HOME      •      SEARCH      •      EMAIL    •     ABOUT


Family • Polygonaceae
Oriental pepper
Polygonum orientale Linn.
TALL PERSICARIA

Scientific names Common names
Polygonum orientale Linn. Oriental pepper (Engl.)
Polygonum amoenum Blume Prince's feather (Engl.)
Polygonum torquatum De Br. Tall persicaria (Engl.)
Persicaria orientalis Kiss me over the garden gate (Engl.)

Botany
The plant is a branching annual, 30 to 100 cm in height. Leaves are long petioled, ovate or ovate-cordate, 15 to 20 cm long, 5 to 12 cm wide, and covered with soft, silky, grey hairs. Racemes are cylindric, laxly panicled, 8 to 13 cm long. Flowers are white. Nut is rounded, black and shining, about 3 mm in diameter.

A variety of the plant has rose-pink flowers.

Distribution
In open, wet places along streams at low and medium altitudes.

Constituents
Rootstock yields oxymethyl-anthraquinone, 0.05%.
Study yielded six compounds: myricitrin, luteolin, gallic acid, catechin, protocatechuic acid and p-hydroxycinnamic acid.

Properties
 Properties

Parts used
Nuts.

Uses
Folkloric
Nuts prescribed for flatulence and for tuberculous swellings.

Studies
• Taxifolin / Antioxidant: (1) Study showed the taxifolin from Polygonum orientale showed potent antioxidant activity. (2) Study investigated the free radical scavenging potentials of P orientale extracts. Results showed the free radical-scavenging activities to be: methanol>ethanol>water>ethyl acetate>chloroform.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

August 2010
IMAGE SOURCE: Polygonum orientale L. / Permission granted to use under GFDL by Kurt Stueber. Source: www.biolib.de/ AlterVISTA
IMAGE SOURCE: Public Domain /Polygonum orientale L. / USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An M\illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 1: 670 / AlterVISTA

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Determination of taxifolin in Polygonum orientale and study on its antioxidant activity / Yan Wei, Xiaoqing Chen et al / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 22, Issue 2, March 2009, Pages 154-157 /
doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2008.08.006 |
(2)
Free radical-scavenging activity and flavonoid contents of Polygonum orientale leaf, stem, and seed extracts / Xinyu Jiang, Xiaoqing Chen and Yan Wei / Arch. Biol. Sci., Belgrade, 61 (1), 79-83, 2009 / DOI:10.2298/ABS0901079J
(3)
Studies on chemical constituents in herb of Polygonum orientale / Li Y J et al / Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2005 Mar;30(6):444-6
•

HOME      •      SEARCH      •      EMAIL    •     ABOUT