Botanical species · safety record

Polygala tenuifolia

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 14 constituent measurements and 1 adverse-effect record for Polygala tenuifolia. 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: Polygala tenuifolia Willd.

14Constituent measurements
1Safety records
7Cited sources
432Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 432 licensed products naming Polygala tenuifolia 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
  • decoction
  • fluid

Source material stated

  • Bark
  • Dried root (processed)
  • Dried root(s)
  • New material
  • Radix
  • Rhizome
  • Root
  • Root (carbonized)

What the records describe

Constituents measured

  • Carboline alkaloids2
  • Harmalol2
  • Harmane alkaloids2
  • Harmol2
  • Norharmane2
  • Saponins2
  • Columbamine1
  • Triterpene saponins1

Plant parts

  • Unspecified10
  • Roots and other underground parts3
  • Roots and other underground parts used as staple food2

Preparations

  • Solvent extraction15

Effect types

  • Other toxicities1

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.

SubstancePlant partPreparationConcentrationAnalytical methodSource
Carboline alkaloidsRoots and other underground parts used as staple foodSolvent extractionStandard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)Resolve DOI
SaponinsRoots and other underground partsSolvent extraction3.73 PercentColorimetry, Spectroscopy (Spectrometry) and PhotometryResolve DOI
SaponinsRoots and other underground partsSolvent extractionHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)Resolve DOI
Triterpene saponinsRoots and other underground parts used as staple foodSolvent extractionMass Spectroscopy and hyphenated methods without chromatographyResolve DOI
Carboline alkaloidsUnspecifiedSolvent extractionHPLC-UVNo resolvable identifier
ColumbamineUnspecifiedSolvent extractionNuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)No resolvable identifier
HarmalolUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≤ 186 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
HarmalolUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≥ 149 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
Harmane alkaloidsUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≥ 104 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
Harmane alkaloidsUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≤ 133 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
HarmolUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≥ 33.7 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
HarmolUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≤ 207 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
NorharmaneUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≥ 81.8 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier
NorharmaneUnspecifiedSolvent extraction≤ 115 Nanogram/gramHigh Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

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

EffectTarget tissuePlant partPreparationTest organismTest typeSource
Other toxicitiesRoots and other underground partsSolvent extractionHouse mouse (as animal)Acute toxicityResolve 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.

  1. Dou, Fang., Xi, Miaomiao., Wang, Junxian., Tian, Xiangrong., Hong, Liangjian., Tang, Haifeng., Wen, Aidong. alpha-Glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities of saponins from traditional Chinese medicines in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. PHARMAZIE, 2013, vol. 68, no. 4, p. 300-304. DOI
  2. Shen, X. L., Witt, M. R., Dekermendjian, K., Nielsen, M. Isolation and identification of tetrahydro-columbamine as a dopamine receptor ligand from Polygala tenuifolia Willd . Yaoxue xuebao, 1994, vol. 29, no. 12, p. 887-890.
  3. Park, Man Ki., Park, Jeong Hill., Kim, Bao Yuan., Kim, Jong Moon., Liem, Kyung Jin., Han, Byung Hoon. Analysis of alkaloids in Polygala tenuifolia by HPLC. Analytical science & technology, 1993, vol. 6, no. 3, p. 255-9.
  4. Han, B.H., Park, J.H., Park, M.H., Han, Y.N. beta-Carboline alkaloids of Polygala tenuifolia. Archives of pharmacal research, 1985, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 243-247. DOI
  5. Liu, Jiangyun., Yang, Xuedong., He, Jiuming., Xia, Min., Xu, Lizhen., Yang, Shilin. Structure analysis of triterpene saponins in Polygala tenuifolia by electrospray ionization ion trap multiple-stage mass spectrometry . Journal of mass spectrometry, 2007, vol. 42, no. 7, p. 861-873. DOI
  6. Tsuchiya, Hironori., Hayashi, Hideaki., Sato, Masaru., Shimizu, Hiroshi., Iinuma, Munekazu. Quantitative analysis of all types of beta-carboline alkaloids in medicinal plants and dried edible plants by high performance liquid chromatography with selective fluorometric detection. Phytochemical analysis, 1999, vol. 10, no. 5, p. 247-253.
  7. Yao, Yi., Jia, Min., Wu, Jian-Guo., Zhang, Hong., Sun, Lian-Na., Chen, Wan-Sheng., Rahman, Khalid. Anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic activities of polygalasaponins from Polygala tenuifolia in mice . Pharmaceutical biology, 2010, vol. 48, no. 7, p. 801-807. 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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