selected medicinal plants - World Health Organization

WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants
Dillapiol is found in the essential oil obtained from plants cultivated in
Egypt, India and Japan (24). Representative structures are presented below.
H 2 C
H 3 C
H 3 C
Medicinal uses
Uses supported by clinical data
None.
Uses described in pharmacopoeias and well established documents
Treatment of dyspepsia (25), gastritis and fl atulence (1, 26), and stomach
ache (27).
Uses described in traditional medicine
As an aphrodisiac, analgesic, antipyretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactagogue,
appetite stimulant and vaginal contraceptive. Treatment of diarrhoea,
asthma, neuralgia, dysuria, dysmenorrhoea, gallbladder disease,
insomnia, hiatus hernia and kidney stones (9, 26–29).
Pharmacology
Experimental pharmacology
Antispasmodic and carminative activities
A 50% ethanol extract of Fructus Anethi inhibited acetylcholine- and histamine-induced
contractions of guinea-pig ileum in vitro (30). The essential
oil, 50 mg/ml, reduced contractions of rabbit intestine (31). The essential
oil (containing the monoterpenes and phenylpropanes: dillapiol,
myristicin and isomyristicin) (concentration not specifi ed) acted as a mild
carminative and stomachic (32). The essential oil had carminative activity
and reduced foaming in vitro, median effective concentration 2.0% (33).
Anti-infl ammatory and analgesic activities
A single topical application of an ethanol extract of the fruits, at a dose
corresponding to 1.0 mg/20 μl of a 10.0-mg dried methanol extract dissolved
in 200.0 μl of ethanol, to the inner and outer surface of the ear of
36
H
C H 3
O
C H 3
a n d e n a n t i o m e r
c a r v o n e
C H 3
H 2 C
H 3 C
H
C H 3
C H 3
O
C H 3
C H 3
1 , 8 - c i n e o l e
H 3 C
H 3 C
H
H 2 C
H 3 C
H
O
C H H
3 H 3 C
H 3 C
H
C H 3
d i h y d r o c a r v o n e
a n d e n a n t i o m e r
C H 3
a n d e n a n t i o m e r H 3 C
p-cymene (+)-limonene (-)-α-phellandrene α-pinene α-terpinene
H
C H 3
C H 3