NAME:
Ginkgo Biloba

 

LATIN NAME:
Ginkgo Biloba

 

Ginkgo, Tree of Forty Gold Crowns, Maidenhair tree

 

Ginkgoaceae

MAIN CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS:
Flavonoids
Anthocyans
Organic acids
Resin

PARTS USED:
The leaves (the fruit is also used in Asia).

The plant originally comes from China and Japan, but is frequently cultivated in European and American parks and gardens.

 

DESCRIPTION:
A deciduous tree that can grow up to 40m tall. The branches are upright with fan-shaped leaves that are light-green in colour, and turn golden yellow in autumn.

 

The word Ginkgo comes from the Japanese Gin Yyo, derived from the Chinese Ya Tchio, meaning "duck foot" (the shape of its leaves), or possibly from the Chinese word yin kuo, meaning "silver fruit" (because of its light-coloured fruit). Biloba evokes the two-lobed shape of the leaves.

It has been nicknamed the "tree of 40 gold crowns" because in 1788, an English botanist sold one of these trees to M. de Pétigny, a botanist from Montpellier, for the sum of 40 gold crowns, which was a pretty substantial sum at the time.

The Ginkgo is the oldest known tree – it has existed for 200 million years (it is said to be a "living fossil", the only remaining witness of a bygone era).  It was unknown in the Western world until c. 1700, when it was "discovered" in Japan by Engelbert Kaempfer, a doctor employed by the Dutch East India company.  Europe's very first specimen was planted in Utrecht in 1730, followed by a specimen at Kew Gardens in 1754.

 

USES:
Practitioners of Chinese medicine realised centuries ago that Ginkgo leaf extract stimulates the circulation and the lungs, and offers an effective way of treating asthma.  In the Far East, the Ginkgo is a sacred tree that is planted near to pagodas.

The following properties of Ginkgo have been experimentally proven:

The Circulation
Ginkgo stimulates and invigorates blood circulation and particularly helps the microcirculation due to the vitamin P action of the flavonoids. It improves blood viscoelasticity. It inhibits the coagulation of blood platelets, which notably occurs in allergic inflammations (notably asthma) or as a result of anaphylactic shock. (Zhou W et al, 2004)

The Brain
It improves cerebral glucose metabolism and hinders the development of toxic or traumatic cerebral oedema.  It protects the brain thanks to it's A and B ginkgolides and its bilobalide. (Mc Kenna DJ et al, 2001, Diamond BJ et al, 2000)

 

Other properties
It inactivates free radicals thanks to its flavonoids (antioxidants). It reduces retinal oedema and cellular lesions in the retina.  It has anti-inflammatory effects, can help fight allergies, and has an antispasmodic action. (Logani S et al, 2000)