Preparation of Clinically Useful Sennoside-reduced Rhubarb
Sennoside is a major component of rhubarb, is classified as an irritant purgative, and is utilized widely as a purgative not only in Kampo medicine but also in western medicine. In recent years, rhubarb has been shown to have pharmacological activities other than cathartic activity. However, it is often not possible to take advantage of these other effects because the cathartic component of rhubarb (sennoside) is so overwhelming. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find an efficient method of selective sennoside inactivation to permit clinical application of rhubarb's other active components.
Steam autoclaving the rhubarb for 20 minutes reduces sennoside levels and its cathartic activity while conserving its other pharmacological activities.
Please refer to the following article for further information.
Arai, M. et al. Tokai J. experimental clinical medicine (2016) in press.
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