ABSTRACT
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 55 Nitrogen Compounds ..................................................................................................................... 56
Alkamides ............................................................................................................................... 56 Alkaloids ................................................................................................................................. 60 Glycoproteins .......................................................................................................................... 61 Polysaccharides ....................................................................................................................... 61 Hydrocarbons .......................................................................................................................... 62 Essential Oils .......................................................................................................................... 63 Flavonoids ............................................................................................................................... 65 Cinnamic Acids....................................................................................................................... 66
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 69 References ...................................................................................................................................... 69
Echinacea
is a small genus of the Compositae, tribe Heliantheae, containing six species (Shetler and Skog, 1978) that are all endemic to North America. Only three of the species —
E. angustifolia
DC.,
E. purpurea
(L.) Moench, and
E. pallida
Nutt. — are used medicinally for their immunostimulatory properties (Bauer, 1998; Brevoort, 1996). The plant parts used include the rhizomes (usually termed roots in most references) of
E. angustifolia
and
E. pallida
, and less frequently of
E. purpurea
; the aerial parts of
E. purpurea
;
and whole-plant homeopathic tinctures of
E. angustifolia
and
E. pallida
.
