Pimpinella major (L.) Hudson- syn.Pimpinella magna L.; Pimpinella media Web.; Pimpinella angustifolia Gilib.; Pimpinella dumetorum Boenningh., Pimpinella saxifraga major L., Apium pimpinella Caruel, Carum magnum Baill. - Apiaceae
great burnet saxifrage, Große Bibernelle, Bibernell, Pimpernell, Bockskraut
Perennial herb, 0.40-1m high, native to Europe, naturalized in North America; leaves pinnate; flowers white to pink.
„The rhizomes and roots are used mainly for catarrh and infections of the upper respiratory tract. Infusions or tinctures are gargled to treat inflammations of the mouth and throat… Pimpinella herb (aboveground parts) is traditionally used: internally to trat lung ailments, disorders of the urinary tract, and as a digestive; externally for varicose veins and slow-healing wounds. Effiacy has not been scientifically proven for any of these indications.“
[Medicinal Plants of the World. Ben-Erik Van Wyk and Michael Wink, Pretoria 2004, 241]
„The roots of Pimpinella major Huds., P. saxifraga L. and P. peregrina L. do not contain any of the furocoumarins, indicated in previous literature. The main components of roots and fruits of P. major and P. saxifraga are isoeugenol epoxy tiglic ester, isoeugenol epoxy-2-methyl butanoic ester and 4-(1′,2′-epoxypropyl)-phenyl tiglic ester. The fruit and roots of P. peregrina do not contain these components. Only the fruit of P. major contains β-bisabolene and larger amounts of bisabolangelone.“
[Die verteilung von inhaltsstoffen in drei Pimpinella-Arten., Stahl, E., Herting, D., Phytochemistry, Vol.15(6), 1976, 999-1001]
Main compound of root oil is trans-epoxypseudoisoeugenyl tiglate (19.5%), accompanied by structurally related minor constituents, such as pseudoisoeugenyl tiglate (3.4%), trans-pseudoisoeugenol 2-methylbutyrate (traces) and epoxypseudoisoeugenyl 2-methyl butyrate (traces). A number of sesqui- and tri-norsesquiterpenoids (C12-hydrocarbons) occur in appreciable amounts, like δ-elemene (12%), pregeijerene (9.7%), and germacrene-C (7.8%). Monoterpenoids could only be found in traces (p-cymene).
[The essential root oil of Pimpinella major., Bohn, I., Kubeczka, K. H., Schultze, W., Planta medica, Vol.55(5), 1989, 489-490]
Pseudoisoeugenol derivatives, found exclusively in the genus Pimpinella. (from: [Reichling, J., & Galati, E. M. (2004). 5 Chemical Constituents of the Genus Pimpinella. Illicium, Pimpinella and Foeniculum, 69] elibrary.com.ng [PDF] 5 Chemical Constituents of the Genus Pimpinella
„Leaf/root-differentiating callus cultures grew without growth regulators in a modified MS liquid medium. The capacity of callus to accumulate rare phenylpropanoids such as epoxypseudoisoeugenol tiglate (EPT), epoxy-anol tiglate (EAT) and anol tiglate (AT) was compared with that of seedlings and whole plants. Unorganized callus cultures failed to accumulate any phenylpropanoids, whereas the leaf/root-differentiating callus culture accumulated EPT. Leaves and roots contained 360 and 1000 µg EPT/g FW, respectively. The distribution of phenylpropanoids in different organs of the whole plant showed that EPT could be found in various organs (roots, leaves, fruits, stems, flowers, pedicels and ovaries) in amounts ranging from 0 (in fruits) to 10.7 mg/g FW (in roots). EAT and AT were present in fruits at concentrations of 7.0 and 5.3 mg/g FW, respectively. In seedlings, EPT occurred at concentrations of 0.4-0.7, 0.8-1.0 and 0.5-0.6 mg/g FW in roots, cotyledons and leaves, respectively.“
[Comparative investigation on formation and accumulation of rare phenylpropanoids in plants and in vitro cultures of Pimpinella major., Merkel, B., Reichling, J., Zeitschrift für Naturforschung. Section C, Biosciences, Vol.45(6), 1990, 602-606]
Pimpinella magna L. (P.major, left) and Pimpinella saxifraga L.
Losch, F., Kräuterbuch, unsere Heilpflanzen in Wort und Bild, Zweite Auflage, t.50, fig.1 (1905)
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=793040