St. John’s wort, a plant widely known for relieving symptoms of depression, may have more curative properties than originally thought. St. John’s wort can refer to any species in the plant genus Hypericum, which persists throughout the entire Northern Hemisphere, and researchers at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Ames, Iowa have already added around 60 species of Hypericum plants to their genebank. This genebank is instrumental in determining the characteristics of a wide array of plants, and scientists can now further investigate the unique properties of St. John’s wort.

ARS researchers and scientists from the Center for Research on Botanical Dietary Supplements deemed a few compounds of the wort worthy of testing clinically: amentoflavone, chlorogenic acid, psuedohypericin, and quercetin. Although the compounds are capable of reducing inflammation individually, researchers realized that these compounds work cooperatively to better minimize inflammation in mice.

Discussion Question: Do you think that many of the plants within the genus Hypericum share the same curative properties?

News Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100330151945.htm
Journal Article: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13880200902988645