Decoctions applications

No drugs have been a more faithful companion to man throughout his history than salicylates, the forebears of aspirin. About 3,500 years ago the Ebers Papyrus recommended the application of a decoction of leaves of myrtle to the abdomen and back to get rid of rheumatic pains. Hippocrates championed the juices of the poplar tree and willow bark to treat fever and labor pains. These plants and trees are abimdant in compounds derived from salicylic acid, which gets its name from them (in Latin salix is a willow tree). For thousands of years on all continents they have helped to... 

Qiao X, Zhang Z, Ping Z (2007) Hydrophilic modification of ultrafiltration membranes and their application in Salvia miltiorrhiza decoction. Separ Purif Technol 56 265-269... 

The prime materials may likewise be subjected to chemical examination, which is the only means applicable to the recognition of tanning extracts this is carried out on an aqueous decoction of the raw material or on a conveniently diluted solution of the extract. 

The root is regarded as one of the best and most powerful of all the herbal astringents. The decoction of 1 ounce to 1 pint (reduced) of water in wineglass doses is consequently used in diarrhea and as a gargle for relaxed throats. It may also be used with benefit as a lotion for application to ulcers. 

A decoction of the bark, which is more astringent than the leaves, checks external and internal hemorrhages, and this astringency, when in combination with the more specific principles of Pilewort, makes one of the most effective pile medicines known. The compound can be obtained in the form of both ointment and suppositories for external application. For varicose veins an extract of the fresh leaves and young twigs of Witch Hazel is applied on a lint bandage kept constantly moist. 

Fomentations. Fomentations consists of an external application of cloths dampened with hot water or a medicinal decoction. Narcotic drugs were sometimes used. Dry fomentations were heated bricks wrapped in cloth and applied externally. ... 

Morin is used largely in wool and cotton dyeing as decoction or extract of fustic. Its principal application is in shading blacks, browns, c. Wool is generally mordanted with potassium bichromate and sulphuric acid. The morin is fixed as a very stable chromium lake, which has a dull yellow colour. 

Quercitin and quercitrin give beautiful yellow shades on cotton mordanted with alumina. With tin mordants a more orange shade is produced. On a large scale these bodies have an extensive application, and are used in form of a decoction of the bark or as flavin. In dyeing with the extract, it is probable that the quercitrin splits up, and that the shades obtained are due to the formation of quercitin lakes. 

An aqueous decoction of weld is used in dyeing. On alumina mordants it produces a beautiful fast yellow. Its principal application is in silk-dyeing, for which weld is a valuable material. Silk is previously mordanted with alum. 

The mode of effecting solution varies with the substance under process Maceration, decoction, infusion, digestion, boiling and displacement have each and all appropriate application. 

In Sardinian folk medicine S. desoleana was used to treat a sore throat associated with local infection and a temperature, in the form of local applications of the leaf (sometimes after dipping in hot olive oil) inside cloths soaked in hot water. It was also drunk as a decoction of the leaf and leafy twigs as an antipyretic. Ground fresh leaves were also used to treat cutaneous pustules. 

Documented effects In modem medicine, water decoctions and infusions, liquid extracts, and dry concentrates of the inflorescences, as well as the preparation Flamin, are used as a choleretic for treating liver disease, cholecystitis and hepa-tocholecystitis (Khodzhimatov 1989). An ethanohc extract of the flowers and the compound naringenin chalcone (isolated from the extract) showed antiproliferative activity against mouse skin tumor cells in vitro. Application of isosalipurposide, isolated from the flowers, delayed formation of papillomas in an in vivo assay of carcinogenesis on mouse skin (Yagura et al. 2008). 

Wu C, Zhang J, Zhou T, Guo B, Wang Y, Hou J (2011) Simultaneous determination of seven flavonoids in dog plasma by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to a bioequivalence study of bioactive components in Herba epimedii and Er-Xian Decoction. J Pharm Biomed Anal 54 186-191 Ma G, Jiang X-H, Chen Z, Ren J, Li C-R, Liu T-M (2007) Simultaneous determination of vitexin-4"-0-glucoside and vitexin-2 -0-rhamnoside from hawthorn leaves flavonoids in rat plasma by HPLC method and its application to pharmacokinetic studies. J Pharm Biomed Anal 44 243-249... 

Among the various prerequisites for a perfect quality proof of these herbal drugs, authentication and safety proof take first precedence. Identification was in former times primarily synonymous with the macroscopic and microscopic botanical authenticity. Since that time, however, chemical composition and particularly the complex entities of the low molecular constituents have become of greater interest for oral medicinal application and thus in evaluating the pharmacological effects and therapeutic efficacy of the plant drug extracts obtained by decoction or other extraction processes. 

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