Euphorbia helioscopia | |
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Flowers and immature fruit | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
Genus: | Euphorbia |
Species: | E. helioscopia |
Binomial name | |
Euphorbia helioscopia | |
Euphorbia helioscopia, the sun spurge or madwoman's milk, [1] is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is a herbaceous annual plant, native to most of Europe, northern Africa, and eastward through most of Asia. [2] [3] [4]
Additional folk names include wart spurge, summer spurge, umbrella milkweed, and wolf's-milk. [5] [6]
Euphorbia helioscopia is an annual plant growing in arable land and disturbed ground. It grows to 10–50 cm tall, with a single, erect, hairless stem, branching toward the top. The leaves are oval, broadest near the tip, 1.5–3 cm long, with a finely toothed margin. The flowers are small, yellow-green, with two to five basal bracts similar to the leaves but yellower. Flowering lasts from mid-spring to late summer. [4] [5]
Similar species include Euphorbia rhabdotosperma , having the appearance of E. helioscopia with smaller parts and differing seed surface [7] (Iran, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan).
Active ingredients extracted from Euphorbia helioscopia are used in pharmaceutical industry.[ citation needed ] The plant is used in Chinese traditional medicine. [8]
Its extract has been found to inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo in mice. [9]
Euphorbia helioscopia contains toxic diterpenes [10] and diterpenoids [11] and phorbol esters. These substances are the major skin irritants found in the plant. [12] The plant is considered poisonous when eaten raw. Nausea, allergic reactions, skin irritation, vomiting may occur after eating. [13]
A number of tannins can be found in E. helioscopia. [14] Helioscopinin-A shows anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic activities in guinea pigs. It is suggested that this compound exerts its activities through antagonism on leukotriene D4-induced responses. [15]
Euphorbia is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae.
Abietic acid is a diterpenoid found in coniferous trees. It is supposed to exist as a defend the host plant from insect attack or various wounds. Chemically, it is a complicated molecule featuring two alkene groups and a carboxylic acid within a chiral tricyclic framework. As the major component of rosin, it is a commercially important. Historically speaking, it was a major component of naval stores. It is the most common of the resin acids. Another common resin acid is pimaric acid, which converts to abietic acid upon heating.
Hydrangea macrophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to Japan. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2 m (7 ft) tall by 2.5 m (8 ft) broad with large heads of pink or blue flowers in summer and autumn. Common names include bigleaf hydrangea, French hydrangea, lacecap hydrangea, mophead hydrangea, and hortensia. It is widely cultivated in many parts of the world in many climates. It is not to be confused with H. aspera 'Macrophylla'.
Resiniferatoxin (RTX) is a naturally occurring chemical found in resin spurge, a cactus-like plant commonly found in Morocco, and in Euphorbia poissonii found in northern Nigeria. It is a potent functional analog of capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers.
Phorbol is a natural, plant-derived organic compound. It is a member of the tigliane family of diterpenes. Phorbol was first isolated in 1934 as the hydrolysis product of croton oil, which is derived from the seeds of the purging croton, Croton tiglium. The structure of phorbol was determined in 1967. Various esters of phorbol have important biological properties, the most notable of which is the capacity to act as tumor promoters through activation of protein kinase C. They mimic diacylglycerols, glycerol derivatives in which two hydroxyl groups have reacted with fatty acids to form esters. The most common and potent phorbol ester is 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), also called phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), which is used as a biomedical research tool in contexts such as models of carcinogenesis.
Euphorbia peplus, is a species of Euphorbia, native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, where it typically grows in cultivated arable land, gardens and other disturbed land.
Euphorbia maculata, known as spotted spurge, prostrate spurge, milk purslane, or spotted sandmat, is a fast-growing annual plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to North America, where it is generally considered a common weed, it can be found in disturbed soils such as garden beds, along railroad tracks, and in the cracks of sidewalks. It has become a common introduced species throughout the world, including Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as Euphorbia paralias, are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are shrubs or trees, such as Hevea brasiliensis. Some, such as Euphorbia canariensis, are succulent and resemble cacti because of convergent evolution. This family has a cosmopolitan global distribution. The greatest diversity of species is in the tropics; however, the Euphorbiaceae also have many species in nontropical areas of all continents except Antarctica.
Chebulagic acid is a benzopyran tannin and an antioxidant that has many potential uses in medicine.
Galanolactone is a diterpenoid lactone first isolated from ginger. It is present in acetone extracts of ginger, and appears to be an antagonist at 5-HT3 receptors.
Matrine is an alkaloid found in plants from the family Fabaceae. It has a variety of pharmacological effects, including in-vitro anti-cancer effects, as well as κ-opioid and μ-opioid receptor agonism.
Taxodone is a naturally occurring diterpenoid found in Taxodium distichum, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary), several salvia species and other plants, along with its oxidized rearrangement product, taxodione. Taxodone and taxodione exhibit anticancer, antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, insecticide, and antifeedant activities.
A quinone methide is a type of conjugated organic compound that contain a cyclohexadiene with a carbonyl and an exocyclic methylidene or extended alkene unit. It is analogous to a quinone, but having one of the double bonded oxygens replaced with a carbon. The carbonyl and methylidene are usually oriented either ortho or para to each other. There are some examples of transient synthetic meta quinone methides.
Punigluconin is an ellagitannin, a polyphenol compound.(pu-ni-glue-co-nin) It is found in the bark of Punica granatum (pomegranate) and in Emblica officinalis. It is a molecule having a hexahydroxydiphenic acid group and two gallic acids attached to a gluconic acid core.
Ecklonia kurome is a brown alga species in the genus Ecklonia found in the Sea of Japan.
Mallotus japonicus, also known as East Asian mallotus, the food wrapper plant or "Akamegashiwa" in Japanese, is a plant species in the genus Mallotus native to China. It is also found in Japan and Korea. This species was first described in 1865, its name was verified by AAS Systematic Botanists on October 2, 2015.
Mallotusinic acid is a hydrolysable tannin found in the bark of Mallotus japonicus. It is more generally present in Geraniales.
β-amyrin synthase is an enzyme with systematic name (3S)-2,3-epoxy-2,3-dihydrosqualene mutase . This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Mallojaponin is a hydrolysable tannin found in the bark of Mallotus japonicus. This compound contains the moiety elaeocarpusinic acid, an oxidized hexahydroxydiphenic acid group which reacted with a dehydroascorbic acid molecule. It also contains a valoneic acid and a gallic acid moieties linked to a glucose molecule.
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