What is Ginkgo Biloba? What is Ginkgo Biloba Extract or GBE?

Ginkgo Biloba - What is it?and How does it work? Archeology of Ginkgo Biloba and narrative history.

Ginkgo extract.Ginkgo Biloba extract.CAS.NO.090045-36-6.Ginkgo Biloba Leaf extract.24/6,Flavone 24% Lactone 6%HPLC.Extract of maidenhair tree; Ginkgo extract; Ginkgo biloba, ext photo picture image Ginkgo Biloba - What is it?

Ginkgo Biloba comes from the Ginkgo tree, and is one of the oldest living tree species. The Ginkgo tree has been around fro 150 to 200 million years. The Chinese have used Ginkgo for thousands of years for various ailments. Ginkgo Biloba was first introduced to Europe in the 1700's, and is now used all over the world. Ginkgo Biloba is one of the most researched herbs.

The Chinese have used Ginkgo Biloba to relief asthma, lung congestion, and have also used Ginkgo Biloba to increase sexual energy, regulate blood flow, and promote general longevity.

Ginkgo Biloba - How does it work?Ginkgo Biloba Extract.

Ginkgo Biloba,Ginkgo Biloba Extract works by increasing blood flow to the brain, and through the entire body's network of blood vessels,which supplies oxygen and nutrients. Good blood circulation is essential for good health - better blood circulation promotes general longevity, and helps to keep you healthy.

Ginkgo,Ginkgo Biloba Extract has 2 groups of active components - flavonoids and terpene lactones including Ginkgolides A, B, and C, bilobalide, quercetin, and kaempferol. The Ginkgolides help control allergic inflammation and asthma. Ginkgo Biloba also acts as a powerful antioxidant, and helps kill the free radicals, which contributes to aging.

Ginkgo,Ginkgo Biloba Extract is well recognized for its positive effect on brain functioning - enhancing memory, mental alertness, and reducing mental fatigue and lack of energy. As Ginkgo works as a brain enhancer, it has obvious benefits for individuals who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Even for a healthy person, Ginkgo Biloba can help improve brain function by preventing and treating conditions of cerebral vascular deficiencies, where there's decreased flow of blood to the brain.

Ginkgo Biloba,Ginkgo Biloba Extract Benefits a brain enhancer, it has obvious benefits for individuals who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Even for a healthy person, Ginkgo Biloba can help improve brain function by preventing and treating conditions of cerebral vascular deficiencies, where there's decreased flow of blood to the brain.

Archeology of Ginkgo Biloba and narrative history.

Native to China, the trees are now grown on large plantations in France and South Carolina, as well as China. Ginkgo is a very slow-growing, hardy tree whose fossil records date back some 200 million years. Growing to a height of 50 to 120 feet, the trunk of the Ginkgo is light green to light brown with corky fissures. In the male trees, the grooves in the bark are broad, while in the females, they are pointed. Both have green, leathery fan-shaped leaves that turn yellow to golden in the fall.

The tree flowers for the first time when it is between twenty and thirty years old. The male flowers are small, green catkins, while the female flowers are small, green, and globular-shaped, which form into small, plum-shaped, foul-smelling fruits. The tree grows in fertile, well-drained soil in sun or light shade. The leaves are harvested either mechanically or by hand from plantations or in the wild. The leaves are then dried and pressed into balls. A dry extract is manufactured from the dried leaves, using acetone and water and subsequent purification steps without the addition of concentrates or isolated ingredients.

The dioecious Ginkgo tree can reach a height of 40m in its natural habitat in Central China. It prefers rich sandy soil, and has one or several main trunks and spreading branches. The leaves are petiolate, glabrous and bilobed; each lobe is triangular, up to 6cm long and 4cm wide, with fan-like, fine, prominent radiate veins and an entire margin. The leaves turn yellow in autumn. The female trees produce a fleshy fruit with an edible kernel if there is a male tree nearby. Ginkgo is now grown on large plantations in China, France and South Carolina.

During the Ice Age, every member of the Ginkgoceae family was destroyed, except the ginkgo biloba tree -- in part, due to its extraordinary resistance to insects and disease. It has survived more than 200 million years, and is generally believed to be the oldest species on earth. Ginkgo Biloba has been used by the Chinese for thousands of years to improve circulation thereby improving the delivery of necessary nutrients and life-giving oxygen to every cell, including those of the brain.
Ginkgo extract.Ginkgo Biloba extract.CAS.NO.090045-36-6.Ginkgo Biloba Leaf extract.24/6,Flavone 24% Lactone 6%HPLC.Extract of maidenhair tree; Ginkgo extract; Ginkgo biloba, ext photo picture image

Medical History of Ginkgo Biloba:

In 1330, the work of the officially appointed medical authority Wu Rui was written under the title Materia Medica for Daily Use (Riyong Bencao). This book detailed the medicinal properties of 540 items that could be used both as food and medicine, including the ginkgo nut. This item was a local favorite, as Wu lived near the Tian Mu Shan grove (he may have obtained ginkgo nuts from trees that still thrive there). The Materia Medica was handed down through generations of Wu's family and was finally published around 1550.

The medicinal uses of ginkgo nut were mainly involved with treatment of lung diseases. In fact, one of the famous traditional Chinese formulas for treating asthmatic breathing, Ding Chuan Tang, has ginkgo nut as a key ingredient (the original formula is sometimes called Ma-huang and Ginkgo Combination as an English designation, recognizing two of its most important ingredients). The nine ingredient decoction was first recorded in the book Exquisite Formulas for Fostering Longevity (Fu Shou Jing Fang), written by Wu Min in 1530 A.D. New versions of Ding Chuan Tang are sometimes developed for clinical use, with ginkgo nut as a prominent ingredient.

The fruit extract has been shown to strongly inhibit Mycobacterium, which is the cause of tuberculosis, one of the dominant lung ailments that has persisted in China. As has been confirmed by recent work in Germany, ginkgo contains ingredients that alleviate asthma. These ingredients, obtained from the leaf in Germany, are also present in the nuts.

Another traditional use of the ginkgo nut in China is as an astringent to treat fluid discharges. A remedy for leukorrhea is black chicken stewed with ginkgo nut and lotus seed (Baiguo Lianzi Dun Wuji). It is made by putting the herbal ingredients plus rice and black pepper in the unique black-boned chicken as a stuffing, cooking it, and then eating the combination. The recipe was recorded in Li Shizhen's Collection of Simple Prescriptions (Binhu Jijian Fang, ca. 1580 A.D.; Binhu is an alternate name for Shizhen).

Lan Mao, another Chinese herb specialist, had the first published description of medical use of ginkgo leaf in his book Dian Nan Bencao (Herbal Dictionary of Yunnan), published in 1436 A.D. He recommended topical applications of ginkgo leaf for the treatment of skin diseases.

Information about ingestion of ginkgo leaf was incorporated into a formal medical work, Compilation of Essential Items of Materia Medica in 1505. Qiu Jun, its author, specifically aimed to incorporate into his book items that had been used widely but had failed to be recorded in the previous official Materia Medicas. The book came into the hands of Liu Wentai at the Imperial Medical Office, but the work was not published until two hundred years later, and then it was all but lost, until it was recently published in 1937. After the Chinese communist revolution, the book was again all but lost. Partly as a result of this uneven path of publication, ginkgo leaf remained a folk remedy, rather than a major part of Chinese medical practice, until recently. Liu's book included a remedy for diarrhea which was made by combining ginkgo leaf powder and flour to make a bread. One of the folk remedies of more recent times is Liangye Yijiang Tang, made with ginkgo leaf, artemisia leaf, and fresh ginger, used for treating chronic bronchitis.

Modern Investigations:

Modern research on ginkgo began with chemical analysis of its active constituents during the 1920's. The ginkgo nut contains a toxic material in the seed coat, which is stripped away when preparing it for food use, but may be retained for some medical uses. The toxic component, called ginkgotoxin, was apparently the first item investigated.

The modern work with flavonoids, the components that affect circulation in the brain, was initiated by the isolation of ginkgetin, first published by a researcher in a German journal in 1932. Additional work on isolating numerous active constituents was reported by Chinese researchers during the 1950's and thereafter, with efforts continuing to the present. One of the first Western reports of active constituents (independent of Oriental study efforts) was published in 1959 in Proceedings of the Chemical Society. However, the isolated ingredients described there were the same as those reported earlier. Virtually all these chemical investigations were done with the ginkgo leaves.

Pharmacological investigation (mainly laboratory animal studies and test tube evaluations) of ginkgo's active constituents were reported soon after the constituents were isolated. In 1930, a researcher reported on the effect of ginkgotoxin on isolated frog heart; in the same year he also reported on skin irritation caused by the extract of the whole ginkgo fruit, possibly because of his own experience of that problem. In 1950, Chinese researchers reported that the ginkgo nut and its isolated active constituents could inhibit various bacteria, including Mycobacterium, and other human and animal pathogens. European pharmacological research into ginkgo started with work that resulted in a 1966 German publication reviewing the vascular pharmacology of the herb, which was then followed up by a continual line of research to the present.

Clinical studies (human trials) with ginkgo began during the 1960's in China with studies of the leaf extract in treatment of cardiovascular diseases, an application that had been suggested by folk uses of the herb. One of the first of several reports on this subject was issued by the Beijing Coordinating Research Group on Coronary Diseases in 1971. Research on ginkgo for cardiovascular diseases was intensively pursued during the next ten years and has continued to the present. Applications of ginkgo in China include angina pectoris, heart attack, cerebrovascular spasm, and stroke; it is also used to alleviate high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Other studies demonstrated benefits of ginkgo leaf in treating chronic bronchitis, Parkinson's disease, and schizophrenia.

The standardized extract of ginkgo was first introduced as a therapeutic agent in Europe in 1975. European clinical trials with ginkgo were reported in Germany in 1984 and 1985 (though some preliminary experience was already accumulated before then). This research involved peripheral arterial occlusion, psycho-pharmacological effects, and hypoxia protective effects. In a major meeting on flavonoids held in New York in 1985 interest in ginkgo was not yet evident: there were no reports on this very recent finding, even though there were European reports on other important flavonoids that promote circulation. But, there was a symposium on ginkgo's effects on cerebral circulation in Germany the same year. Just 12 years later, in November 1997, an article appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) describing a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ginkgo leaf extract in treating Alzheimer's disease.

What got ginkgo leaf into the mainstream of research was the investment by European pharmaceutical companies (a consortium of French and German manufacturers) who developed a standardized concentrated extract of ginkgo leaf given to researchers for testing and marketed to doctors. This product has since become the number one medicinal herbal remedy sold in Germany. A substantial amount of the ginkgo leaves now come from America: there is a 1,000 acre ginkgo plantation in South Carolina. The trees are stripped of leaves at the end of June, and then the leaves are dried and shipped to France for extraction.

A common standardization of the extract is a finished product that contains 24% ginkgo flavonoids (known as ginkgolides; they are glycosides of commonly occurring plant flavones). To attain this level of active ingredients requires concentrating them by about 25 times their natural levels. Frequently, but not always, a product of similar standardization is sold today in health food stores in America. With all the publicity, numerous ginkgo products have been offered, from simple powdered leaves, to highly purified active ingredients with nearly 30% flavonoid levels.

A Lession in Herbal Medicine:

This story about ginkgo briefly traces a traditional herbal remedy from an early point in its history, over 600 years ago, to the present time where it has been accepted as a plant drug in Germany and is on the verge of broader acceptance in the U.S., thanks to formal publication of clinical results in JAMA. Over the course of so many centuries, a remedy of potential value to millions has finally been raised out of the obscurity that has fettered foreign traditional medical systems for far too long.

Although the earliest visitors to China, such as Marco Polo (at the end of the 13th century), may have been awed by the civilization of China and its potential contributions to the West, during the past three centuries, Western visitors to China frequently attempted to write-off any of the cultural contributions the Chinese could make and attempted to impose its system of thought, including medicine, on China. It took researchers who published their results in the German scientific press to reveal something of what Chinese herbal medicine could offer from this plant (there is a similar story surrounding ma-huang, the source of the drugs ephedrine and psuedoephedrine). It then took a decade of German chemical, pharmacological, and clinical investigation-helped forward by the investment of a pharmaceutical consortium-to generate some interest in this valuable herb in Europe and then in the U.S. The German research post-dated similar Chinese research and made little reference to the Chinese experience and research efforts.

Perhaps as a lesson from this, we may be more open to learning from the Oriental traditional medicine and more willing to work quickly to bring forward the vast knowledge and experience of Chinese doctors and researchers to practical applications here.

Another important lesson comes from the desire to actually use the herb once its value has been widely recognized: there may not be enough trees to satisfy world demand for the extract. Trees can be cultivated, but that takes years. Currently, about 70% of the world's ginkgo trees are in China, mainly those cultivated in Jiangsu Province in huge, dense plantations. China has recently become a supplier of ginkgo extract to America, providing an alternative to the French product that, perhaps ironically, gets its ginkgo leaves from America at higher cost.

In the case of ginkgo, there are no wild trees remaining, with the possible exception of some of the most ancient ones which might have been left in their original place. Without a wild population, the genetic diversity, and the accompanying diversity of phytochemicals, can become severely limited over time, making further medicinal developments from the plant more difficult. Therefore, it is best to uncover potentially valuable herbs early, and develop the natural resources in a timely manner, rather than waiting to the last possible moment to accept a natural remedy and then rapidly overburden the supply.

Ginkgo Biloba was not introduced into Europe until 1730.In the 1930s, Ginkgo flavonoids in the leaves were first identified.

The World's Oldest Living Tree?:

The history of this wonderful herb is a living symbol of "Life Extension" and "Cognitive Enhancement". Ginkgo biloba is literally a living fossil that has survived virtually unchanged through the various ice ages of prehistory. Some scientists estimate that it is 200 million years old, the oldest living tree species on the earth.1

Ginkgo has been transplanted all over the world and continues to thrive even under adverse conditions, demonstrating its apparent immunity to pollution, insects and disease. Ginkgo even survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, where it still grows today next to the epicenter of the explosion. Individual trees may live to as many as 2000 years or more. Ginkgo has been a mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine for more than 5000 years. Perhaps the ancient Taoist Monks had some vision of the future of Ginkgo as a brain and memory tonic when they planted it ceremonially in places of honor in their monasteries. They felt that this two lobed, fanshaped leaf (biloba) represented the two phases of Yin and Yang in Taoist Philosophy. Ginkgo was planted to portray wisdom, centeredness and a meditative state.

The Ginkgo biloba is the world's oldest living tree, a species whose existence can be traced back-over 250 million years! For this reason, the Ginkgo was referred to as living fossil (1859) by Charles Darwin. It appeared at Carboniferous. During the Jurassic, Ginkgo trees were common and widespread in Asia, Europe and America. Ginkgo survived many crises, in particular at the end of the cretaceous where the dinosaurs disappeared. But Ginkgos disappeared from America about 7 million years ago, and from Europe about 3 million years ago.
Ginkgoaceae belong to the class of the Ginkgophytes. This class constituted the link between the ferns and the angiosperms ( flowering plants ).
The last survivor Ginkgos have taken refuge in the south-east of China. The buddhist monks venerated it, and undoubtedly them its survival is owed. Regarded as guard to entreat fire, it was planted near the pagodas, in the imperial gardens in China, wood crowned of the temples.

In the late 17th century, Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716) , a German botanist, has become known as the first European to discover and categorize the Ginkgo biloba.
The oldest European ginkgo would have been sown in 1730 in the Utrecht Botanical Garden. In 1762, Ginkgo was cultivated in Kew Botanical Garden (London).
The oldest French ginkgo was sown in Montpellier in 1778. A rich person ship-owner of Montpellier could acquire a foot of Ginkgo, in England, for the extravagant sum of forty ecus. This is why, one of its vernacular names is: Tree with the forty ecus ( arbre aux quarante rcus ).
Ginkgo biloba was first brought into the United States by William Hamilton for his garden in Philadelphia in 1784. It was a favorite tree of Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and made its way into city landscapes across North America.
After the Hiroshima bomb (6.8.1945), all the flora was destroyed. Nothing grew again in calcined ground. However, in spring, one regrowth spouted out: that of an old Ginkgo that had flamed. The growth was respected and encouraged. Therefore, a Ginkgo tree remains in relative healthy condition today in the temple named Hosenji located about 1 Km away from the blast center of the atomic bombing. The survival of the ginkgo is surely due to a natural immunity or a genetic advantage. It has a great resistance to the mutagen agents like the radiations.
Ginkgo extract.Ginkgo Biloba extract.CAS.NO.090045-36-6.Ginkgo Biloba Leaf extract.24/6,Flavone 24% Lactone 6%HPLC.Extract of maidenhair tree; Ginkgo extract; Ginkgo biloba, ext photo picture image

A Natural Phytochemical Wonder:

More than one thousand scientific papers have been published worldwide to document the clinical effects of Ginkgo biloba extract and to explain its varied mechanisms of action. The scientific community now believes that the clinical benefits of this ancient herb result from a group of bioflavonoids called Ginkgo flavonglycosides and from a group of lactone terpenes called Ginkoglides which include Ginkgolide A, Ginkgolide B, Ginkgolide C and Bilobalide. It takes anywhere from 50 to 75 pounds of leaves to make one pound of the concentrated Ginkgo biloba extract (GBX). As a measure of potency, researchers have established a common standard content of 24% ginkogosides and 6% terpenes.
This standardization process during manufacturing is critical to the effectiveness of the end product. By using a standardized product, one is assured that they are receiving this "Natural Cocktail" of phytochemical constituents, not just some ground up leaves that may, in fact, contain little, if any, of these efficacious agents.

Ginkgo Biloba Extract Secrets:

Ginkgo Biloba Extract has been used preponderantly in Chinese Medicine for over 5,000 years to treat agerelated circulation disorders, memory loss, cancer, asthma and other pulmonary diseases, impaired hearing and sexual dysfunctions, just to name a few. However, its enormous popularity did not come about until it was rediscovered by West-ern medicine some 40 years ago. Since that time, Ginkgo has become one of the most frequently prescribed medicines in Germany and France. Its popularity in the United States is nothing short of phenomenal, fueled by its demonstrable clinical benefits, rather than by the "hype" that has popularized so many herbs.
Treatment with Ginkgo biloba extract has been shown to result in improved cerebral metabolism and a reduced risk of hypoxic damage to the brain.

Reference:

1.What is Ginkgo Biloba? What is Ginkgo Biloba Extract or GBE?

last edit date:3rd,Feb.2010.

Available Product

Name:Ginkgo Biloba Extract
Serie No:S-011.
Specifications:flavone glycosides24%,terpene lactones6%HPLC.
INCI Name:GINKGO BILOBA EXTRACT
EINECS/ELINCS No.:289-896-4
CAS:090045-36-6
Chem/IUPAC Name:Ginkgo Biloba Extract is a plant material obtained from the leaves of the maidenhair tree,Ginkgo biloba,Ginkgoaceae

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