Healthpally elicit the Importance of Evening Primrose

The night candle or evening Primrose whose scientific/botanical name is Oenothera biennis belongs to the family of night candle plants and is often also referred to as the Summer star, Night Star, sweet root, ham root, evening primrose or evening flower.

The evening wing primrose was first cultivated in eastern and central North America and came to Europe around 1620 as an ornamental plant.

According to the healthpally journal, it was then widely used as a so-called neophyte and was consumed as a food by the Native Americans, and later also with the US.

Usually, the thick pile roots were eaten, which were cooked like parsnips or black roots in meat broth.

How to use Primrose

The preparation of the evening primrose roots, which is usually cut into slices and with vinegar and oil is common.

Primerose flowers and leaves are also edible, they are occasionally used in the upscale kitchen for decoration purposes.

The evening flower was a popular farm garden plant over the centuries, according to Farmpally.

Nowadays, it usually only plays a role as an ornamental plant and its valuable oil is used in the cosmetics industry, naturopathy and pet care.

The evening primrose is a herbaceous, two-year-old plant that can grow up to 2m.

In the first year, it forms a leaf rosette on the ground with a thick, fleshy pile root and in the second year, it grows a stalk from the rosette, in which 10 to 30 cm long leaves are growing.

The plant blooms from June to September with bright yellow, earlier inflorescences.

The one to two millimeters large seeds contain valuable primrose with its high proportion of omega-6 fatty acids.

As the seeds ripen unevenly, the crop occurs when about one-third of the capsule fruits are dyed brown.

In the US, some farmers grow the evening primrose and market the coveted primrose directly.

Extraction and ingredients of the night Primrose Oil

Primrose produces only very small seeds and the extraction of the oil is associated with numerous steps.

The seeds are cleaned and dried so that the water content before pressing is as low as possible.

The oil is gently cold-pressed or extracted with carbon dioxide to preserve the precious fatty acids, taste, color and smell.

In the case of inferior oil qualities, the oil is extracted under high temperatures and under the use of chemicals.

The oil of the primrose Seed (Oenothera Seminis oleum, Evening primrose oil) contains some very valuable ingredients:

• 60 – 80% linoleic acid
• 8 – 10% Gamma Linolenic
• 8% Oleic acid
• Up to 10% saturated fatty acids (stearic acid, palmitic)
• Vitamin E (alpha and gamma-tocopherol)
• Polyphenols (Catechin, Epicatechin, Gallic)

• Minerals
• Sterols

Linoleic acid is a doubly unsaturated fatty. Gamma-linolenic-often called GLA-is a threefold unsaturated.

Both belong to the group of so-called omega-6 fatty acids. The GLA can be produced by any human and animal organism from the linoleic acid itself or is ingested via the food.

GLA is a precursor of four unsaturated arachidonic which occurs as a lipid constituent primarily in the cell membranes.

GLA is essential for the function of the human brain. It is able to influence inflammatory reactions in the body favorably, reduces blood pressure and has positive effects on the stimulation of the nerves.

Scientific studies on Primrose

At the Gynecology Translational Research Center of Shaheed Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran, the Working Group on F.

Farzaneh dealt with the question of whether the oral administration of primrose can alleviate hot flashes in menopausal women.

In a placebo, randomised clinical trial, 56 women were investigated.

The women received either a placebo or two capsules of primrose (500mg) daily for the duration of 6 weeks.

It has been shown that the agonising and unpleasant discomfort for women has clearly eased and the lives of women in terms of activities, social contacts and sexuality have improved noticeably.

In an article about A. Triantafyllidi from the Medical school of the University of Athens, Greece, the researchers have compared the effects of various medicinal plants to the two inflammatory bowel diseases, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease.

The researchers came to the conclusion that the gamma-linolenic-rich primrose could have positive effects on the disease of ulcerative colitis.

Primrose is, therefore, suitable for the supportive treatment of ulcerative colitis, A Chaktty concluded.