Salix alba

The use of natural products as medicine has invoked the isolation of active compounds the first commercial pure natural product introduced for therapeutic use is generally considered to be the narcotic morphine (1), marketed by Merck in 1826, and the first semi-synthetic pure dmg aspirin (2), based on a natural product salicin (3) isolated from Salix alba, was introduced by Bayer in 1899. This success subsequently led to the isolation of early dmgs such as cocaine, codeine, digitoxin (4), quinine (5), and pilocarpine (6), of which some are still in use. ... 

Traditionally, lead compounds have been discovered in one of two ways. The hrst is one of trial and error. This is the way many plant and animal products and minerals have been found to be effective in the treatment of some medical disorder. For example, no one knows when the hrst person learned that chewing on the bark of the willow tree [Salix alba) helped relieve pain and reduce fever, but willow bark has been used in many cultures for untold centuries for just that purpose. Today we know that the active ingredient in willow bark is a derivative of salicylic acid (CgH4(OH)COOH), which today is sold commercially as aspirin or one of its analogs. Drug researchers continue to rely heavily on the study of folk medicines—a science known as ethnopharmacology—for the discovery of new plant and animal products that may have medical applications in the modern world. Indeed, scientists have discovered that the medical... 

Aspirin Salicylate Analgesic, anti-inflammatory Salix alba (white willow tree) and Filipendula ulmaria (meadowsweet)... 

Proanthocyanidins Leaves or needles of willow Salix alba). linear (+) DHB, 301... 

N.A. Salix alba L. S. discolor Muhlenb. Salicin, tannins, phenolic, flavonoid, glycosides, salicortin, triandrin.99102 Antipyretic, diaphoretic, antirheumatic, analgesic. 

Glycosides Aralia catechu, A. nudicaulis, A. racemosa, Paeonia officinalis, Phragmites australis, Salix alba, S. discolor... 

Populus tremuloides, Salix alba, Salix discolor... 

The effect of Salix alba L. (white willow) is largely owed to a glycoside, salicin. Salicin is antipyretic and analgesic and has been used in the treatment of rheumatic fever (salicilin tablets British Pharmaceutical Codex, 1949). In 1893, Felix Hofmann, a chemist working for the Bayer chemical company in Germany, first synthesized acetyl-salicylic acid, the acetylated form of salicin. Aspirin is one of the most commonly used pharmaceuticals containing salicin. Today, the main commercial sources of salicin are Salix fragilis and Salix purpurea (Salicaceae), which are native to Eurasia. 

Willow bark. The bark of the white willow tree (Salix alba) has been used as a pain and fever reducer for centuries. The main active ingredient in willow bark is salicin, which the body converts to salicylic acid, a substance that acts like aspirin. In fact, the first stable form of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was made from a related herb called meadowsweet. Salicylic acid inhibits... 

Salix alba, S.viminalis) contain salicylic acid derivatives in their bark. Preparations of willow bark were used from antiquity in the 19th century, salicylic acid was isolated as the active principle of this folk remedy. This simple acid still enjoys use as an external agent (keratolytic action) but is no longer taken orally for the treatment of pain, fever, and inflammatory reactions. Acetylation of salicylic acid (introduced around 1900) to yield acetylsali-cylic acid (ASA, Aspirin ) improved oral tolerability. 

Salicylic acid Salix alba White willow Salicaceae... 

Figure 1.29. Uniseriate rays in Salix alba seen in tangential-longitudinal view. x300.

Willow Salix alba- S. purpurea-, S. nigra-, S. caprea (SJ of V) A of V 1) X Woodbase wood amulet. 

---