Nowe surowce roślinne w Farmakopei Europejskiej. Część 4. Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (pstrolistka sercowata) – źródło nowego surowca flawonoidowego
The European Pharmacopoeia Supplement 9.4 introduces several new plant-derived raw materials long known in East-Asian medicine but previously not used in official European medicine. A series of articles in Part 1 and 2 presents species providing new saponin raw materials: Bupleuri radix and Platycodi radix. In part 3, the species which is a source of a new essential oil raw material, namely Ligusticum chuanxiong is characterized. Part 4 is dedicated to outlining the basic botanical-ecological-chemical characteristic of Houttuynia cordata (chameleon plant). The raw material sourced from this species – Houttuyniae herba, has long been known and used not only in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) but also in traditional Japanese, Thai and Nepalese medicine. Most attention was devoted to reviewing the professional pharmacological studies of extracts of this raw material. This review documents very important lines of action of the raw material, namely its antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, the article highlights the significance of this species as a food product in some Asian countries and as a source of cosmetic raw materials. The aim of the article is to popularize basic knowledge on this new pharmacopoeial species among pharmacists and medical doctors.