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BURDOCK
Source: Arctium lappaL. (syn.A.majus
Bernh.);Arctium minusBernh. (Family
Compositae or Asteraceae).
Common/vernacular names:Bardana, beg-
gar’s buttons, burdock, edible burdock, great
bur, great burdock, clotbur, lappa.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
A.lappais a biennial or perennial herb up to
about 3 m high in its second year of growth;
native to Asia and Europe; naturalized in
North America. Part used is the dried
first-year root collected in the fall; fruits and
leaves are also used.
Common burdock (A.minus) is also used; it
resemblesA.lappabut is smaller.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
Root contains inulin (up to approx. 45%); poly-
acetylenes^1 (0.001–0.002%, dry-weight basis)
consisting mainly of 1,11-tridecadiene-3,5,7,9-
tetrayne and 1,3,11-tridecatriene-5,7,9-triyne;^2
arctic acid and lappaphens a and b (acetylenic
acids containing S);3,4volatile acids (acetic,
propionic, butyric, isovaleric, 3-hexenoic,
3-octenoic, costic, etc.) and nonhydroxy acids
(lauric, myristic, stearic, palmitic, etc.);5,6a
crystalline plant hormone;^7 g-guanidino-n-
butyric acid; dehydrocostuslactone; tannin;
polyphenolic acids (e.g., caffeic and chloro-
genic), and others (KARRER;JIANGSU;WICHTL).^8
Fruit contains arctiin (a bitter glucoside) as
a major constituent;^9 seeds contain 15–30%
fixed oils (oleic and octadecanoic acids major
constituents), arctiin, arctigenin, chlorogenic
acid, lignans (lappaols A, and diarctigenin,
neoarctin, and others), a germacranolide, and
others (KARRER).8–12
Leaves contain arctiol (8-a-hydroxyeudes-
mol),D^9 (10)-fukinone (dehydrofukinone), fu-
kinone, fukinanolide,b-eudesmol, petasito-
lone, eremophilene, and taraxasterol, among
others.^13
PHARMACOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL
ACTIVITIES
Burdock (fruit and root) has shown diuretic,
diaphoretic, antipyretic, antimicrobial, and
antitumor activities (FARNSWORTH1–4;JIANGSU;
LIST AND HO€RHAMMER). Antimicrobial activity
is attributed to polyacetylenes.^2 The fresh root
juice has shownin vitroantimutagenic activi-
ty.^14 The active constituent was reported to be
polyanionic with a molecular weight of
>300,000; data suggest it to be a lignin-like
compound containing 10% sugar.15,16Water
extracts of the dried root have shown greater
in vitroantiperoxidative activity than solvent
extracts.^17 Antioxidant activity of the roots
120 Burdock
