What is Uva Ursi Arctostaphylos uva-ursi?Its History,Phytochemicals,Mode of Action and Magic Superstition?

Uva Ursi Plant Description and History.

Uva Ursi Extract INCI Name Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi Extract CAS:84776-10-3 EINECS ELINCS No 283-934-3 Arberry Leaf Rockberry leaf Bearberry leaf extract photo picture image Uva-ursi, also called kinnikinnick or bearberry, is a creeping to semi-erect shrub. Its long, flexible branches form mats by rooting; the twigs are covered with hairs. The leaves, about 3/4 inch (2 cm.) long, are evergreen, leathery, oblong to obovate, light green on the bottom with no brown spots (see lowbush cranberry), and net-veined. The urn-shaped flowers vary from white to pink and the fruit is a mealy red berry, seedy and dry but edible.

Distribution: Mats of uva-ursi are common in the boreal forest region of Alaska and across Canada in a wide variety of habitats. This plant is also found in northern Europe and Asia.

Habitat and Cultivation: Bearberry is native to Europe and is naturalized throughout the northern hemisphere up to the Arctic. Bearberry grows in damp conditions in undergrowth, heathland, and grassland. The leaves are gathered in autumn. While not particularly palatable, the berries have been harvested in autumn as fruit.
Uva Ursi Extract INCI Name Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi Extract CAS:84776-10-3 EINECS ELINCS No 283-934-3 Arberry Leaf Rockberry leaf Bearberry leaf extract photo picture image

The Bearberry (Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi, Sprengel), a small shrub, with decumbent, much branched, irregular stems and evergreen leaves, is distributed over the greater part of the Northern Hemisphere, being found in the northern latitudes and high mountains of Europe, Asia and America. In the British Isles, it is common in Scotland, on heaths and barren places in hilly districts, especially in the Highlands, and extends south as far as Yorkshire; it grows also on the hills of the north-west of Ireland. In America it is distributed throughout Canada and the United States as far south as New Jersey and Wisconsin.

It is very nearly related to the Arbutus, and was formerly assigned to the same genus - in Green's Universal Herbal, 1832, it will be found under the name Arbutus Uva- Ursi - but it differs from Arbutus in having a smooth berry with five one-seeded stones, whereas the Arbutus has a rough fruit, each cell of the ovary being four to five seeded.

The only other British species assigned to the genus, Arctostaphylos, the Black Bearberry (A. alpina), with black berries, found on barren mountains in northern Scotland, and not at all in England, is the badge of the clan of Ross.

The generic name, derived from the Greek, and the Latin specific name, UvaUrsi, mean the same: the Bear's grape, and may have been given to the plant, either from the notion that bears eat the fruit with relish, or from its very rough, unpleasant flavour, which might have been considered only fit for bears.

The much-branched trailing stems are short and woody, covered with a pale brown bark, scaling off in patches, and form thick masses, 1 to 2 feet long. The long shoots rise obliquely upward from the stems for a few inches and are covered with soft hairs

The evergreen leaves are of a leathery texture, from 1/2 inch to an inch long, like a spatula in form, being rounded at the apex and tapering gradually towards the base to a very short stalk or petiole. The margin is entire and slightly rolled back and the young leaves fringed with short hairs. The upper surface of the leaf is dark, shining green, the veins deeply impressed, the lower side is of a paler green, with the veins prominent and forming a coarse network. The leaves have no distinctive odour, but they have a very astringent and somewhat bitter taste.

The pretty waxy-looking flowers are in small, closely-crowded, drooping clusters, three to fifteen flowers together, at the ends of the branches of the preceding year, appearing in early summer, May - June, before the young leaves. The corolla, about two-thirds inch across, is urn-shaped, reddish white or white with a red lip, transparent at the base, contracted at the mouth, which is divided into four to five short reflexed, blunt teeth, which are hairy within. There are ten stamens, with chocolate-brown, awned anthers. The berry, which ripens in autumn, is about the size of a small currant, very bright red, smooth and glossy, with a tough skin enclosing an insipid mealy pulp, with five one-seeded stones.
Uva Ursi Extract INCI Name Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi Extract CAS:84776-10-3 EINECS ELINCS No 283-934-3 Arberry Leaf Rockberry leaf Bearberry leaf extract photo picture image

History:

Like many other herbs, Uva Ursi has a long history of effective use. From the Middle Ages, the herbals indicate that Uva Ursi was a reliable diuretic effectively used in urinary infection. By the end of the 1700's it had become official in the London Pharmacopoeia.

Uva ursi is a perennial evergreen, common in the northern part of Europe and America, growing on sterile, gravelly ridges, and dry, sandy soils. It flowers from June to September, and ripens its berries during the winter. The leaves are the parts used; the green leaves alone should be selected, picked from the twigs in the fall, and dried by exposure to a moderate heat. They are frequently adulterated with whortleberry or cowberry leaves. These adulterations may be detected by observing that the uva ursi leaf is reticulated beneath, while the whortleberry leaf is merely dotted. The leaves of pipsissewa are longer, cuneate-lanceolate, and sharply serrated, Uva ursi leaves are odorless, except when in powder, which is of a light-brown color, with a shade of greenish-yellow, and has nearly the smell of good grass hay, and to the taste is at first smartly astringent and bitterish, which sensations gradually soften into a liquorice flavor. The leaves yield their properties to water or alcohol, forming, with the latter, a green tincture, which is rendered turbid by water, causing a deposit of green resin. As officially described, uva ursi leaves are "very short-stalked, obovate or oblong-spatulate, coriaceous, from 15 to 20 Mm. (3/5 to 4/5 inch) long, and 5 to 8 Mm. (1/5 to 1/3 inch) broad, obtuse, slightly revolute on the margin, upper surface with depressed veins; lower surface distinctly reticulate; odor faint, hay-like; taste strongly astringent, and somewhat bitter"(U. S. P.).

Uva Ursi is also known by the names Bearberry, Bear Berry, Kinnikinnik, Manzanita, Mountain Cranberry, Mountain Box, Arbutus, Chipmunk's Apples, and Hog Cranberry. Most commercial Uva Ursi is grown in Spain. Uva Ursi is a small perennial shrub that typically grows in elevations of about 6,000 feet. In Latin, Uva means "grape", and Ursi means "of the bear", hence the common name Bear Berry. Bears like eating the red berries, as did Native Americans. The Spanish name Manzanita means "little apple" as the berries look like the fruit. The parts of this herb used medicinally are the leaves and the berries. Uva Ursi leaf is widely used as a diuretic, astringent, and antiseptic. Folk medicine around the world has recommended Uva Ursi for nephritis, kidney stones, and chronic cystitis. The herb has also been used as a general tonic for weakened kidneys, liver or pancreas. In Scandinavia, the leaves are sometimes used to tan leather (because of its high tannin content). The berries can be cooked along with other foods. Raw, the berries are bland, but they do help to quench thirst and stimulate saliva flow, and can be used as a "survival food". The berries can also be made into a cider. The primary chemical constituents of this herb include glycosides (arbutin, methylarbutin, ericolin), allantoin, flavonoids (quercetin, myricacitrin), tannins, hydroquinone, ellagic acid, gallic acid, malic acid, and ursolic acid. It also contains vitamin A, iron, manganese, selenium and silicon. Uva Ursi contains a high concentration of arbutin, an antiseptic phenolic glycoside. Arbutin and other glycosides have diuretic and urinary antiseptic action. They relieve pain from bladder stones, cystitis, nephritis, and kidney stones. In the urinary tract, the arbutin constituent is converted in the body to hydroquinones and glucose which have antiseptic and disinfecting properties, and also helps alkalinize the urine. The hydroquinone may turn the urine green. Uva Ursi also contains allantoin which is well known for its soothing and tissue-repairing properties.

Uva Ursi works best when one avoids acidic foods, such as citrus fruits and juices, cranberry products, sauerkraut, and vitamin C. This herb helps prevent postpartum infection. Uva Ursi is also helpful for chronic diarrhea. As a nutritional supplement and muscle relaxant, Uva Ursi soothes, strengthens, and tightens irritated and inflamed tissues. The herb neutralizes acidity in the urine, increasing urine flow, therefore reducing bloating and water retention, making it beneficial for weight loss. Uva Ursi's astringent properties may also assist in the treatment of some bed wetting problems. The common name Uva Ursi includes the species Arctostaphylos rubra and Arctostaphylos alpina, which are used interchangeably with Arctostaphylos uva-ursi.

Reference:

1.What is Uva Ursi Arctostaphylos uva-ursi?Its History,Phytochemicals,Mode of Action and Magic Superstition?

last edit date:10th,Mar.2010.

Available Product

Name:Uva Ursi Extract
Serie No:P081
Specifications:10:1.TLC
INCI Name:ARCTOSTAPHYLOS UVA URSI EXTRACT
EINECS/ELINCS No.:283-934-3
CAS:84776-10-3
Chem/IUPAC Name:Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi Extract is an extract of the leaves of the bearberry,Arctostaphylos uva-ursi,Ericaceae

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