Botanical species · safety record

Ginkgo biloba

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 3 constituent measurements, 6 adverse-effect records and 5 genotoxicity assays for Ginkgo biloba. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Ginkgo biloba L.

3Constituent measurements

11Safety records

7Cited sources

2,604Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 2,604 licensed products naming Ginkgo biloba as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Dry
Extract Type TBA
Fresh
fluid
solid

Source material stated

Bud
Buds
Dried leaf
Dried leaves
Fresh leaf
Fresh leaves
Fresh leaves during spring
Ginkgo biloba

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
Diterpenes	Aerial part of plants	—	—	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Ginkgotoxin	Seed	Solvent extraction	0.01 Percent	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	Resolve DOI
Proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins)	Aerial part of plants	—	—	Unspecified	Resolve DOI

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Unspecified	—	House mouse (as animal)	Chronic/long term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Leaves	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Short-term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Leaves	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Short-term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Leaves	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Subchronic	Resolve DOI
Neurotoxicity	Neurologic	Seed	—	Human (as organism)	Case report	Resolve DOI
Neurotoxicity	Digestive	Seed	—	Human (as organism)	Case report	Resolve DOI

Genotoxicity testing

Outcomes of genotoxicity assays as recorded in the source. A negative assay is a result under those test conditions, not a clearance.

Outcome	Endpoint	Test	Tested organism	Metabolic activation	Source
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	single cell gel/comet assay in mammalian cells for detection of DNA damage	House mouse (as animal)	—	Resolve DOI
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	single cell gel/comet assay in mammalian cells for detection of DNA damage	Human (as organism)	With	Resolve DOI
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	single cell gel/comet assay in mammalian cells for detection of DNA damage	Other	—	Resolve DOI
Positive	gene mutation	bacterial reverse mutation assay	Salmonella typhimurium (as organism)	—	Resolve DOI
Positive	gene mutation	mammalian cell gene mutation assay	House mouse (as animal)	With and without	Resolve DOI

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Di Lorenzo, Chiara., Ceschi, Alessandro., Colombo, Francesca., Frigerio, Gianfranco., Bianchetti, Mario G., Luede, Saskia., von Dechend, Margot., Valoti, Ermanno., Restani, Patrizia. Identification and quantification of biomarkers to confirm the poisoning by Ginkgo biloba seeds in a 2-year-old boy. Toxicology research, 2015, vol. 4, no. 4, p. 922-930. DOI
Zhang, Z., Mei, N., Chen, S., Guo, L., Guo, X. Assessment of Genotoxic Effects of Selected Herbal Dietary Supplements. Nutraceuticals: efficacy, safety and toxicity, 2016, p. 883-892. DOI
Maeda, Jun., Kijima, Aki., Inoue, Kaoru., Ishii, Yuji., Ichimura, Ryohei., Takasu, Shinji., Kuroda, Ken., Matsushita, Kohei., Kodama, Yukio., Saito, Naoaki., Umemura, Takashi., Yoshida, Midori. In Vivo Genotoxicity of Ginkgo Biloba Extract in gpt Delta Mice and Constitutive Androstane Receptor Knockout Mice. Toxicological sciences, 2014, vol. 140, no. 2, p. 298-306. DOI
Sado, Tomomitsu., Nakata, Setsuko., Tsuno, Takahisa., Sato, Masanori., Misawa, Yuka., Yamauchi, Shoko., Inaba, Yuji., Kobayashi, Daisuke., Wada, Keiji. Concentrations of various forms of vitamin B-6 in ginkgo seed poisoning. Brain & development, 2019, vol. 41, no. 3, p. 292-295. DOI
Zhang, Zhuhong., Chen, Si., Mei, Hu., Xuan, Jiekun., Guo, Xiaoqing., Couch, Letha., Dobrovolsky, Vasily N., Guo, Lei., Mei, Nan. Ginkgo biloba leaf extract induces DNA damage by inhibiting topoisomerase II activity in human hepatic cells. Scientific reports, 2015, vol. 5. DOI
Lin, Haixia., Guo, Xiaoqing., Zhang, Suhui., Dial, Stacey L., Guo, Lei., Manjanatha, Mugimane G., Moore, Martha M., Mei, Nan. Mechanistic Evaluation of Ginkgo biloba Leaf Extract-Induced Genotoxicity in L5178Y Cells. Toxicological sciences, 2014, vol. 139, no. 2, p. 338-349. DOI
Wada, K., Ishigaki, S., Ueda, K., Take, Y., Sasaki, K., Sakata, M., Haga, M. Studies on the Constitution of Edible and Medicinal Plants. I. Isolation and Identification of 4-0-Methylpyridoxine, Toxic Principle from the Seed of Ginkgo biloba L.. Chemical and pharmaceutical bulletin, 1988, vol. 36, no. 5, p. 1779-1782. DOI

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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