| Common Names | Cornflower |
|---|---|
| Description | |
| Locations | Epirus |
| Clinical Summary | |
| Contraindications | No side effects are reported. |
| Active Substance | Cnicine or centaurin (bitter agent) cyanidin (glycoside) |
| Active Substance Plant Part | leaves |
| Adverse Reaction | |
| Educational Research | |
| Interaction | |
| Features Description | Centaurea cyanus is an annual, herbaceous plant growing from 30 to 60cm, with blue flowers. The narrow leaves are pinnate at the base and lanceolate at the top. The flowering and the harvesting take place from June to August |
| Method Administration | The plant is administered in the form of eye drops, soothing ointment and poultice, mostly againt eye diseases.Warning: The use of herb preparations is not recommended without seeking advice from your physician or pharmacist. The substances they contain may interact with the subscribed drugs that the patient already takes, thus eliminating their therapeutic efficacy or inducing toxicity. They may also burden further weakened vital functions of the body thus exposing the patient to increased morbidity and life threatened conditions. |
| Pharmacological Info | The whole plant is recommended as diuretic and orexigenic, due to its bitter taste. Also, it is administered in the tired eyes in the form of a soothing lotion and in the form of eye drops against conjunctivitis. The blue flowers are used for the preparation of herbal teas as coloring agent. In folk medicine, the plant is also recommended as antirheumatic, antitussive, astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue and laxative. |
| Pharmacological Use | |
| Mechanism Action | |
| References | Βιβλίο: Οδηγός των φαρμακευτικών φυτών, Paul Schauenberg, Ferdinand Paris, Εκδότης Μ. Γκιούρδας, Αθήνα 1981, σελίδες 217-218 http://advances.nutrition.org/content/2/1/32.full.pdf+html Herbal Extracts & Phytochemicals:Plant Secondary Metabolites & the Enhancement of Human Brain Function, David Kennedy, Emma Wightman http://www.valentine.gr/linkOfTheMonth_gr-august2004.php http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Centaurea+cyanus http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/cornf102.html |
| Research |
