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The Herbs and the Herbal Medicine: Matricaria Recutita

There are numerous kinds of chamomile. Two most popular are Roman chamomile and German chamomile, both are from the Compositae (or Asteraceae, commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower) family. Matricaria recutita is generally known as German chamomile, and Chamaemelum nobile is known as Roman chamomile.

It is worth noting that “(T)the chamomile has varieties of diploid 2n=18 and tetraploid 2n=36. The varieties of diploid have shorter growth and less brushwood height than the varieties of tetraploid” - Sharrif moghaddasi M. Study on Cammomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) Usage and Farming. Adv. Environ. Biol. 2011; 5: 1446-1453.

Chamomile has anti-inflammatory, deodorant, bacteriostatic, antimicrobial, carminative, sedative, antiseptic, anticatarrhal and spasmolytic properties.

“The biological activity of chamomile is mainly due to the phenolic compounds, primarily the flavonoids apigenin, quercetin, patuletin, luteolin and their glucosides, but also to the principal components of the essential oil extracted from the flowers like α-bisabolol and its oxides and azulenes, including camazulene” - Hadaruga NG, Hadaruga DI, Tatu C, Gruia A, Costescu C, Lupea AX. Multivariate analysis (PCA) in Compositae biocompounds class. Journal of Agroalimentary Processes and Technologies. 2009; 15: 201-210.

Bisabolol comprises 50% of German chamomile’s essential oil and is a spasmolytic for intestinal smooth muscle.

The flavonoids apigenin and luteolin possess anti-inflammatory, carminative, and antispasmodic properties.

Apigenin binds to GABA receptors and has a mild sedative effect. The spiroethers cis- and trans-en-yn-dicycloether occur in German chamomile. They are spasmolytic, antifungal and anti-inflammatory.

There are several chamomile chemocultivars. Depending on the active principles, the cultivars could, for example, be specified as M. recutita L. cv. “rich in bisabolol” or as M. recutita L. cv. “rich in bisabololoxide” - Franke R. (2005). Plant Sources. In R. Franke and H. Schilcher (Eds.) Chamomile, Industrial Profiles. CRC Press.

German chamomile is more widely cultivated than Roman chamomile (Newall et al., 1996; Blumenthal, 1998). Four cultivars of German Chamomile were mentioned in [1]: Bodegold (tetraploid), Germania (diploid), Bona (diploid) and Goral (tetraploid); and other high yielding varieties (of German Chamomile cultivars?) were: Manzana, Degumille and Zloty Lan as mentioned in [2].

(This paragraph is appended here on 15 December 2021)

In a recent research paper: Differences in the Aroma Profile of Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) after Different Drying Conditions [4], the drying methods of chamomile flower heads:-

• air drying in the shades and/or sun drying
• oven-drying at >=40 degree Celsius
• microwave-drying
• solar-drying

were studied. Drying in the shade is best suited to preserve the quality of the flower in terms of color, appearance, and chemical oil composition after drying.

References:

1. German and Roman Chamomile - Shahram Sharafzadeh and Omid Alizadeh
   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258567540_German_and_Roman_Chamomile

2. Introduction to Chamomile: Medicinal, Biochemical and Agricultural Aspects - from American Botanical Council
   http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/DocServer/CRCPRESSChamomile-Section_1.5978-1-4665-7759-6.pdf?docID=6362

3. German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) - Northwestern Agricultural Research Center, Montana State University
   https://agresearch.montana.edu/warc/research_current/research_past/Chamomile.pdf

4. Differences in the Aroma Profile of Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) after Different Drying Conditions
   https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095083

Supplementary:
Handbook of Herbs and Spices (Second Edition), Volume 2, 2012 - 27.3.1
Parts of this section are reproduced with permission from an article that first appeared in Alternative Medicine Review in 2008 (Thorne Research Inc., 2008)

Herbal medicine: summary for the public
Matricaria aetheroleum - the officinal essential oil of chamomile is obtained by steam distillation from the flower heads of chamomile. Matricaria oil is the common name for the essential oil of the flower heads of the plant Matricaria Recutita. It is suggested in [2], some kind of disease / ailment, e.g. Anorexia nervosa, asthma, Athlete's foot, ADHD, etc. can be relieved or cured by essential oil of chamomile.
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-summary/matricaria-oil-summary-public_en.pdf - 20 October 2015

Plant Drug Analysis: A Thin Layer Chromatography Atlas - Page 32&33
Springer Science & Business Media, 11 November 2013

Commerical site on German chamomile

Commerical site on (aromatheraphy) chamomile essential oil

Estimates: 4ml of Roman chamomile essential oil is produced from 1 kg of fresh material; while 8ml from 1 kg of dry material.

Extended:
New Downstream Approaches for Highly Pure Substances and Bio Fine Chemicals from Plant Materials

Extended part for Chamomile - microRNA

Taxonomy of Chamomiles:
Plants [Plantae] > Vascular Plants [Tracheophyta] > Flowering Plants [Angiospermae] >
Dicots [Magnoliopsida] > Asters, Bellflowers, Fanflowers and Allies [Asterales] >
Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters and Allies [Asteraceae > Asteroideae (菊亞科)] >
Chamomiles, Yarrows and Allies [Anthemideae]

Observations/Identifications of Chamomiles@iNaturalist

Diploid (2n = 18)

1. German chamomile or Matricaria chamomilla
   Matricaria recutita

   [Matricariinae > Matricaria] > [Matricaria chamomilla]
   

2. Rayless chamomile
   Matricaria discoidea

   [Matricariinae > Matricaria] > [Matricaria discoidea]
   

3. Roman chamomile
   Chamaemelum nobile

   [Anthemidinae > Anthemis] > [Anthemis nobilis]
   

4. Dusky Dog-fennel
   Chamaemelum fuscatum

   [Anthemidinae > Anthemis] > [Anthemis fuscatum]
   

5. Stinking Chamomile
   Anthemis cotula

   [Anthemidinae > Anthemis] > [Anthemis cotula]
   

6. Corn Chamomile
   Anthemis arvensis

   [Anthemidinae > Anthemis] > [Anthemis arvensis]
   

7. Yellow chamomile (Golden Marguerite)
   Cota tinctoria

   [Cota] > [Cota tinctoria]
   

Diploid or Tetraploid ( 2n = 18, 36)

1. Corn Scentless-chamomile
   Tripleurospermum inodorum

   [Tripleurospermum] > [Tripleurospermum inodorum]
   

2. Sea Mayweed
   Tripleurospermum maritimum

   [Tripleurospermum] > [Tripleurospermum maritimum]
   

2n = 18, 54
Genus [Tanacetum]
Go to Appendix IIA

Reference : Flora of North America@efloras.org

1. www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1 > Volume 19
2. www.efloras.org > Floras of North America >

Chemical Aspects of Chamomile

Photosynthesis

Primary metabolism
-> Carbohydrates
-> Chlorophyll [More on Chlorophyll]
-> Lipids
-> Proteins

Secondary metabolism

-> Alkaloids
-> Cyanogenic glycosides
-> Phenolics ----- coumarins
))))))))))))) ----- chalcones^ ----------------------- flavones* (e.g. luteolin, apigenin)
)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) ---- flavanones* ---- isoflavones*
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) ---- flavanols* ---- anthocyanins* (colors of red flowers)
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) ---- flavonols* (e.g. quercetin, patuletin)
))))))))))))) ----- phenolic acid ---- lignins
-> Terpenoids (> sesquiterpenoids, e.g. matricin, chamazulene)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remarks:
^ Chalcone is an aromatic ketone that forms the central core of many important biological compounds. They are the biogenetic precursors of flavonoids.

*Flavonoids