Echinacea angustifolia (root)

Nomenclature

Echinacea angustifolia DC.   Asteraceae  
Standardized common name (English): Echinacea angustifolia

Botanical Voucher Specimen

Source: Botanical Voucher Specimen Library, Alkemists Laboratories	Source: Botanical Voucher Specimen Library, Alkemists Laboratories	Source: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Organoleptic Characteristics

Echinacea angustifolia DC. Scent Mild, aromatic. Flavor Sweet initially but quickly becoming bitter followed by a tingling sensation on the tongue. Source: Steven Yeager, Mountain Rose Herbs Odor faint, aromatic; taste sweetish, followed by a tingling sensation suggesting aconite, but lacking the persistent and benumbing effect produced by that drug. Source: United States Dispensatory (1918)

Macroscopic Characteristics

This herb grows to a height of from 2 to 3 feet, sending up a rather stout, bristly haired stem bearing thick hairy leaves from 3 to 8 inches long. The flowers, which appear from July to October, vary in color from whitish rose to pale purple. The flower heads are ornamental and consist of ray and disk flowers. The brown fruiting heads, which develop after the flowers, are conical, stiff, and chaffy. The plant has a thick, blackish root. Source: American Medicinal Plants of Commercial Importance (1930) The root is described as nearly entire, cylindrical, very slightly tapering and sometimes slightly spirally twisted, from 10 to 20 cm. in length and from 4 to 13 mm. in diameter, externally grayish-brown, light brown or purplish-brown, slightly annulate in the upper portion, with occasional V-shaped stem scars, somewhat longitudinally wrinkled, or furrowed; fracture short, fibrous, bark less than 1 mm. in thickness, wood thick and composed of alternate light yellowish and black wedges; the rhizome with a circular pith. Source: United States Dispensatory (1918) Source: Steven Yeager, Mountain Rose Herbs

Microscopic Characteristics

Under the microscope, sections show the presence of intercellular (schizogenous) oil and resin cavities or reservoirs in both the wood and bark, numerous stone cells distinguished by the presence of a blackish, resinous substance in the intercellular spaces between them and some of the adjoining parenchyma, the latter containing masses or aggregates of inulin. The walls of the tracheae or vessels are marked with simple slitlike pores or annular and reticulate thickenings; bast fibers occur in the stem, and in some specimens true libriform or wood fibers are found. Source: United States Dispensatory (1918) Fibers showing black phtymelanin of Echinacea angustifolia root viewed under 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Solution. Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories Oleoresin found in Echinacea angustifolia root viewed under 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Solution. Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories

High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Identification

Echinacea angustifolia HPTLC ID - Natural Product Reagent + PEG UV 365 nm Narrow-leaf Echinacea (root) (Echinacea angustifolia) Lane Assignments Lanes, from left to right (Track, Volume, Sample): 3 μL Echinacoside, Cynarin ~0.1% in Methanol 3 μL Echinacea angustifolia-1 (herb) 3 μL Echinacea angustifolia-2 (herb) 3 μL Echinacea angustifolia-3 (herb) 3 μL Echinacea angustifolia-3 (herb) 3 μL Echinacea angustifolia-4 (herb) 3 μL Echinacea angustifolia-5 (herb) 3 μL Caftaric Acid, Cichoric Acid ~0.1% in Methanol Reference materials used here have been authenticated by macroscopic, microscopic &/or TLC studies according to the reference source cited below held at Alkemists Laboratories, Costa Mesa, CA.  Stationary Phase Silica gel 60, F254, 10 x 10 cm HPTLC plates  Mobile Phase ethyl acetate: MEK methylethyl ketone: HCOOH: H2O [5/3/1/1]  Sample Preparation Method 0.3 g + 3 ml CH3OH sonicate 10 min NO HEAT  Detection Method Natural Product Reagent + PEG -> UV 365 nm  Reference see American Herbal Pharmacopoeia & Therapeutic Compendium Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories

Supplementary Information

HPTLC method, Schicke, et al., 2014

A sensitive TLC method to identify Echinaceae pallidae radix.

Abstract. In this work a fast, simple and sensitive qualitative TLC method was developed to identify Echinaceae pallidae radix and to distinguish this drug from similar ones. The TLC method is based on the lipophilic compounds of E. pallida. Three mobile phases provided good separation, e.g. toluene/ethylacetate 7 + 3 (v/v). A marker substance was found which shows a blue fluorescence at an excitation wavelength of 366 nm after detection with a spray agent containing 95 volume parts ethanol 96%, 5 parts trifluoroacetic acid 99% and zinc ions in 0.15 molar concentration. After spraying the chromatogram was heated at 110 degrees C for 7 min. This method is superior to HPLC methods to characterise mixtures of Echinacea extracts in terms of selectivity due to this post-chromatographic derivatisation and subsequent fluorescence detection.