Plantago major - Common Plantain

• Family: Plantain (Plantaginaceae family) ^[E-flora]
  
• Other Names: Cart Track Plant, White Man's Foot, Plantain. ^[PFAF]

Description
Plantago major is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 0.1 m (0ft 4in) at a medium rate.
It is hardy to zone (UK) 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to September, and the seeds ripen from Jul to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind.The plant is self-fertile.
It is noted for attracting wildlife. ^[PFAF]
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.^[PFAF]

Origin Status: Exotic ^[E-flora]
General: Perennial herb from a fibrous root; stems erect, several, simple, smooth or stiff-hairy, 5-50 cm tall. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
Habitat: Mesic to dry lawns, fields, roadsides and waste places in the lowland, steppe and montane zones.^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
Range: Common in SW BC, less frequent elsewhere; introduced from Eurasia. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]} USDA Flower Colour: Green

• USDA Blooming Period: Late Spring
• USDA Fruit/Seed characteristics:
  • Colour: Green.
  • Present from Summer to Fall ^{[USDA-E-flora]}

Hazards

• High doses may cause a fall in blood pressure and diarrhoea. [301]^[PFAF]
• Possible allergic contact dermatitis. [301]^[PFAF] CAN cautions that a mustard-like oil is allergenic, irritant, and can cause dermatosis.^{[HMH Duke]}
• Avoid in patients with intestinal obstruction or abdominal discomfort [301].^[PFAF] Excessive doses may be hypotensive and laxative. ^{[HMH Duke]}
• Because of laxative and uterine activity, in vitro, its use in pregnancy and lactation is to be avoided (CAN). Excessive doses may be hypotensive and laxative. ^{[HMH Duke]}
• "Always take psyllium seeds with plenty of fluid to prevent bowel obstruction. They can lower blood sugar. Practitioners should be aware of this for patients on insulin." ^{[McIntyre AHTC]}
• "Seeds may interfere with digoxin (Miller 1998). Separate by 2 hours from all other drugs as may inhibit absorption." ^{[McIntyre AHTC]}

Edible Uses

• Young Leaves: ^{[Turner,Kuhnlein]} Raw or cooked[2, 5, 12, 56, 62, 183]. Often blanched^[PFAF] "The young leaves are often used as a potherb...boiled from 15-35 minutes depending on their age". Used like spinach. ^[Harrington]
  • Preparation: "They are rather bitter and tedious to prepare because the fibrous strands need to be removed before use[9]. It is best not to use the leaf-stalk since this is even more fibrous than the leaf[183]." ^[PFAF] "Select only the leaf blades, discarding the leaf stalks. Wash the leaves and dip them into a batter.... Fry these leaves over a low heat for about half an hour, salting them during the cooking process... a recipe called "Sweet and Sour Plantain" ... was poured over the boiled plantain leaves." ^[Harrington]
  • Tea: "Plantain is said to make an acceptable tea when the dried leaves are boiled". ^[Harrington]
• Root: [183]^[PFAF]
• Seed: Eaten ^{[Turner, Kuhnlein]} "raw or cooked[62, 172]. Very tedious to harvest[172]. The seed can be ground into a meal and mixed with flour[183]. It is very rich in vitamin B1[179]. The whole seeds can be boiled and used like sago[193]."^[PFAF]

Medicinal Uses

P. major is an old medicinal plant that has been known for centuries. In Scandinavia this plant is mostly known for its wound healing properties. The common Norwegian and Swedish name for P. major is groblad meaning ‘healing leaves’. ^[TUCC]

• (Plantago major) is widely used as a medicinal poultice for burns, cuts, and bee stings. ^{[Apostol RPNW]}
• General Dosages (Plantain) — 2 tsp (7.5 g) seed or 1 tsp husk/glass water (APA); 2–4 tsp fresh seed (PED); 5–15 g dry seed (PED); 1–2 tsp dry seed/glass water (PED); 2–4 g leaf in tea 3 ×/day (CAN); 2.5–5 ml liquid leaf extract (PNC); 2–4 ml liquid leaf extract (1:1 in 25% alcohol) 3 ×/day (CAN); 2–4 ml leaf tincture (1:5 in 45% alcohol) 3 ×/day (CAN).^{[HMH Duke]} Specific plantago. Dose from one to five drops. The juice of the leaves is used, dissolved in alcohol.^[Ellingwood]
• Leaves ^[HerbalMed3]
  • Dosage:
    • Dried leaf 2–4 g as an infusion three times daily.(G7) ^[HerbalMed3]
    • Liquid extract 2–4 mL (1 : 1 in 25% alcohol) three times daily.(G7) ^[HerbalMed3]
    • Tincture 2–4 mL (1 : 5 in 45% alcohol) three times daily.(G7)^[HerbalMed3]
    • FRESH LEAF. Fresh or frozen juice, 1-2 tablespoons to 4X a day. ^{[Moore(1995)]}
  • Internally: "Internally, they are used in the treatment of a wide range of complaints including diarrhoea, gastritis, peptic ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, haemorrhage, haemorrhoids, cystitis, bronchitis, catarrh, sinusitis, asthma and hay fever[238, 254]." ^[PFAF]
    • Aerial Parts - Harvested when in bloom ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}
    • "Decoction, infusion: gastric disturbance, peptic ulcer" ^{[Rai EthPlants]}
    • The tea "may be helpful in diarrhea, dysentery, irritable bowel syndrome, laryngitis, and urinary tract bleeding. ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}
  • Externally: "They are used externally in treating skin inflammations, malignant ulcers, cuts, stings etc[4]. The heated leaves are used as a wet dressing for wounds, swellings etc[213, 222]." ^[PFAF]
  • Poultice This is also one of the cure-all herbs, fancied or real, used to cure or prevent infections from cuts or blisters. The bruised fresh leaves are placed on the wound, or the boiled leaf mass is sometimes used, held in place with a bandage or adhesive tape. One of us has tried it several times and is inclined to think that it actually helped (Bagdonas, llA). The bruised leaf can be wrapped around a cut finger and tied in place with a fiber or piece of string. At least it makes a primitive bandage. ^[Harrington] When Moneses uniflora was used to draw blisters on sores and swellings, plantain leaves were laid on to heal the wound after the blisters had been opened. They were left on until they had dried up (Boas, 1966).^{[Turner BCEthno]} Ribwort/common plantain is a safe and effective treatment for bleeding, it quickly staunches blood flow and encourages the repair of damaged tissue[254].^[PFAF]
• Plant:
  • Eye lotion: A distilled water made from the plant makes an excellent eye lotion[7].^[PFAF]
    
  • Root: The root is a remedy for the bite of rattlesnakes, it is used in equal portions with Marrubium vulgare[207]. ^[PFAF]

Lore
"Historically plantain leaf was famous as a wound healer and an antidote to poisons. " ^{[McIntyre AHTC]}

• Ayurvedic Use: Taste/Rasa: bitter, astringent Post digestive/Vipak: pungent Potency/Virya: cooling Dosha: PK- V+ ^{[McIntyre AHTC]}

"The traditional use of P. major in wound healing is quite old. It was described by the Greek physician Dioscorides in ‘De materia medica’ in the first century. The leaves were prescribed for treatment of dog bites ( Roca-Garcia, 1972). From the ‘Vølsuga saga’ it is known that the Vikings used P. major leaves for wound healing ( Nielsen, 1969). P. major was also described in the 12–13th century by the Islamic author Ibn El Beithar having adopted the knowledge from Greek medicine ( Fleurentin et al., 1983). Henrik Harpestreng († 1244) from Denmark wrote in ‘Liber Harbarum’ that P. major could heal everything that was torn apart. Mixed with honey it was recommended on wounds. Boiled with butter and eaten, it could heal any organ in the human body ( Nielsen, 1969)."^[TUCC]

"P. major was described in ‘Flora Danica’ by Simon Paulli in 1648 as a very efficient wound healing remedy. At that time it was so common in use that even small children knew about it. The nerves were pulled out of the leaves, and then the leaves were applied on the wounds morning and evening. For superficial wounds to heal, it was sufficient to apply the juice from the plant ( Brøndegaard, 1987). The English apothecary Nicholas Culpeper published ‘The Complete Herbal’ in 1649. The use of plants in the treatment of diseases was based on astrology. At that time people lacked other explanations as to why some plants had certain effects and others not. According to this theory P. major is under Venus: ‘It cures the head by its antipathy to Mars and the privities by its sympathy to Venus. There is not a martial disease that it does not cure’. About the medicinal effects he wrote: ‘It is good to stay spitting of blood and bleedings at the mouth, or the making of foul and bloody water, by reason of any ulcer in the reins or bladder’ ( Potterton, 1983)."^[TUCC]

The remedy is of value in the internal treatment of all diseases of the blood. Scrofula, syphilis, specific or non-specific glandular disease, and mercurial poisoning.
It is also given in female disorders, attended with fluent discharges, and in hematuria, also in dysuria and some forms of passive hemorrhage. It would thus seem to possess marked astringent properties, as well as those of an alterative character.
The older physicians ascribe an active influence to it, in the cure of the bites of venomous serpents, spiders, and poisonous insects.
A simple but important influence is that exercised in tooth-ache. The juice on a piece of cotton applied to a tooth cavity, or to the sensitive pulp, has immediately controlled intractable cases of toothache. It seems to exercise a sedative influence upon pain in the nerves of the face, and relieves many cases of earache and tic-douloureux. ^[Ellingwood]

• The leaves contain a mucilage that affords rapid relief after the stings of wasps and mosquitoes (Clair), and they can be applied to burns and scalds, too (A W Hatfield). In Somerset, they even say you could treat rheumatism by getting bees to sting you, and using the plantain leaves to ease the stings (Tongue. 1965).^{[DPL Watts]}
• Snakebite: The Anglo-Saxon version of Apuleius has cures ranging from headaches to snake-bites (Cockayne). In the latter case, the patient was advised to eat the plant!^{[DPL Watts]}
• Rabies: But native American peoples in general agreed with the European verdict; the Ojibwe, for instance, actually carried plantain about with them for immediate emergency protection (Densmore). Mad-dog bite was also dealt with by “rubbing (plantain) fine and lay it on” (Cockayne). In the 15th century the prescription was to make a plaster of this plant and the white of an egg, and laying that on the bite (Dawson. 1934). The Welsh text known as the Physicians of Myddfai also had a prescription for mad-dog bite, in this case using a handful of sheep’s sorrel (Rumex acetosella) as well as the plantain, well pounded in a mortar with the white of an egg, honey and lard, to make an ointment to put on the bite.^{[DPL Watts]}
• Foot Relief: In Scotland, the plantain was used just by putting the leaves under the foot, or inside the stocking (Browning). ^{[DPL Watts]}
• Dysentery: Gerard listed many ailments to be treated with Great Plantain (“of all the plantains the greatest is the best …”). Among them, “… fluxes, issues, rheumes, and rottennesse, and for the bloudy flux”, which is dysentery, and it is still used in Chinese herbal medicine for that complaint (Chinese medicinal herbs of Hong Kong), and plantain tea is still being recommended for diarrhoea (A W Hatfield). ^{[DPL Watts]}
• Jaundice: is another ailment to be cured with plantain in modern times, but which had already appeared in a much earlier age. The treatment was known in folk medicine, in this case, in Cambridgeshire (Porter. 1969), but undoubtedly over a much wider area as well. ^{[DPL Watts]}
• Tea: The tea is still used for complaints as different as piles and asthma (A W Hatfield), and bronchitis can also be treated in this way. ^{[DPL Watts]}
• Poultice: A leaf poultice was used for corns and ulcers (Vickery. 1995), and boils too (Stout), but that is a very old recipe – Reliquae Antiquae has “take the rotes of red nettilles and playntayne, and stamp them wele in ale, and do thereto cray [chalk] that hir parchemeners [papermakers] wirkes withall, and ger hym drynk hit” (see I B Jones). ^{[DPL Watts]}
• P. major & P. lanceolata Poultice: ...these two have naturally been the normal choices for the purpose for which this genus is renowned in many parts of the world (including Sikkim and Peru): the ability to stop bleeding from an external injury in a matter of minutes. Usually it is found sufficient for just a fresh leaf to be crushed (or chewed) for enough of the healing chemicals to be released, but to treat severer haemorrhages the whole plant has sometimes been boiled; alternatively, an ointment has been produced and applied. The two species seem to have been used throughout the British Isles for this primary purpose, and interchangeably.^[MPFT]
• Antiseptic: Credited with antiseptic properties10 and the ability to prevent festering, they have been valued further for treating varicose veins (Montgomeryshire11) and for drawing the pus out of an infected wound or swelling. ^[MPFT]
• Tonic:A still further use, recorded from Denbighshire,23 is as a tonic, mixed with yarrow and nettles.^[MPFT]
• Internally: The sole records for some internal uses are Irish, too: drinking the boiled juice for liver trouble (Cavan[48]) or jaundice (Laois[49]) and putting it into the milk of children that are delicate (Tipperary[50]). ^[MPFT]
• Eyes: Even ‘sore eyes’ have had their share of attention (Galway,[51] Limerick[52]) though it is unclear—as also in the case of a record from the Highlands53—whether that meant styes or merely the result of straining.^[MPFT]
• Nocturnal Incontinence: "In the nocturnal incontinence of urine, in young children, accompanied with a large flow of colorless urine, this agent has produced curative results in many cases."^[Ellingwood]
• Teeth: "Where the teeth have developed sudden tenderness and seem to be too long from ulceration of the roots, Dr. Turnbaugh gives plantago, ten drops of a three x dilution every three hours."^[Ellingwood]
• Earache: "Dr. Wallace dips a teaspoon into hot water, drops into this five drops of the specific plantago, and pours this into the ear for earache, filling the ear afterwards with cotton. He claims immediate relief in aggravated cases."^[Ellingwood]
• Ointments: "The juice may be combined in the form of an ointment. One physician told the writer that he saw an Indian woman pound up a large quantity of Plantain leaves, put them into a skillet, and pour on enough lard to cover. This was boiled for some time, then strained. When cool, the product was a smooth, greenish colored ointment. With this a chronic and previously absolutely intractable skin disease, similar to a dry form of eczema, was rapidly and permanently cured. This ointment in appearance and action very closely resembles the proprietary preparation, known as cuticura."^[Ellingwood]

Pharmacology

• "The leaves are astringent, demulcent, deobstruent, depurative, diuretic, expectorant, haemostatic and refrigerant[4, 7, 9, 21, 147, 165, 172, 238]." ^[PFAF]
• Antibacterial: Aqueous extracts of P. major inhibited Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Gautam et al. 2007). ^[SoilBio-42]
• Antiviral: The aqueous extract of Plantago major L., a popular medicine of Ayurvedic, traditional Chinese medicine and Chakma Talika Chikitsa of Bangladesh showed anti-HSV activity. Caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and rosmarinic acid from P. major exhibited strongest activity against both HSV-1 (EC50 15.3 Ug/mL) and HSV-2 (EC50 87.3 Ug/m) (Chiang et al., 2002). ^{[Houghton EHMP]}

Phytochemicals

4.1. Carbohydrates
The seeds contain the monosaccharides glucose, fructose, xylose and rhamnose as well as the disaccharide sucrose and the trisaccharide planteose...( Ahmed et al., 1965). Planteose acts as a reserve carbohydrate in the seeds ( Rohrer, 1972).
The outer seed coat contains polysaccharides that swell in contact with water and form mucilage with high viscosity. Polysaccharides extracted from the seeds with cold water are composed of 61% xylose, 13.2% arabinose and 24% galacturonic acid, and the hot water extract of the residue contains 78% xylose, 13.2% arabinose, 3% galactose and 6.2% galacturonic acid (Ahmed et al., 1965).
The trisaccharide raffinose (0.3 mg/g dry weight) and the tetrasaccharide stachyose (4.5 mg/g dry weight) have been isolated from the leaves. Stachyose acts as temporary carbohydrate storage in the plant (Chatterton et al., 1990).
Gorin (Gorin, 1966a and Gorin, 1966b) isolated polysaccharides composed of galacturonic acid, galactose, arabinose and rhamnose in addition to small amounts of glucose and xylose.^[TUCC]

4.2. Lipids
"Fatty acids, both free and after hydrolysis of triglycerides, have been isolated from the seeds and are listed in Table 3. According to Ahmed et al. (1968) 64.8% of the fatty acids are unsaturated."^[TUCC]

"Arachidic acid was isolated from P. major seeds only and not from any other Plantago species investigated. Most of the fatty acids present are generally found in plant seeds. One unusual hydroxyolefinic fatty acid, 9-hydroxy-cis-11-octadecenoic acid which is an isomer of ricinoleic acid was isolated by Ahmad et al. (1980). It is a minor constituent (1.5%) of the seed oil.
From the fresh leaves 0.18% lipids were isolated, and the distributions of the different fatty acids are listed in Table 4. The unsaturated fatty acids... and the saturated fatty acid palmitic acid were most abundant in the leaves."^[TUCC]

"The major components of the leaf wax are the free triterpene acids, oleanolic and ursolic acid (see Other terpenoids), and the linear alkanes.... The chloroform extract was composed of about 63% triterpenic acids, 17% linear hydrocarbons, 1% linear alcohols and 19% unidentified compounds independently of the plants age (Bakker et al., 1998)." ^[TUCC]

4.3. Alkaloids
"P. major has been tested positive for alkaloids ( Rojas, 1968 and Smolenski et al., 1974). Schneider (1990) identified them as indicain and plantagonin.^"[TUCC]

4.4. Caffeic acid derivatives
"The ethyl and methyl esters of caffeic acid were isolated from the methanolic extract (Pailer and Haschke-Hofmeister, 1969), and chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acid were isolated from the aqueous extract (Maksyutina, 1971b). According to Noro et al. (1991) plantamajoside is the main caffeic acid derivative in P. major L., and only small amounts of acteoside (synonym to verbascoside) are present. Skari et al. (1999a) on the other hand isolated equal amounts of each compound from the 80% ethanol extract of the plant. According to Mølgaard (1986), plantamajoside and acteoside are not found together in the same plant. In Denmark, there are two subspecies of P. major, P. major ssp. major and ssp. spleiosperma. Plantamajoside is present in both subspecies, while acteoside is found only in ssp. spleiosperma ( Mølgaard, 1986). Plantamajoside is glycosylated with glucose to the central glucose while in acteoside it is glycosylated with rhamnose."^[TUCC]

4.5. Flavonoids
"Several flavonoids have been isolated from P. major ( Table 5). According to Kawashty et al. (1994) the amount of each flavonoid isolated from Egyptian P. major can be ranged as follows: luteolin 7-glucoside>hispidulin 7-glucuronide>luteolin 7-diglucoside>apigenin 7-glucoside≈nepetin 7-glucoside>luteolin 6-hydroxy 4′-methoxy 7-galactoside. Skari et al. (1999b) isolated plantaginin and homoplantaginin in addition to several flavonoids having structures that have not been found in P. major earlier. Their structures remain to be published." ^[TUCC]

"Many flavonoids are antioxidants (Rice-Evans et al., 1996 and Bohm et al., 1998). Examples of such compounds in P. major are baicalein, hispidulin and plantaginin ( Yuting et al., 1990, Yokozawa et al., 1997 and Skari et al., 1999b). A number of flavonoids are also known to have free radical scavenging activity ( Kandaswami and Middleton, 1994). Baicalein, hispidulin, scutallarein and plantaginin are free radical scavengers and inhibit lipid peroxidation ( Sanz et al., 1994, Yoshino et al., 1997, Gao et al., 1999 and Skari et al., 1999b)." ^[TUCC]

4.6. Iridoid glycosides
"The iridoid glycosides isolated from P. major are listed in Table 6, and the structure formulas are given in Fig. 3. The major iridoid glycoside found is aucubin, but its content varies over the seasons. The highest aucubin level registered (1.3% in dried leaves) was in June. P. major contains less aucubin than P. lanceloata ( Long et al., 1995). Three unusual iridoid glycosides with 8,9 double bonds, majoroside ( Handjieva et al., 1991), 10-hydroxymajoroside and 10-acetoxymajoroside have been isolated from the aerial parts of the plant ( Taskova et al., 1999)."^[TUCC]

Nutritional

Cultivation

"Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in a sunny position[200]. Although this species is a common garden weed, some named forms have been selected for their ornamental value[233]. An important food plant for the caterpillars of many species of butterflies[30]." ^[PFAF]

Propagation: "Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer. A sowing can be made outdoors in situ in mid to late spring if you have enough seeds." ^[PFAF]
P. major is pollinated by wind, and large amounts of seeds are produced, up to 20 000 per plant ( Fægri, 1970 and Tutin et al., 1976). The seeds are quite small with an ovate shape (0.4–0.8×0.8–1.5 mm) and a slightly bitter taste. The seed endosperm has highly thickened cellulosic walls with the cell lumen filled with oil and protein. It forms the major part of the seeds and surrounds the embryo completely. The seeds are located in capsules (8–16 per capsule) and become sticky in humid weather due to the swelling of the polysaccharides present in the seed coat ( Qadry, 1963). In this manner the seeds can become attached to animals and humans and thereby be spread.^[TUCC]

Remediation

• Plantago major accumulated (7 mg kg-1) of As. ^[SoilBio-44] P. major are "effective Sb and As accumulators." ^[Phytorem2]
• Plants that restrict the uptake of toxic metals into above ground biomass are known as excluder. Excluder plant has high levels of heavy metals in the roots and shoot/ root ratio are less than one. These plants have low potential for extraction but are useful for phytostabilization purposes to avoid further contamination (Lasat 2002). According to Burger et al. (2013) Plantago major is an excluder plant particularly for U [radionucleotide]. ^{[Gupta RCRTP]}

Uses of Related Sp.

"P. lanceolata extract from the fresh plant may fight colds (4 grams of herb to 1 cup boiling water), may alleviate symptoms of bronchitis and cough, and may reduce fever. "^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}

References

• [E-flora]Plantago major, Eflora B.C., http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Plantago%20major&redblue=Both&lifeform=7 [Accessed: 11/13/2014]
  
• [PFAF] Plantago major Plants for a future, http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Plantago+major, Accessed November 13, 2014
• [SAAP] Screening the Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Properties of the Extracts from Plantain (Plantago Major L.) Leaves, Ivana T. Stanisavljeviæ, Saša S. Stojièeviæ, Dragan T. Velièkoviæ, Miodrag L. Laziæ & Vlada B. Veljkoviæ, Separation Science and Technology, Volume 43, Issue 14, 2008
  
• [TUCC] The traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities of Plantago major L. A review, Anne Berit Samuelsen, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 71, Issues 1–2, July 2000, Pages 1–21