echinacea extract,

Echinacosides Cichorice acid Polyphenols alkamides

Echinacea angustifolia rhizome was used by North American Plains Indians, perhaps more than most other plants, for various herbal remedies. Echinacea was one of the basic antimicrobial herbs of Eclectic medicine in the mid 1800s through the early 1900s and its use was documented for snakebite and anthrax. In the 1930s "Echinacea" became popular in both Europe and America as a herbal medicine.

The full spectrum of echinacea's chemical components responsible for its health effects are not well understood. Like most crude drugs from plant or animal origin, the constituent base is complex and some parts may be directly antimicrobial while others work at stimulating or modulating different parts of the immune system.

All species have chemical compounds called phenols, which are common to many other plants. Both the phenol compounds Cichoric and caftaric are present in E. purpurea, other phenols include echinacoside, which is found in greater levels within E. angustifolia and E. pallida roots than in other species. When making herbal remedies, these phenols can serve as markers to evaluate the quantity of echinacea in the product. Other chemical constituents that may be important in echinacea health effects include alkylamides and polysaccharides. Chemical constituents among echinacea species include the lipophilic fractions (e.g., alkamides and polyacetylenes), water-soluble polysaccharides, caffeoyl conjugates (e.g., echinacoside, cichoric acid, and caffeic acid), and flavonoids. The alkamides, polysaccharides, and chicoric acid are most oftenrecognized for their immune-modulating effects. The concentration of these constituents depends on the species, the plant parts used, and the method of extraction.