Latin name: Rosa canina
Pharmacopoeial name: Rosae pseudofructus
About Rose Hip
The rose hip (or rose haw) is the pseudofruit of the rose plant. Rose hips of some species, especially Rosa canina, are known as valuable sources of vitamin C. In 1990, the German Commission E published three monographs on the traditional use of various species of the rose hip (the ripe, fresh or dried seed receptacle, freed from seed and attached trichomes), rose hip and seed (Rosae pseudofructus cum fructibus, the ripe, fresh or dried pseudofruits including the seed) and rose hip seed (Rosae fructus, the ripe, dried seed) (1).
In traditional medicine, 2–5 g of the plant material is used to prepare an aqueous extract, e.g. for a cup of tea, taken 3 to 4 cups per day. The vitamin C content decreases considerably within 24 h (2). However, in a maceration the vitamin C content increased within 48 h (3). Dried rose hips contained more folate per 100 g than fresh rose hip.
Uses of Rose Hip
Gao et al investigated a crude extract prepared with 50% ethanol from powdered rose hip and its phenolic, ascorbinic and lipophilic fractions (4). The phenolic fraction made a major contribution to the antioxidative activity. However, the lipophilic component was the most effective when the results were compared based on the relation between total antioxidant capacity and the content of antioxidants. A preparation of a rose hip extract deprived of vitamin C, contained mainly phenolics (proanthocyanidins 132 mg%, ﬂavonoids 15 mg%, no vitamin C) and inhibited oxygen radicals in both cell-free and cellular systems (5). In an earlier study from Russia, an anthocyanin derivative, pelargonidin-3,5-diglucoside prepared from Rosa canina, had a pronounced radio-protective effect in the absence of toxic effects (6).
Some authors have suggested that rose hip and L. plantarum should be used as a pre-treatment to tissue injuries, e.g. colon surgery, organ transplantation and vascular surgery (7).
Two types of rose hip and seed extracts (solvents water and ethanol 80%) were screened for antiinﬂammatory activity. The ethanol extract showed a greater inhibitory effect compared with the aqueous extract (8), indicating that the antiinﬂammatory principal is probably lipophilic.
45 g of rose hip and seed powder over 28 days inhibited chemotaxis of isolated polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) ex- vivo/in vitro (9). In a cross-over human pharmacological study, in which the volunteers ﬁrst received 45 g rose hip and seed powder over 28 days and thereafter 10 g powder per day, it was shown that the antiinﬂammatory effect in terms of ex vivo/in vitro chemotaxis of PMN was dose-dependent (10). Moreover, C-reactive protein (a marker of inﬂammation) as well as creatinine values decreased signiﬁcantly. After stopping the intake of the powder, these values increased to the pre-values again.
Body Fat, Plasma And Biliary Lipids.
An extract from rose hip and seed (50 mg/kg) or seed (12.5 and 25 mg/kg) were found to show substantial inhibitory effect on the gain of body weight and/or weight of visceral fat without affecting food intake in mice (11).
Gonzalez et al, examined the effect of a diet with corn oil or rose hip oil or without any oil (control) over 35 days. Plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were signiﬁcantly lower after the rose hip oil diet than in the control group (12).
22 healthy volunteers received a proprietary rose hip drink over 3 weeks and another 26 volunteers, a rose hip drink containing oats fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum. In both groups, the numbers of faecal biﬁdo- bacteria and lactobacilli were signiﬁcantly increased. No changes were seen in the numbers of anaerobes, Gram-negative anaerobes or total aerobes during administration. During the period of intake, the volunteers receiving the fermented drink experienced a signiﬁcant increase in stool volume and a signiﬁcant decrease in ﬂatulence and slightly softer stools, whereas the stool volume was slightly decreased during the in- take of proprietary rose hip drink (13).
A rose hip preparation was investigated in a randomized double-blind study of 60 patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. They started to record their intestinal complaints 2 weeks before the administration of the products by means of a questionnaire. Patients receiving the proprietary rose hip drink as placebo proﬁted less than those receiving additional Lactobacillus plantarum 9843, but abdominal pain was reduced in both groups (14).
A systematic review (15) that had identiﬁed four studies investigating a proprietary rosehip extractt in patients suffering from osteoarthritic complaints (16-19) discovered that 2 of them were subgroup analyses (18,19). However, a later systematic review (20) on the effectiveness of Rosa canina in osteoarthritis also included the subgroup analyses, as did another, more recent systematic review which presented a meta-analysis with all four studies. Hence, these latest reviews favoured the effectiveness of rosehip extract (21).
Recently exploratory studies were carried out in patients suffering from inﬂammatory rheumatic complaints (22) and chronic low back pain (23). Although evidence of the effectiveness is only moderate for osteoarthritis and less than moderate for rheumatoid arthritis and chronic low back pain, it appears that rosehip extract does demonstrate overall anti-inﬂammatory and analgesic potential..
The topical use of rose hip seed oil in eczema, trophic ulcers of the skin, neurodermitis, cheilitis etc may also be promising, as observed in an exploratory study including 75 patients testing topical rose hip seed oil together with an oral polyvitamin preparation of fat-soluble vitamins (24).
Contact allergy to rose oil of other species, e.g. the ﬂower petals of Rosa damascena, has been observed (25) and might therefore also be possible with topical use of Rosa canina oil
Keywords: Rose hip extract; antioxidant; antinflammatory; body fat, plasma and biliary lipids; IBS; arthritis; dermatology
There is no EMEA monograph for rosehip
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3. Peplau G. 1941. Pharmakologische und klinische Untersuchungen deutscher Heilpflanzen. VI. Fructus Cynosbati-Hagebutten. Hippokrates: 921–928.
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24. Shabykin GP, Godorazhi AI. 1967. Vestnik Dermatol Venerol 41: 71–73
25. Cockayne SE, Gawkrodger DJ. 1997. Contact Dermatitis 37: 3306–3307.