Rutin, a New Drug From Buckwheat

The story of rutin begins in 1842, when it was first prepared by a pharmacist-chemist of Nuremberg, Germany, named August Weiss, who obtained it from garden rue, Ruta graveolens. As time went on, chemists found rutin in a number of plants. Rutin is a yellow, crystalline powder with the formula C^iKnO^^/dK^O. It is only slightly soluble in water, more soluble in alcohol, acetone, and alkaline solutions, and insoluble in chloroform, ether, and the hydrocarbons. Rutin is a glycosidc, which is hydrolyzed to form one molecule each of quercetin, glucose, and rhamnose when it is boiled with 2 percent sulfuric acid. Quercetin is a well-known chemical substance belonging to the class of flavonols, a class whose representatives are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Rutin is reasonably stable in boiling w^ater and may be recrystallized from that medium for purification. It has been the subject of many chemical studies and its chemical nature is thoroughly understood. Extensive studies by pharmacologists at the Western Regional Research Laboratory and by others have shown that rutin is nontoxic. For a century after its discovery, rutin remained without any known use, although plants containing it were sometimes used as dycstuffs. This use disappeared with the advent of the synthetic coal-tar colors.