Phytochemical composition of Polygonum persicaria (lady's thumb)

CHED 466

Janice Ezdebski, lpederse@misericordia.edu and Larry D Pedersen, lpederse@misericordia.edu. Chemistry Department, College Misericordia, 301 Lake Street, dallas, PA 18612
Native Americans used Lady's Thumb for treatment of heart troubles, stomachaches, diarrhea, kidney stones, colds and rheumatism. Resveratrol, an effective antioxidant and possible cancer inhibitor, has been found in Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum). Since Lady's Thumb belongs to the same family, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of Lady's Thumb for resveratrol was made.The entire plant were extracted with ethanol. The crude extract was partitioned between water and ether. The ether extract was analyzed by HPLC. Progress towards the isolation and identification of additional phytochemical components of Polygonum persicaria is presented.