Parthenium Integrifolium--Wild Quinine

bohocrow
bohocrow Posts: 5 ✭✭✭
edited October 2020 in Wild Edibles & Medicinals

Hello to all, I'm a new member.

I am obsessed with this miracle of the Earth. There was a discussion in April about this plant, but no one had much luck or info regarding it.

There is a treasure trove of info our there about this precious plant. The key to unlocking the door to this info is knowing that the substance of interest in the plant is PARTHENOLIDE. You can search the net for Parthenium Integrifolium until you're blue in the face , but you'll find nothing but nurseries, cultivation info, and brief citations for uses of minor interest.

While we in the U.S. are growing it because it's an attractive, stately native plant, Big Pharma-funded entities worldwide are feverishly working to corral the powers of Parthenolide into patentable medicines for everything from coronaviruses to cancers.

I settled in the midwest 8 years ago, and the plant grows on my property. Its lovely form attracted my attention last year, and when I saw the Latin name, it piqued my interest. Being into herbal medicine for over 40 years, I started to research, deeply. Lo and behold, busy little pharmacists in China, India, Iran, Germany and elsewhere are up to their eyeballs in studies on it. While most of the researchers are focusing on Tanacetum Parthenium (Tansy), Parthenium Integrifolium is a superior source of parthenolide, due to its lack of toxic constituents. Here's links to parthenolide research that should knock your socks off. PLEASE SHARE THIS INFO


Kind Regards,

Jean

Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Welcome and thanks for the info. I am going to see what this plant looks like.

  • Gail H
    Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

    @bohocrow Thank you for posting this. I initiated the original discussion and am happy to have this additional information. I really want to make use of what grows near me, especially on my own property. Thanks again!

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2020

    @bohocrow Very interesting indeed. I wish they would change the common name since it has nothing to do with cinchona/quinine except that it was a substitute for it during WWII. Confusing.

    I use the real quinine for eye twitching/blepharospasm. The amount in tonic water is enough to stop it in a few days. Bittermilk has a drink mix that contains quinine which tastes pretty good and works great. Basically, quinine limits are controlled by the government, so products may only have a small amount, but it doesn't take much to work.

  • bohocrow
    bohocrow Posts: 5 ✭✭✭

    Glad some have found the info useful. Of course the standard caveat: Not intended as medical advice, or diagnosis or cure of anything, not responsible for any harm or problems arising from its use, etc., etc....that being said, the one common side effect of this herb is contact dermatitis; I personally have been chawing down on a piece of leaf every now and then over the past year (DO NOT TRY THIS YOURSELF). The only noticeable reaction I have from it is a mild fuzzy tingle in the mouth. My blood work ( I have comprehensive panels run ) and urinalysis is current and normal. Frogvalley, sorry to psych you out re: the quinine. You may want to take a look at the use of tea ( Camellia SInenesis) bags for your eye twitch. Again, not medical advice, education only. Tea contains many quinolones. Look at these web pages for more info:

    Even if you can't drink tea, there's certainly no harm in trying tea bags externally. 😀

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks @bohocrow , I will try the tea bags on my twitchy eyes some day. I have to admit that using the Bittermilk in fizzy water is a treat, even though it is medicinal.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl Here is a picture of what it looks like.


  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @tomandcara Thanks for the photo. I don't know yet if it will grow in a desert zone 8.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl Let us know what happens

  • bohocrow
    bohocrow Posts: 5 ✭✭✭

    I read somewhere regarding cultivation that dry periods are helpful in yielding high parthenolide content, so you may have a good chance with it. Where I'm at we get 100's for two months in the summer, not continuously, but off and on. My plants set up shop in semi-shade; the ones in full sun don't seem to do as well.