> First off, the rise of the use of cps for their medicinal properties.
>I'm a bit behind in this area so if anyone would like to post the main
>species used, what they are used for and any other relevant info I
>would be most grateful. In particular, the use of VFT's and any
>updates on the use of Sarracenia purpurea as medicinal plants.
Here a message I posted to the CP list server on december 13,1995. It
concerned Drosera and Pinguicula and the market in Switzerland (I guess it
is the same in other European countries):
I know of two expectorants with CP extracts: 'Drosinula', a treacle
against mucous catarrh, containing extracts of Picea abies, Hedera helix,
Drosera rotundifolia, ethanol and other compounds (Producer: Bioforce Inc.,
9325 Roggwil, Switzerland) and 'Pilka' drops against mucous cough and
catarrh, containing extracts of Thymus, Pinguicula and Drosera (Producer:
Zyma Inc., 1196 Nyon, Switzerland). The pharmacologically active compound
is likely to be trans-cinnamic acid, which is known to be a (moderately)
effective expectorant and which was proved to be present on the leaves of
Pinguicula vulgaris by T Gordonoff and K Christen (1960) and K Christen
(1961). Earlier Drosera and Pinguicula were almost wiped out in some
regions of Switzerland as farmers collected them for the pharmaceutical
industry. Nowadays they are protected here and the industry seems to
introduce the plant material mainly from eastern europe and other countries
where natural protection is less developed. Unfortunately the increasing
number of 'patients' which (concerning their use of medicaments) are
'against chemistry' and 'for nature' helps to reduce the existence of many
rare wild plants including some CP. I am not shure whether tissue cultured
mass production of Pings or Droseras would be financially attractive for a
pharma producer as long as (cheaper) wild plant collection is allowed
somewhere. As some disciples of phytotherapy are fanatics it is likely that
measures of the authorities to forbid the production of drugs with rare
plant compounds would - or at least could - result in increased publicity
for this problem and so could lead to involuntary PR for such medicaments
among the public at large.
Does this help? If you need more info let me know by personal e-mail.
For your info I cultivate almost all Pinguicula species of the northern
hemisphere except the (sub)tropical ones. I still lack P. algida and
variegata which are very difficult to get and to grow. Cultivation list of
my Pinguiculas (in brackets origin of cultivated specimens), July 1996:
alpina (Switzerland)
balcanica (Bulgaria, Greece)
bohemica see P. vulgaris f. bicolor
corsica (Corsica)
crystallina (Cyprus)
crystallina ssp. hirtiflora (Italy, Turkey, Greece 2n=16, 24, 32 and 48 types)
fiorii (Italy)
grandiflora (France, Ireland)
grandiflora subsp. rosea (France)
grandiflora f. pallida (France)
hirtiflora see P. crystallina subsp. hirtiflora
leptoceras (Switzerland, Italy)
longifolia subsp. caussensis (France)
longifolia subsp. dertosensis see P. submediterranea
longifolia subsp. longifolia (France, Spain)
longifolia subsp. reichenbachiana (France)
lusitanica (France)
macroceras (USA)
macroceras subsp. nortensis (USA)
mundi (Spain)
nevadensis (Spain)
ramosa (Japan)
submediterranea (Spain)
vallisneriifolia (Spain)
villosa (Finland, Canada)
vulgaris (Switzerland, France, Slovac Republic)
vulgaris f. bicolor (Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovac republic)
With kind regards Juerg
___________________________________________________
Juerg Steiger, Institut fuer Aus-, Weiter- und Fortbildung IAWF
University of Bern, Inselspital 37a, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
Office: ++41 31 632 98 87, Fax: ++41 31 632 98 71