History of Shepherd's Purse

It is nice to see that there has been improvement in the amount of information available, and the testing that has been done on Shepherd’s Purse and its constituents in the past 70 years or so. Back in 1931, when Grieve originally published “A Modern Herbal”, this is what she had to say about Shepherd’s Purse’s chemical constituents:

“Several partial analyses have been made of it, but no characteristic principle has been definitely separated. The active constituent is said to be an organic acid, which Bombelon, a French chemist, termed bursinic acid. He also found a tannate and an alkaloid, Bursine, which resembles sulphocyansinapine. A peculiar sulphuretted volatile oil, closely similar to, if not identical with oil of mustard, as well as a fixed oil, have been determined and 6 per cent. of a soft resin.”

Then approximately 30 to 40 years later, although some laboratory analyses showed Shepherd’s Purse to be low in Vitamin C, it had been used as an antiscorbutic (anti scurvy). Dr. Christopher’s thoughts regarding this topic were: “It may be, however, that through transformation in the digestive tract the combinations of materials in the plant might help prevent scurvy.”

As time has progressed on through the 1960's and into the 1970's, 80's and 90's, an overwhelming amount of information has turned up about the constituents of Shepherd’s Purse, due to more laboratory research having been done, and the climate in Europe being so open and accepting to herbs as alternatives to prescription pharmaceutical drugs. This seems overwhelming mostly, due to the fact that this author is not a chemist! Thankfully, as the chemical constituents are known, it will further the knowledge of how Shepherd’s Purse can be used.

As a result of modern research, we have learned that “Shepherd’s Purse contains the active components saponin, mustard oil, the alkaloid bursine, the flavonoid glycoside diasmium, organic acids, tannin, large quantities of vitamin C and K and the amines choline, acetylcholine and tyramine.” It seems there is no doubt now about the mustard oil nor the vitamin C. We have also learned that “The herb must be free of the parasitic fungus Cystopus candidins.”

There is lots more information on the nutrients in Shepherd’s Purse than before. Schwartz informs us that “The leaves are very high in thiamin (B-1), choline, inositol, and fumaric acid. They are a good source of ascorbic acid (C), riboflavin (B-2), calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. They also provide beta carotene (A), vitamin K, niacin, iron and rutin. It also contains compounds (such as fumaric acid), which are known to have anti-cancer effects.”

We also now know that “Efforts to determine a bioactive hemostatic principle in Shepherd’s Purse point to an unspecified peptide” and that it “. . . contains flavonoids, including luteolin and quercetin 7-retinosides and luteolin 7-galactoside; glucosinolates (e.g., sinigrin) (Iurisson, 1973; Wichtl and Bisset, 1994); . . .” and “approximately 0.02% volatile oil . . .”. Lastly, it seems that there is some controversy regarding Shepherd’s Purse because “The previously reported occurrence of biogenetic amines and saponins is disputed (Wichtl, 1996).”

Hopefully, as the present proceeds into the future, researchers, practitioners and the general public will come to realize that the Good Lord meant for these chemicals to be left intact and together in the plant, and used as a whole plant, the way God intended.