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Effect of decimal potencies of homeopathy Arnica montana on plants of feverfew
Abstract
Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip plants were grown in pots of 10 L, a month after the transplant to pots, homeopathics solutions of Arnica montana (D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5) were applicated. The weekly applications were done in the same schedule, in the soil, after dilutions in deionized water. The plant height was determined each 15 days. The fresh mass of the aerial part and the parthenolide content were evaluated at the end of the experiment. Increase was verified in the height and in the fresh mass, as well as reduction in the parthenolide content, due to applications of the homeopathic solutions.
The homeopathic preparations can influence the growth, secondary metabolites production, essential oil yield and phytochemical profile when applied in the grown of medicinal plants. To compile this review articles from existing literature about basic research related to the use of homeopathic preparation on the cultivation of medicinal plants and its influence on the phytochemical profile, growth, yield and composition of essential oil were collected. The bibliographic research was carried out in scientific databases sites—Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed. Seventeen publications were found in which homeopathy was applied in the cultivation of medicinal plants. Its use changed the phytochemical profile, increased the essential oil yield, the production of secondary metabolites (coumarins, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids), the the nutrients absorption and the growth of the medicinal plant species were studied. This review shows that the application of homeopathic preparations in the cultivation of medicinal plants increases the production of secondary metabolites and essential oils that are important for human and animal health therapeutic treatments.The homeopathic preparation application is an alternative for the growth of medicinal plants with ecological balance, and without soil and water contamination. It is also affordable to farmers and researchers. However, further studies are required on its influence on the phytochemical profile of the cultivated medicinal species.
The objective of this research was to evaluate the growth, the essential oil production and the presence of antimalarial compounds in picao plants (Bidens pilosa L), after applications of 12 homeopathic solutions of China. The experimental procedure was completely randomized with 8 replications and 15 treatments. The treatments were the solutions of China in centesimal scale with 2CH 4CH, 6CH, 8CH, 10CH, 12CH, 14CH, 16CH, 18CH, 20CH, 22CH, 24CH, and the controls: ethanol 70%, ethanol 70% 3CH and distilled water. By the time of application it was prepared the solution with 20 drops of each homeopathy medicine per liter of water and poured 50mL/vase on the growing point of plants and spread over the soil. Data collected were: number of leaves, number of floral chapters, weight of the fresh and dried aerial part and of the roots, weight of dried floral chapters and foliar area. Essential oil was determined after hidrodestilation by Clevenger extractor. Cromatographic analyses were done at Farmacognosia Laboratory of UFMG. Essential oil production response was non linear. In the chromatographic profiles there were observed bands of chlorogenic acid, acetylenes, flavonoids. Bands of chlorogenic acid were present in the samples from 2CH, 4CH, 6CH, 12CH, 22CH, 24CH plots and controls. Characteristic bands of acetylene were present in all treatments. The 2CH and 16CH and the control (distilled water) solutions caused the presence of typical bands of flavonoids.
Background: Aconitum napellus is a classic resource of complementary medicine for the treatment of patients exhibiting neurological symptoms of anxiety. Aim: To assess the action of homeopathic medicine Acon in the treatment of generalized anxiety in an experimental model using rats. Methods: 48 adult (two to three months old) male Wistar rats (Rattus rattus) were randomly divided in six groups (n= 8/treatment) and given the following treatments by gastric tube along 10 days: 1) control (diazepam 1 mg/kg/day); 2) negative control (0.15 mL saline solution/day); 3) ACH6 (0.15 mL Acon (6cH/day); 4) ACH12 (0.15 mL Acon 12cH/day); 5) ACH30 (0.15 mL Acon 30cH/day); and 6) ALC30 (0.15 mL 30% cereal alcohol/day). Behavioral effects were blindly and randomly assessed in elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field test. Results: Acon in dilutions 12cH and 30cH exhibited possible anxiolytic effects on the central nervous system (CNS) since they increased the number of entries in the EPM open arms (12cH and 30cH) and the permanence time in the EPM open arms (30cH only). In the open field test the homeopathic preparations did not show effects on the locomotor system of rats. Conclusion: Dilutions 12cH and 30cH of Acon exhibited anxiolytic effects on the CNS in an animal experimental model.
Forty five days after the transplant to pots, plants of Tanacetum parthenium (L) Schultz-Bip. gotten from seeds, received homeopathies solutions of Arnica montana, centesimal potencies (CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4 and CH5). The applications, weekly, were done in the same schedule, in the soil, after dilutions in deionized water. The plant height was determined each 15 days, while that the fresh mass and the parthenolide content were been determined only at the end of the experiment. Despite the height and fresh mass not have been modified in function of the homeopathies solutions, the parthenolide content diminished, especially after application of CH3 and CH5.
Medicinal plants produce their active principles according to environmental stimuli; thus, the presence of other plants may affect the synthesis of secondary compounds. The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of intercropping on phytomass and essential oil production in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and mint (Mentha x villosa Huds.). The study was carried out in the experimental field of the Center for Agriculture, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Montes Claros Campus, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with twelve replicates and six treatments: basil + carrot, basil + lettuce, sole crop of basil, mint + carrot, mint + lettuce, and sole crop of mint. Phytomass and essential oil production in mint were not affected by the treatments. As regards basil, only fresh matter significantly varied with treatments.
Tomato crops (Solanum lycopersicum) under conventional production system are constantly treated against pest and diseases, with organic synthetic pesticides that are used may cause serious disturbance to environment and human health. This research was carried out in order to study the effect of homeopathic and high dilution preparations on pests and diseases management of tomato crop under organic production system. Two experiments were conducted under field conditions and one in greenhouse. All of them in randomized block design with the cultivar Santa Cruz Kada. The treatments consisted of homeopathic preparations Staphysagria, Arsenicum album, Sulphur, Arnica montana, high dilution preparations of Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum aculeatissimum, at the decimal (DH) or centesimal (CH) scale of hahnemanian high dilution. Bordeaux mixture, cupric preparation, and Bacillus thuringiensis were also included in weight doses. The preparation Arnica montana 12DH increased the tomato yield under field conditions. The damage incidence of small borer was efficiently reduced with applications of Sulphur 12CH that equalling to B. thuringiensis. The same treatment did not reduce the large borers. B. thuringiensis reduced also the septoria leaf spot incidence in the field. In greenhouse, the high dilution preparation of tomato at 12DH completely suppressed the septoria leaf spot and drastically reduced the same disease at 24DH. The homeopathic and high dilution preparations have the potential to be effective on replacing pesticides that are used on tomato, and could be suitable to fill legal requirement for organic production system.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the homeopathic solution Ammonium Carbonicum in two
dynamizations CH3 and CH30 on NO3 leaching. The early hypothesis was that those homeopathic solutions would act upon soil
microbiota optimizing the use of N by the plant. This study was conducted in greenhouse and samples of the A horizon of a very
clayey typic dystroferric Red Latosol, 0 0.15m, situated on the UFLAcampus were utilized. The soil columns were sowed with corn
(Zea mays L.) and were 0.20 x 0.20 m. Irrigation and leached volume measurement was performed daily. The application of the
homeopathic treatments was accomplished via irrigation. The analyses of the leachate were done twice a week. In the leachate, the
contents of NO3 and NH4 were measured. After 93 days, the columns were sectioned in 0.05-m layers and the samples were
analyzed in relation to fertility, including NO3 , NH4 and total N. The experimental design was completely randomized with three
replicates, in a double-blind scheme with a placebo. The effect of the homeopathic solution in minimizing NO3 leaching was not
significant in the conditions of this study.
Most criticism about homeopathy concerns the lack of a scientific basis and theoretical models. In order to be accepted as a valid part of medical practice, a wellstructured research strategy for homeopathy is needed. This is often hampered by methodological problems as well as by gross underinvestment in the required academic resources. Fundamental research could make important contributions to our understanding of the homeopathic and high dilutions mechanisms of action.
Since the pioneering works of Kolisko on wheat germination (Kolisko, 1923) and Junker on growth of microorganisms (paramecium, yeast, fungi) (Junker, 1928), a number of experiments have been performed either with healthy organisms (various physiological aspects of growth) or with artificially diseased organisms, which may react more markedly to homeopathic treatments than healthy ones. In the latter case, the preliminary stress may be either abiotic, e.g. heavy metals, or biotic, e.g. fungal and viral pathogens or nematode infection. Research has also been carried out into the applicability of homeopathic principles to crop growth and disease control (agrohomeopathy): because of the extreme dilutions used, the environmental impact is low and such treatments are well suited to the holistic approach of sustainable agriculture (Betti et al., 2006). Unfortunately, as Scofield reported in an extensive critical review (Scofield, 1984), there is little firm evidence to support the reliability of the reported results, due to poor experimental methodology and inadequate statistical analysis. Moreover, since there is no agricultural homeopathic pharmacopoeia, much work is required to find suitable remedies, potencies and dose levels.
Background: homeopathy is held in organic agriculture as a means to control disease and plagues. However, different from doctors, who have works on materia medica and repertories available to choose the most suitable homeopathic medicine for each patient, agronomists do not yet have an equivalent Homeopathic Materia Medica of Plants (HMMP) describing symptoms observed in plants. Aim: the aim of this study was to carry out a homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) in plants comparing the effects elicited by boric acid in ponderable dose and dilution 6cH in two different plant species, namely bean and tomato cultivars. Methods: 4 tests were carried out, 2 on tomato and 2 on bean plants, which received 1 to 6 applications of treatments. Results: there were differences between both species regarding their sensitiveness to boric acid. None of the tomato plants that received Boron 6cH showed symptoms, differently from bean plants. On the other hand, in tests of ponderable doses of boric acid, tomato plants exhibited 3 symptoms more than bean plants. A higher number of bean plants exhibited symptoms with boric acid in ponderable dose than in dilution 6cH). Nos ensaios com feijoeiro, um maior número de plantas apresentou sintomas após o tratamento com ácido bórico na dose ponderal do que com ácido bórico 6cH. Conclusions: these results suggest that the elaboration of a HMMP must take into account the species in which symptoms were obtained. Moreover, HPTs in plants must be carried out with both ponderable doses and high dilutions in order for differences in sensitiveness among species be better identified.
Novel sexual hybrids have been produced between the medicinally-important species T. parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip. (feverfew) and T. vulgare (L.) Schultz-Bip. (tansy). Morphologically, the F1 hybrids were more closely aligned to feverfew than to tansy, although notable differences were observed in floral and leaf
morphologies of the hybrid plants compared to both parental species. Ultrastructurally, the lower epidermal leaf surfaces
of the F1 hybrids displayed characteristics from both parents, with glandular trichome morphology and density similar to that of feverfew,
but non-glandular trichome density comparable to that of tansy. Diploid F1 (2n = 2× = 18) hybrids and their parental progenitors were analysed biochemically, using chromatographic techniques. The bioactive
germacranolide, parthenolide, was present in high concentrations [1.72 ± 0.16% dry leaf weight (mean ± s.d., n = 5)] in leaf extracts from feverfew, but to a much lesser extent in both tansy and the F1 hybrids (<0.03% and <0.01% dry leaf weight, respectively). Whilst secondary metabolite accumulation in the leaves of the
F1 hybrids was largely additive compared to the parental species, novel compounds were also detected in the F1 hybrids by HPLC, GC and TLC, indicating the expression of new metabolic pathways as a result of sexual hybridization. Pharmacologically,
leaf extracts from the F1 hybrids inhibited human polymorphonuclear leucocyte (PMNL) activity in vitro, despite containing only trace amounts of parthenolide, the principal bioactive moiety from feverfew. This, in conjunction
with the isolation of a fraction from the crude F1 leaf extract displaying significant (<5%) inhibition of PMNL activity, provides further evidence that parthenolide is not
the sole determinant of pharmacological activity in the genus Tanacetum.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the mechanisms of response of growth, the secondary metabolism, and electromagnetic field of Justicia pectoralis, to several treatments and homeopathic preparations. The statistical design was of a randomized block with 4 repetitions and 10 treatments, with 4 plants/plot. The treatments were: 2 control, ethanol 70%, without activation, and ethanol 70% with CH3, and those with homeopathic treatments: Justicia, Acanthaceae, Cumarina P.A., Guaco, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Arnica montana, and Humic acid, all activated at centesimal hahnemanian scale with CH3. The treatments were applied to the plants at weekly intervals, by spray, under the double-blind procedure. The quantification of the coumarin (1-2 benzopyrone) in the samples of plants was done by High Resolution Liquid Chromatography. The electromagnetic field was analyzed by means of Kirlian photographs, Kirlian Machine, Newton Milhomens Pattern. Coumarin content of the plants was increased in the case of Justicia by 54.35%, Humic acid by 55.10%, Phosphorus by 40.49%, Sulphur by 52.91%, and Arnica montana by 42.16%, when compared to the control material. The Kirlian analysis demonstrated great variability in the electromagnetic field of the plants as a function of treatments. Therefore, there was observed a response to homeopathic medications and preparations. The secondary metabolism and electromagnetic field analyses suggest resonance to energy of homeopathy, in terms of plant defense.
The inhibitory effects of whole and fractionated acetone extracts of leaves of four species of Tanacetum were assessed in vitro, using a human polymorphonuclear leucocyte-based bioassay. Biochemical investigation detected the bioactive germacranolide, parthenolide, at high concentrations, in extracts from T. parthenium and T. niveum (1.72%±0.16% and 2.62%±0.23% leaf dry weight, respectively; n =5). The compound was present at much lower concentrations ( 5%. Such fractions presumably contained compounds that augmented the pharmacological activity of extracts beyond that predicted on the basis of parthenolide content alone, and were responsible, in part, for the pharmacological activity of the extracts lacking parthenolide. These effects on phorbol myristate acetate-induced chemiluminescence suggested the activity of the responsible compound(s) was a result of inhibition of protein kinase C, or subsequent events, in polymorphonuclear leucocyte activation in vitro. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The bioactive sesquiterpene lactones parthenolide and costunolide, as well as the tricyclic sesquiterpene cyclocolorenone, were extracted from the leaves of Magnolia grandiflora by supercritical extraction with carbon dioxide and by near-critical extraction with propane. Parthenolide, costunolide, and cyclocolorenone in the extracts were identified by H-1 NMR and quantified by HPLC. Results indicate that supercritical carbon dioxide selectively removed parthenolide, costunolide, and cyclocolorenone when compared to standard liquid dichloromethane or near-critical propane extraction. HPLC traces show that the carbon dioxide extract is virtually clean of any chlorophyll or fatty material peaks which hinder isolation of these chemicals.
During the growth of Tanaceum parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip. Feverfew, Asteraceae) the percentage of parthenolide was the highest at an early stage (just before the formation of stems). The yield of parthenolide per individual plant gradually increased from about 10 mg at the beginning of the study to about 20 mg when the plant was in full bloom. Parthenolide was present in the leaves and flowerheads, but not in the stems. Drying at ambient temperature and lyophilisation had no negative influence on the yield of parthenolide per individual plant on comparing the results with those of fresh plant material. Based on the results of this study and on data from the literature we propose to distinguish two qualities of feverfew: a: Tanaceti parthenii folium (feverfew leaf), harvested at an early stage before the formation of the stems and b: Tanaceti parthenii herba (feverfew herb), harvested at full bloom, with a minimum parthenolide content of 0.50% and 0.20%, respectively, calculated on a dry weight basis. Both drugs can be easily distinguished by means of microscopic examination.