Botanical and in vitro studies on Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea purpurea L., also known as purple coneflower, has been used extensively in medicinal preparations for the treatments of colds and as an immunostimulant and anti-inflammatory remedy.As with many herbal preparations, characterization of active ingredients and commercial production of Echinacea have been limited by a range of issues including: contamination of the plant, material with insects, fungi and bacteria, the long period of time required for production of a saleable product, plant-to-plant and year-to-year variability in the ‘active’ components of the plant material, and the lack of pure standardized plant material for biochemical analysis. The establishment of a system for in vitro culture of Echinacea will help to address many of these issues.