Pau d’arco are tannins or “catechins” which are also known as a type of flavonol. Colorless and water souble, catechin is an astringent principle primarily found in flowering wood plants. Cathechins appear to act as protectants in bark and wood against the ravages of normal decay and infections. They are abundant in the leaves of the common willow, the skins of many fruits and berries, tea, red wine and hawthorn berries. The seeds of mature grapes are a major source of catechins for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. You can find grape seed oil in various body lotions and phytocosmetics.
Scientists know the identity of more than one immuno-active quinone. One of these called lapachol was named after the lapacho or pau d’arco tree. Nature didn’t restrict lapachol to pau d’arco. At Banaras University in Varanasi, Indid, R.K. Goel and colleagues found the quinone experiments with an extract of teak bark wood. Goebel subsequently worked with the powdered roots and found lapachol. As a preventive agent, lapachol provide significant protection against stress-induced gastric ulcers
An anti-inflammtory action from lapachol has been observed in humans, an effect that may be sue to an inhibitory action or overactive immune cells, or other mediators of inflammation in the body, such as prostaglandins.
Benzoic acid was derived from the fragrant gum of a tree (Styrax benzoin Dryander) found in Sumatra. There was extensive use of benzoic acid during the 19th century. Among diverse applications, the acid was used in bronchitis (as an expectorant). The main therapeutic use is in topical antiseptics for desloughing and cleansing ulcerations and wounds. It is also used to treat skin disease and ringworm affecting the scalp.
A number of benzoic acids are also found in the bark and leaves of pau d’arco and undoubtedly play a significant role in the many play a significant role in the many topical applications found in folk medicine. In the leaves, these include parahyroxybenzoic, vanilllic, genistic, and caffeic acids. Quercetin also found in the wood is a bioflavonoid. Quercetin is a potent anti-inflammatory substance and local pain reliever related chemically to the histamine release inhibitory cromolyn, an antiasthmatic drug. Quercetin has shown strong antihistamine release activity in cells exposed to allergens, but not to inactivated cells.
Beta-lapachone is a quinone found in the woods of various pau d’arco in smaller quantities than lapachol. Beta-lapachone was first derived from the wood of pau d’arco in northeast Brazil, where it was initially studied for antitumor activity during the late 1960. It has since gone on to be the subject of studies in Europe
and the United States where interest in antiviral and antitumor mechanisms has focused on interrupting the DNA of pathogenic cells.
Lapachol and beta-lapachone (known collectively as naphthaquinones) are two primary active compounds in pau d’arco. According to laboratory tests, both have antifungal properties as potent or more so than ketaconazole, a common antifungal drug. Although these compounds also have anticancer properties, the effective dosage to achieve this effect is toxic. Therefore, pau d’arco cannot currently be recommended as a treatment for cancer.
