ABSTRACT
Echinacea preparations represent the most popular herbal medicines taken for prevention and treatment of the common cold and are used by modern practitioners primarily as an immunomodulatory agent in the treatment of acute infections. Most preparations are derived either from the aerial or from the underground parts of Echinacea purpurea and from the roots of Echinacea angustifolia or Echinacea pallida. The common products in Europe either represent expressed juice or alcoholic tinctures (Bauer, 1999).
