Background: Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea L.) is one of the most important medicinal plants. Hairy root culture of Echinace, represent a valuable alternative to field cultivation for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. Objective: The present study investigates the effects of KNO3, CaCl2 and MgSO4 concentrations on growth and the biosynthesis of cichoric acid in Echinacea...

The concentrations of caffeic acid derivatives within Lamiaceae and Echinacea (herb, spice, tea, and dietary supplement forms) readily available in the US marketplace (n = 72) were determined. After the first identification of chicoric acid in Ocimum basilicum (basil), the extent to which chicoric acid could be found within the family Lamiaceae was investigated. The dominant phenolic acid in al...

The herb Echinacea purpurea, also called purple coneflower, is regarded as an immune modulator. This study examined changes in cytokine production in blood samples from 30 volunteers before and during 8-day oral administration with an ethanolic extract of fresh Echinacea purpurea (Echinaforce(®)). Daily blood samples were ex vivo stimulated by LPS/SEB or Zymosan and analysed for a series of cyt...

previous studies have shown antiviral effect of echinacea and elderberry preparations against human influenza viruses in vitro. to investigate the in vivo antiviral effect of these herbs on avian h9n2 influenza virus, amantadine and two standardized commercial extracts of echinacea purpurea (ef) and sambucus nigra (sam) were used in broiler chickens infected with h9n2 strain of the virus. ef, s...