Most people know Ageratum as the annual ornamental plant that brightens up flower boxes and public gardens in cities and villages with its blue flowers. You don’t immediately expect a medicinal effect from this good little flower. And yet, the botanical species, which occur naturally in Brazil and are even considered weeds, are widely used in folk medicine.
Names of Ageratum
More specifically, Ageratum conyzoides, known in Brazil as Mentraste, is widely used. Other names are Ageratum conyzoides L. (= A. conyzoides var. inaequipale-aceum Hieron., A. hirtum Lam., A. latifolium Cav., Eupatorium conyzoi des (L.) EHLKrause).
The Brazilian names include: mentraste, cacâlia-mentraste, mentraço, picâo-roxo; the Dutch ageratum, garden balm, liver balm and the English Billygoat weed, Chick weed, Goatweed, Whiteweed.
You can already see some use value from the names Liver Balm and Goatweed. The official name Ageratum, from ageratus ‘non-old’ or eternally young, may also refer to its health benefits, although this can also indicate the strong growth and flowering of the plant itself.
Botanical
It is an annual herb of the family Asteraceae, with a height of 0.3 to 0.8 m and terminal white, pink or purple flower heads. Originally the plant comes from Brazil, but it is now a pantropical cosmopolitan. In fact, it is said to be the most common weed in the world, growing mainly in gardens and among other annual crops. Although it is easy to remove, the enormous number of dusty seeds ensure that it keeps coming back and can spread well. It does not make any special demands on the soil, but prefers to grow in full sun and is somewhat sensitive to wind, it tolerates frost, cold and heat. Dozens of cultivars have now been developed that are grown as ornamental plants.
Ageratum, medicinal.
The plant is not specially grown for phytotherapeutic purposes. However, targeted research is occasionally conducted into the possibilities of this plant, especially for its use in regional health programs.
The herb is harvested all year round at the beginning of flowering, it should definitely not be washed. There is some, albeit highly fluctuating, trade in this product, which almost always concerns collected plants. The fresh plant is eaten as a substitute for cress, it has a spicy taste. The fresh flowers are added to homemade massage oil. In folk medicine, the plant is mainly used in the form of an infusion as an analgesic, against rheumatic complaints, arthritis and intestinal cramps, because of its pain-relieving and spasmolytic properties. It is also used as a diuretic and as an appetite stimulant. It is also used externally to treat rheumatic pain.
Contents and use
The fresh plant contains 0.02% volatile oils, the dried 0.16 and the leaves 0.06%. The fresh plant also contains hydrocyanic acid, which disappears during the drying process or the preparation of the infusion. Tannins and saponins are also present. The fresh plant is poisonous in high doses, the possibility that
as yet unidentified toxins are also present in the dried plant is being investigated.
So don’t immediately plunder the public gardens to solve your joint complaints, but it should be clear by now that there are possibilities to use commonly known ornamental plants as medicine. Just look at the scientific research conducted by diligent scientists.
For further research of Ageratum
- Ageratum conyzoides: A Tropical Source of Medicinal and Agricultural Products. Pfaf Plant Search
- http://ajol.info/index.php/ajbr/article/viewFile/54019/42561 African Journal of Biomedical Research, Vol. 6 (1); 27 – 31 (2003) Enhancement of cutaneous wound healing.
- Anticoccidial effects of Ageratum conyzoides. [J Ethnopharmacol. 2009] – PubMed
- Anticancer and antiradical scavenging activity of Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asteraceae) Adebayo AH ea – Phcog Mag
- Phytochemistry. 2001 Aug;57(8):1269-71.Pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Ageratum houstonianum Mill.Wiedenfeld H, Andrade-Cetto A.
