Purginglein: Applications, Treatments, Health Benefits

Purgierlein is a herbaceous, mostly annual, plant of the flax family with a maximum growth height of 30 centimeters. Although the plant is found almost worldwide outside the tropics and subtropics, it is considered endangered. The purgier flax contains, among other things, the bitter substance linin, which used to be used as a diuretic and as a laxative, which is no longer the case due to the toxicity of linin.

Occurrence and cultivation of purgierlein

Purgierlein is a herbaceous, mostly annual, plant of the linen family with a maximum growth height of 30 centimeters. The herbaceous plant purgierlein (Linum catharticum) of the flax family (Linaceae) is usually annual as a so-called therophyte, but in mountainous regions at higher altitudes it can also be perennial or even perennial. As an annual, the herb, which grows up to 30 centimeters tall, can be summer or winter annual. This means that its seeds can germinate as early as fall (winter annual) or as late as spring (summer annual). The different principle is similar to that of summer and winter cereals. The small five-petaled white flowers of purgierlein reach a diameter of four to five millimeters. Purgierlein thrives well on calcareous, loamy soils with a high clay content and is associated with special mycorrhizal fungi. The herb is often found in wet meadows and floodplains. Purgierlein is considered a pioneer plant and is found in almost all regions of Eurasia influenced by oceanic climate. Its range thus extends from North Africa to Scandinavia and Iceland. In the Alps, purgierlein is found at altitudes up to over 2,000 meters. The plant contains the bitter substance linin, which has a strong laxative effect and in stronger doses can also cause nausea. The laxative effect has also earned the purgative its name. Its properties were used therapeutically in the past. Due to the toxicity of the linin, which contains a little highly toxic hydrocyanic acid (HCN), it was partly abandoned again. However, the herb still plays a role in natural medicine and in homeopathy.

Effect and application

Unlike many other plants whose effects on body metabolism were known in ancient times or even earlier, purgierlein was first mentioned only in 1588 without reference to its laxative effect. Later, in the 18th century, the naturalist and systematist Carl von Linné took up the purgierlein. In some European countries, such as Denmark, Lithuania and Hungary, Linum catharticum was used as a laxative. In a herbal book from 1626, there are references that assign a laxative effect to purgierlein and that the herb can also have an emetic effect when consumed in greater quantities. Purgierlein still plays a role in homeopathy today. For the preparation of drops, globules or tablets, the above-ground parts of the herb are used during the flowering period, which extends from June to August. The homeopathic remedies are mainly used to treat bronchial catarrh, amenorrhea (absence of menstruation), hemorrhoids and diarrhea. By respective tradition, purgierlein, brewed as a tea, was widely used in folk medicine as a safe laxative and for drainage in edema. Folk medicine also recommended purgierlein in cases of pathological accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites) or in the connective tissue of the subcutis (anasarca), especially when mercury-based (Hg-based) diuaretics could not be used. In these cases, appropriately prepared tea or extracts of purgierlein can still be recommended as the remedy of choice.

Significance for health, treatment and prevention.

While the oil of flaxseed, which comes from true flax or linseed, is of outstanding health importance because of its high content of omega-3 fatty acids, this is not the case with purgierlein, also known as meadowlein. While the cultivation of some flax species is documented from the end of the last ice age cica 10,000 years ago, there is no evidence of a similarly early use of purgierlein. The medicinal importance of the plant was first discovered in Europe in modern times in the 17th century. For several centuries until the 1930s, purgierlein was used in the form of teas or extracts mainly as a laxative and as a diuretic.In somewhat more intense doses, purgierlein induces nausea, which can be quite useful in acute poisoning, for example. Purgierlein contains essential oils, resins, tannins and the bitter substance linin, which is responsible for its medicinal effect. Linin is an amorphous glycoside, also called linarin. Glycosides are formed from a condensation reaction between a ring-shaped sugar and the hydroxyl or amino group of another molecule, which in turn may also be a sugar. Flax has also been known to contain small amounts of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) for several decades. Hydrogen cyanide is a highly toxic substance because the cyanogen ion blocks the respiratory chain in the mitochondria. In acute cases, cellular respiration or internal respiration can no longer occur, which can lead to death within a few minutes. However, the concentration of prussic acid in purginglein does not reach lethal doses. Nevertheless, the discovery of the toxicity of purgierlein has led to a sharp decline in the use of the plant for therapeutic purposes. This does not affect the use of parts of the plant during the flowering period for the preparation of homeopathic medicines, because the active ingredients in homeopathic drops, globules, or tablets are so highly diluted that any prussic acid content is usually below the detection limit and has no medicinally relevant effect.