St John’s Wort – The Legend

Legend

The legend says that when the head of John the Baptist was brought to Salome, the daughter of Herodias, drops of blood from the head fell to the ground. Out of this soil grew St John’s wort.

The other story says that the plant’s name originated from St John’s Day (24-th of June) because it is often in full bloom around that time. At the old days it was believed to have the strongest curative property when harvested at the night of St John’s day.

Famous Greek physician, Hippocrates, documented the therapeutical uses of St John’s wort in the 5th century B.C.

Plant Description

St. John’s wort is a shrubby plant with clusters of yellow flowers that have oval, elongate petals.

It is believed to be native to Europe and Asia, but is now found throughout the world, often growing alongside the road or near freshwater bodies.

Both the flowers and leaves are used for medicinal purposes. St. John’s wort is quite a common herb in alternative medicine, and it is gathered during the flowering season.

Chemistry

The main components of St. John’s wort are hypericin and hyperforin. It also contains many other common plant constituents (e.g., flavonoids and flavonoid derivatives, xanthone derivatives, amentoflavone, biapigenin, volatile oil) that may have antidepressant effects.
Complete chemistry St John’s wort contains 6.5–15% catechin-type tannins and condensedtype proanthocyanidins (catechin, epicatechin, leucocyanidin); 2–5% flavonoids, mostly 0.5–2% hyperoside, 0.3–1.6% rutin, 0.3% quercitrin, 0.3% isoquercitrin, quercetin, and kaempferol; bioflavonoids (about 0.26% biapigenin), phloroglucinol derivatives (up to 4% hyperforin); phenolic acids (caffeic, chlorogenic, ferulic); 0.05–1.0% volatile oils, mainly higher n-alkanes, 0.05–0.15% naphthodianthrones (hypericin and pseudohypericin); sterols (sitosterol); vitamins C and A, up to 10 ppm xanthones; and choline (Bruneton, 1999; ESCOP, 1996; Leung and Foster, 1996; Newall et al., 1996; Upton, 1997;).

Bruneton, J. Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants, 2nd ed. Paris, France: Lavoisier Publishing; 1999.
ESCOP. See: European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy.
Newall C, Anderson L, Phillipson J. Herbal Medicines: A Guide for Health-Care Professionals. London: The Pharmaceutical Press; 1996.
Upton R (ed.). St. John’s Wort: Hypericum perforatum. HerbalGram 1997