Skip to main content
. 2016 Jun 6;12:89. doi: 10.1186/s12917-016-0714-8

Table 3.

Assessmenta of medicinal plants based on peer-reviewed referencesb of the last 20 years aiming gastrointestinal indicationsc

Plant species Number of references Type of reference Antibacterial Synergism with AB Antiviral Antiprotozoal Antiadhesive Antidiarrheal Spasmolytic Immunostimulant Antiinflammatory Analgesic Hypothesis proved
+ ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o
Achillea millefolium L. 6 in vitro 21 42
2 in vivo + clinical 13 14
Allium sativum L. 12 in vitro 125 16
9 in vivo + clinical 27 18 29 210 111 112 213
Althaea officinalis L. 2 in vitro 214
0 in vivo + clinical
Camellia sinensis (L.) KUNTZE 8 in vitro 615 116 117 118
3 in vivo + clinical 219 220
Carum carvi L. 4 in vitro 321 122
1 in vivo + clinical 123
Echinacea purpurea (L.) MOENCH 0 In vitro
1 in vivo + clinical 124
Foeniculum vulgare (L.) MILL. 10 in vitro 625 126 127 128 129 130
2 in vivo + clinical 131 132
Glycyrrhiza glabra L. 9 in vitro 433 234 135 136 137
4 in vivo + clinical 238 139 140
Linum usitatissimum L. 0 in vitro
3 in vivo + clinical 141 142 143 144
Matricaria recutita L. 9 in vitro 545 446
3 in vivo + clinical 247 148
Plant species Number of references Type of reference Antibacterial Synergism with AB Antiviral Antiprotozoal Antiadhesive Antidiarrheal Spasmolytic Immunostimulant Antiinflammatory Analgesic Hypothesis proved
+ ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o
Mentha x piperita L. 13 in vitro 849 150 151 352
7 in vivo + clinical 153 154 455 156
Origanum vulgare L. 21 in vitro 1857 258 159
8 in vivo + clinical 160 261 162 163 264 165 166
Picea abies (L.) H.KARST. 1 in vitro 167
0 in vivo + clinical
Pimpinella anisum L. 7 in vitro 368 269 270 171
0 in vivo + clinical
Plantago lanceolata L. 1 in vitro 172
1 in vivo + clinical 173
Potentilla erecta (L.) RAEUSCH. 0 in vitro
2 in vivo + clinical 174 175
Rubus fruticosus L. 1 in vitro 176
0 in vivo + clinical
Rumex ssp. L. 4 in vitro 477
1 in vivo + clinical 178
Salix ssp. L. 1 in vitro 179
0 in vivo + clinical
Salvia officinalis L. 6 in vitro 580 181
5 in vivo + clinical 382 283 1 84 185 186 187
Sambucus nigra L. 1 in vitro 188
1 in vivo + clinical 189
Thymus vulgaris L. 14 in vitro 1090 191 392
3 in vivo + clinical 293 194
Plant species Number of references Type of reference Antibacterial Synergism with AB Antiviral Antiprotozoal Antiadhesive Antidiarrheal Spasmolytic Immunostimulant Antiinflammatory Analgesic Hypothesis proved
+ ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o + ? o
Tussilago farfara L. 1 in vitro 195
0 in vivo + clinical
Urtica dioica L. 6 in vitro 296 297 298
2 in vivo + clinical 299
Vaccinium myrtillus L. 2 in vitro 1100 1101
2 in vivo + clinical 1102 1103 1104
Sum of plant species for each effect in vitro 18 6 3 6 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
in vivo + clinical 6 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 7 2 1 6 0 0 3 0 2 6 1 1 0 0 0 6 0 2
Sum of assessments in vitro 93 8 5 7 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
in vivo + clinical 11 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 1 0 0 10 2 1 7 0 0 3 0 3 7 1 1 0 0 0 7 0 2

aAssessment = conclusion of a reference on a hypothesized effect; breference = trial x plant species x indication; cparticularly unspecified or infectious diarrhea and gastrointestinal spasms + = reference proves evidently the hypothesized effect; ? = reference shows uncertain hypothesized effect; o = reference does not prove evidently the hypothesized effect

1[147, 148] 2[149152] 3[153] 4[154] 5[6976, 155158] 6[69] 7[63, 66] 8[159] 9[62, 160] 10[63, 64] 11[66] 12[77] 13[161, 162] 14[163, 164] 15[165170] 16[170] 17[171] 18[172] 19[124, 125] 20[124, 173] 21[174176] 22[177] 23[178] 24[179] 25[175, 176, 180183] 26[184] 27[185] 28[181] 29[186] 30[187] 31[188] 32[189] 33[143, 190192] 34[142, 193] 35[145] 36[194] 37[195] 38[196, 197] 39[141] 40[198] 41[199] 42[199] 43[200] 44[201] 45[202] [175, 185, 203, 204] 46[205208] 47[209, 210] 48[189] 49[176, 211216] 50[217] 51[214] 52[88, 205, 218] 53[219] 54[220] 55[86, 87, 221, 222] 56[223] 57[52, 118, 175, 224237] 58[238, 239] 59[240] 60[241] 61[242, 243] 62[244] 63[245] 64[244, 246] 65[247] 66[248] 67[249] 68[175, 250, 251] 69[252, 253] 70[251, 254] 71[255] 72[53] 73[256] 74[257] 75[258] 76[259] 77[180, 260262] 78[263] 79[264] 80[175, 211, 233, 237, 265] 81[252] 82[266268] 83[267, 268] 84[269] 85[270] 86[269] 87[268] 88[271] 89[272] 90[52, 118120, 175, 176, 226, 250, 252, 273] 91[274] 92[113, 275, 276] 93[277, 278] 94[279] 95[280] 96[191, 281] 97[185, 282] 98[145] 99[283, 284] 100[285] 101[259] 102[286] 103[287] 104[286]