HAWTHORN LEAF & FLOWER – DRY EXTRACT

EUROMED hawthorn extract is a standardized herbal extract of Crataegus oxyacantha L. leaf with flower, a plant widely distributed throughout the eastern part of Europe including the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and China.

Flavonoids (0.5-1.5%) and the oligomeric procyanidins (OPC’s, 2.2-3.3%) are regarded as active constituents of hawthorn. The primary flavonoid in the leaves is vitexin-2″-O-rhamnoside or occasionally acetylvitexin-2″-O-rhamnoside; in the flowers it is hyperoside. The flavonoids are composed of flavanol aglycones and flavanol O-glycosides (quercetin, kaempferol, hyperoside, isoquercitroside, spirein, rutin among others), flavone-Oglycosides (luteolin-7-O-glucoside), flavone-C-glycosides (vitexin, isovitexin, orientin and isoorientin), flavone-C-O-glycosides (vitexin-2″-O-rhamnoside and acetylvitexin-2″-O-rhamnoside among others) and flavone-di-C-glycosides. The procyanidin fraction is composed of 2 to 8 (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin units. The dimeric procyanidin B-2 and the trimeric procyanidin C-1 are the main constituents. Some procyanidin tetramers are present.

Aromatic carbonic acids, mainly chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, pentacyclic triterpenoid acids such as oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, crataegolic acid as well as nitrogen-containing compounds such as choline and acetylcholine were cited in older literature as components of the drug.