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Description
Buchu is native to
South Africa. The indigenous people of South Africa used buchu
leaves and the oil of Buchu for hundreds of years. The medicinal use
of this plant is part of the cultural heritage of the Khoisan, who
chew the leaves to relieve stomach problems and mix the leaves with
sheep fat as an ointment to treat wounds. In the 17th
century, when Dutch colonists settled in South Africa they learned
about the herb from the natives and adopted Buchu for urinary tract
infections, kidney stones, cholera, muscle aches and also made a
brandy from it, which was consumed as a digestive tonic. It was
first exported to Europe as a medicine in the early 1800’s.
Biological names
-
Agathosma
Crenulata (oval-leaf Buchu)
-
Agathosma Betulina (round-leaf Buchu)
These two are known
as “true Buchu”, while other members of the family are known as:
Sea-Buchu (Agathosma apiculata), Stembuck-buchu (Agathosma ciliata),
and Wild Buchu (Diosma vulgaris). The group of aromatic herbs and
shrubs now known as buchus are classified under the generic name of
Agathosma (previously Barosma), which is a member of
the Rutacecae family.
Other names:
Bucco, Bookoo, Bucku, Buku, Boegoe.
Active compounds
The active
ingredient of Buchu leaves, a volatile oil with a peppermint-like
odour, known as Oil of Buchu, is obtained commercially mainly from
A. betulina which contains 0.5 – 1.8% of the oil. Using a
range of analytical techniques, 120 compounds were identified in the
oil. The major components in the oil include diosphenol (Buchu
camphor) (15 – 30%), menthone and (-)- isomenthone (50 – 60%),
limonine (about 17%), pulegone (a known hepatoxin) and () and (-)
isopulegone (about 7%), 8-mercapto-p-menthan-3-one, which is
responsible for the blackcurrant type odour, 8-acetylthiomenthone,
piperitone epoxide ()-menthon, p-cymol and terpineol. A.
crenulata has a lower oil yield and lower diosphenol content
(about 2%) but higher pulegone and isopulegone content (about 60%)
than A. betulina.
Chemically the
essential oil consists largely of mixtures of volatile lipids (fats)
called terpenes. Terpenes are small organic molecules that have a
large diversity of structure. They contain either 10 (monoterpenes)
or 15 (sesquiterpenes) carbon atoms and can be open chained or form
a ring. Many of the terpenes have an oxygen atom attached, and a few
have a sulphur atom.
Flavonoids:
rutin, diosmin,
hesperidin, quercitin and derivatives.
Miscellaneous:
vitamins of the B group, tannin and mucilage.
MEAN
PERCENTAGE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
|
Component |
A.
betulina |
Hybrid
|
A.
crenulata |
|
Limonene
Menthone
Isomenthone
trans-Isopulegone
cis-Isopulegone
Pulegone
para-Diosphenol
Diosphenol
trans-8-Mercapto-p-menthan-3-one
cis-8-Mercapto-p-menthan-3-one
trans-Acetylthio-p-mentan-3-one
cis-Acetylthio-p-menthan-3-one
Pulegone
range
Sample size |
19.06
13.79
20.11
1.36
1.04
2.41
13.20
15.67
0.51
2.50
0.06
0.05
0.63 – 4.46
21 |
15.79
11.94
26.51
1.86
1.81
18.34
4.66
5.12
1.11
2.75
0.93
0.53
7.58 –
26.78
6 |
7.49
2.70
8.94
3.04
3.00
58.32
trace
trace
0.76
0.27
5.70
0.49
31.63 – 73.20
37 |
Identification
The Buchu shrubs
are about two metres high, with small, shiny dark green leaves,
which are rich in oil glands and strong smelling and have
therapeutic properties. The plants have small star-shaped flowers
ranging in colour from white to pink. The leaves, which are small
and oval, or round (depending on the type of Buchu), are dotted on
the underside with oil glands and have a strong aromatic smell. The
leaves of A. betulina constitute the ‘Folia Buchu’ of the
British Pharmacopoeia and are officially recognized in many other
pharmacopoeias internationally. |
