to its use in cooking also has […]

The leaves contain 0.5% essential oil (1.8-cineol and other substances), tannins, bitter substances (in the form of lactone artemisinin), an alkaloid (abrotanin), flavonoids, phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, coffee acid, folic acid, vanillic acid, salicylic acid, etc.) and coumarin derivatives. Today southernwood is rarely used as a medicinal herb, but it was highly valued as such […]

Herb Paris has been used as a medicinal plant as far back as ancient Greece and the Italian physician and botanist Matthiolus (Pietro Andrea Mattioli 1500-1577) referred to it as a good remedy against boils. As a treatment for neck abscesses, the root was either eaten raw or a tincture was made from the berries that were […]

The bitter taste of gentian is due to bitter iridoid glycosides; primarily gentiopicroside, swertiamarin, amarogentin and gentiopicrin. Gentian contains several alkaloids, predominantly gentian and gentialutine. Additionally, it contains the constituents: xanthones, triterpenes, pectin, tannin, mucilage, and sugar. Many species of gentiana are used in a similar way across widely divergent cultures. It is found in […]