Gynostemma pentaphyllum

Gynostemma pentaphyllum

Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Chinese绞股蓝/绞股蓝, Pinyin jiǎogǔlán, Rank end indigo plant ' ) is a plant of the gourd family ( Cucurbitaceae ). Parts of the plant are used as a vegetable, salad or tea.

Description

Gynostemma pentaphyllum is a slender, climbing, annual to perennial herbaceous plant growth and reached lengths 4-8 meters. It forms root nodules than Überdauerungsorgan. It is finely hairy to glabrous. The tendrils are forked, rarely simple. The membranous to papery, approximately symmetrical, odd pinnate leaves are easy to fußförmig composed of five to seven leaflets, and of ovoid via reverse- egg-shaped to lanceolate shape. The terminal leaflet is 4-14 centimeters long and 2-5 centimeters wide, all the other smaller. The leaves are acute to obtuse at the top, tapering to blunt wedge-shaped at the base and cut irregularly on the edge, if hairy, then especially along the Vein.

Gynostemma pentaphyllum is dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ). The inflorescences are up to 30 cm long and drooping. The flowers are provided with small bracts, the calyx triangular sections 0.5 to 2 inches long, yellowish - green Corolla lobe triangular- lanceolate and 2 to 3 millimeters long.

The fruits are round and smooth berries with a diameter of 5-8 millimeters, which are dark green to almost black when they are ripe.

Dissemination

Gynostemma pentaphyllum is native to China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, India and the entire male Cartesian space. They settled thickets and grows at altitudes up to 3200 meters above sea level, but preferably warm and humid climate. Viable air temperatures are -15 ° C to 41.5 ° C, but optimal growth temperature is from 15 ° C to 30 ° C. The plant prefers shady places stature with a viable lighting of 40-80% and an optimum illumination of 65-75 %. Nitrogen, phosphorus and humus-rich, moist soil with a pH of 5.5-8.0 (optimum: 6.5-7.0 ) are ideal for the growth of G. pentaphyllum. The optimum soil is more than 30 cm deep, well aerated and holds water, such as sandy loam soils. Under these circumstances, the growth and berry production, and the saponin content ( gypenosides ) of the plant is the highest.

Systematics and botanical history

The plant was first described in 1406 during the Ming Dynasty by Xiao Zhu in the book " Heilkäuter against the famine ." The western first description was published in 1784 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg under the name Vitis pentaphylla. The German - Dutch botanist Carl Ludwig Blume they presented in 1825 as Gynostemma simplicifolium in a different genus. The Japanese botanist Makino Tomitaro kept this decision in 1902, but again related the specific epithet was first described by Thunberg and created the now valid taxon Gynostemma pentaphyllum.

Ingredients

By 2005, over 100 saponins, called gypenosides or Gynosaponine isolated and identified from G. pentaphyllum. The Gesamtsaponin content is ~ 2.4% of the dried plant. Eight of these gypenosides meet the protopanaxadiol -type ginsenosides, which are found in Panax ginseng. These ginsenosides make up around 25% of the total content of gypenosides out in the plant and are considered the first evidence for the occurrence of ginseng saponins outside the Araliaceae. Studies show that the total saponin content of the plant is highest before flowering.

Use

In Thailand and China fresh leaves are used as salad or spinach similar. Both can be prepared from the dried, as well as the fresh leaves also tea.

Hyperlipidemia

The Chinese government in 1987 Gynostemma tablets that contain mostly gypenosides, approved for the treatment of hyperlipidemia.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

G. pentaphyllum will use in traditional Chinese medicine:

• TCM effects: Dredge heat, add inanity, dissolve poison, reduce blood sugar, protect liver function
• TCM Indications: for mindlessness and abnormal loss of strength, sepsis (blood poisoning), hyperlipidemia ( Disorders of lipoprotein ), viral hepatitis, chronic gastroenteritis ( gastro-intestinal inflammation), chronic tracheitis (inflammation of the trachea )

Toxicity

A study of the medical faculty at the University of Chiang Mai in Thailand showed in 2013 that a standardized extract of G. pentaphyllum, which was won with the help of hot water, showed no lethal or toxic effects in rats. The LD50 values ​​for the Gesamtsaponin content amounted to 1.85 g · kg -1 (rat, ip) and 755-838 mg · kg -1 (mouse, ip).