Ilex aquifolium Health Dictionary

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Ilex Aquifolium: From 1 Different Sources

Linn.

Family: Aquifolilaceae.

Habitat: Native to Europe; grown occasionally in gardens at hill stations.

English: English Holly, Common Holly.

Action: Leaves—diaphoretic, febrifuge. Used in catarrh, pleurisy, intermittent fever, smallpox and rheumatism. Also in jaundice. Berries—violently emetic and purgative; employed in dropsy. Powdered berries are used as astringent to check bleeding.

(Berries possess totally different qualities as compared to leaves.)

The plant contains ilicin (a bitter principle), ilexanthin, theobromine (only in the leaf) and caffeic acid. Alkaloid theobromine is used for asthma. In Greece, boiled leaves are used for treating enlarged prostate.

An extract of the plant caused a fatal drop in blood pressure in rats.

The ethanolic extract of the fruits yields cyanogenic glucosides.
Health Source: Indian Medicinal Plants
Author: Health Dictionary

Ilex Paraguariensis

St.-Hil.

Family: Aquifoliaceae.

Habitat: Native to South America; cultivated in some Indian gardens. In northern India, grows in Lucknow.

English: Mate Tea, Yerba Mate. Paraguay Tea.

Action: Stimulant to brain and nervous system, mild antispasmod- ic, eliminates uric acid. Used for physical exhaustion, rheumatism, gout and nervous headache. (A national drink of Paraguay and Brazil.) Causes purging and even vomiting in large doses.

Key application: In physical and mental fatigue. (German Commission E, WHO.) In fatigue, nervous depression, psychogenic headache especially from fatigue, rheumatic pains. (The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.) German Commission E reported analeptic, positively inotropic, positively chronotropic, glycogenolytic, lipolytic and diuretic properties.

The leaves contain xanthine derivatives, including caffeine (0.2-2%), theobromine (0.3-00.5%), theophylline (absent in some samples), polyphe- nolics, tannins and chlorogenic acid, vanillin, vitamin C, volatile oil. Used in the same way as tea, due to its caffeine and theobromine content.

Mate is a world famous tea and is commonly consumed in several South American countries.

The flavour constituents exhibited moderate to weak broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against several Gram-positive bacteria. Some components are bactericidal, particularly against the most carcinogenic bacteria, Streptococcus mutans.... ilex paraguariensis

Quercus Ilex

Linn.

Family: Fagaceae.

Habitat: The Himalayas, from the Sutlej valley westwards and in Kashmir at altitudes of 9002,600 m.

English: Holly or Holm Oak.

Ayurvedic: Maayaaphala (var.) (galls).

Action: Leaves—antioxidant. Galls—contain 41% tannin. The bark contains 7-13%; leaves 2.1% tannin and 1.8% non-tannin.

The leaves contain alpha-tocopherol as main antioxidant. The mature leaves contain proanthocyanidins 3.3, and leucoanthocyanidins 3.4 mg/g (on dry matter basis).... quercus ilex

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