St. John's Wort Constituents

The image above is from the class lesson I attended.

The actions for this herb have all been discussed so I'm going straight to the constituents for this herb.  Love and Light!

On to the constituents of St. John's Wort.

Alpha-pinene (Volatile Oil): Hoffman says this is used in the manufacture of camphor, insecticides, perfume bases, and synthetic pine oil and that is can cause skin eruptions, delirium, ataxia, and kidney damage (Hoffman, 2003, p. 64).

Anthraquinone Derivatives:

Beta-pinene:

Bioflavonoids (Flavonoids):  

Caffeic acid esters/derivatives (Phenolic Acids): The derivatives have more specific properties than caffeic acid but without the derivative being named specifically, it's hard to know which one is being referenced (G-anora, 2009, p. 108).

Carotenoids are lipid-soluble (fat-soluble) pigments which are found in every plant. In animals, this becomes Vitamin A. As Vitamin A, these are radical scavengers (Hoffman, 2003, p. 85, 168).

Caryophyllene (Volatile Oil):

Catechins (Tannin, Flavonols (flavan-3-ols), Flavonoids, Phenolic Compounds) is very common, especially in woody plants. Flavonols are strong antioxidants, mild astringents, and anticarcinogenic. They are soluble in hot water and are antioxidant, antiangiogenic, pro-apoptotic (against cancer specifically), antiatherosclerotic (prevents the build-up of bad cholesterol), antihypertensive, cardioprotective, antimicrobial, and may prevent metabolic syndrome (Hoffman, 2003, p. 108; Ganora, 2009, p. 66, 118, 123, 156).

Chlorogenic acid (Phenolic Acids) is found in coffee and is responsible for its anti-diabetic activity.  It "slows intestinal absorption of glucose", "decreases the liver's output of glucose" and strengthens the pancreas in the way the beta cells work.    (Ganora, 2009, p. 65, 108).  What all this means is you can drink coffee WITHOUT the added sweeteners and it can even be decaf and it will help with your diabetes. This actually makes sense to me (and Ganora mentions studies where this is proven) because coffee is a bitter.

Flavanones are either bitter or sweet (Hoffman, 2003, p. 107).

Flavonoids: All polyphenolic plant pigments of a specific structure. There are over 4,000 of them. These are broken down into categories: Catechins, dihydrochalones, chalones, flavanones (dihydroflavones), flavones, isoflavones, anthocyanides, aurones, flavanols, and flavonols. This general property is immunomodulatory due to antioxidant/free-radical scavenging ability (Hoffman, 2006, p. 100-102, 152, 167, 170, 174).

Flavonols (Flavonoid):

Glycosides (Bitter, Flavonoids): are compounds that contain a sugar unit attached to a non-carbohydrate molecule (aglycone). The sugar makes them easier to absorb, making to aglycone more bioavailable than others. They are categorized by the sugar, aglycone, or the link between the 2. (Hoffman, 2003, p. 41, 48, 199).

Hydrocarbons (Volatile Oil):

Hyperforin (Phloroglucinol Derivative)

Hypericin (Anthraquinone Derivative, Naphthodianthone)

Hyperoside (Quercetin Glycosides, Flavonoids) is a cardioprotective antioxidant and is anti-inflammatory (Ganora, 2009, p. 120).

Methyl-2-octane (in Volatile Oil):

Monosesquiterpenes (in Volatile Oil):

Naphthodianthones:

N-decanal (in Volatile Oil):

N-nonane (in Volatile Oil):

N-octanal (in Volatile Oil):

Nicotinamide (in Volatile Oil):

Pectin (heteropolysaccharide) is a "linear polysaccharide" which contains primarily D-galacturonic acid. They are in apples and citrus fruits primarily and become gelatinous. Pectin has been used in the treatment of diarrhea with other things as well as cholesterol, and as an antithombotic. It may help with colorectal cancer (Hoffman, 2003, p. 47). Pectin is used to make jelly.

Phenols:

Phlorogucinol (Phenolic Compound), also called phenolic ketones, says examples of this are hyperforin and THC and are soluble in low-polarity solvents and solutions with a high percentage of EtOH. On page 67, she lists some derivatives and what their actions are.  Since they are all different, I won't list them here but having the reference here is a good thing for finding this data when I need it later (Ganora, 2009, p. 45, 55, 67, 127).

Polycyclic Diones:

Proanthocyanidins are condensed tannins.  If acids or enzymes are present, they are not water-soluble. These are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective (Hoffman, 2003, p. 13, 114, Ganora, 2009, p. 66).

Procyanidin (Proanthocyanidins, Condensed Tannins):  

Pseudohypericin (Anthraquinone Derivatives):

Rutin (Flavonoid, also called quercetin-3-rutinoside) is an anti-inflammatory and loves to scavenge free-radicals. It helps strengthen blood vessels - specifically capillaries and veins. It is also antiviral and antibacterial (Hoffman, 2003, p. 105).

Sesquiterpenes (in volatile oil): Constituents are often classified based on structure and this particular one makes that hard...  There are over 200 structure types. The 3 main structures are acyclic, monocytclic, and bicyclic. Some of these act as pheromones for communication between plants. Some provide a defensive role (Hoffman, 2003, p. 67).

Tannins (Polyphenolic Acid) can damper some of the harsher effects of some constituents but excessive use of them can cause certain cancers. In lab studies, they can inhibit fungi, yeast, bacteria and viruses. They do inhibit some other cancers and are antioxidants. There are different kinds of tannins so the risks vary. They are present in plants to protect them in various ways, depending on location (Hoffman, 2003, p. 114-117, 201).

Volatile oil: Volatile just means they evaporate more quickly than other substances. If it says "volatile", you want to use the plant as fresh as possible and try not to warm it up in any way (Ganora, 2009, p. 52, 57, 61, 134, 139). Chevallier (2016) says volatile oils are what is extracted from the plant to make essential oils and are made of a lot of compounds, sometimes as much as 100 (p. 14).

Xanthones vary in properties. The vary between inhibiting MAO activity, demonstrating cytotoxic activity, being anti-tumor, antimicrobial, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, and tuberculostatic properties. Ganora adds these are soluble in oil and high-percentage EtOH solutions. She also states these are antioxidants that are also bright-yellow pigments.  She also adds they help bring out the antidepressant activity of hypericin and hyperforin (Hoffman, 2003. p. 99; Ganora, 2009, p. 45, 66, 115).

Have a Great Day!