Image: Opio?a Jerzy – Own work
“Research has shown that roseroot extract can reduce stress hormone levels while stimulating energy metabolism. Neuroprotective effects as well as antiviral and antibacterial activities have recently been demonstrated for individual ingredients. This results in a lot of potential for future applications”the renowned team of experts justifies the choice of roseroot as medicinal plant of the year 2023.
Hardy and undemanding
The alpine medicinal plant roseroot (Rhodiola rosea) is a perennial thick-leafed plant. It is distributed in the mountain ranges of the northern hemisphere and in the arctic areas of Europe, Asia and North America. In Austria, roseroot is mainly found in the central Alps at and above the tree line.
The plant is hardy and undemanding, likes to grow in rough locations and poor locations, in rock crevices and on the edge of high moors, on primary rock, but also in limestone mountains. Because of the increased demand, the plant has been cultivated in the Alpine countries and Scandinavia for more than ten years.
Only the rootstock of the plant is used medicinally. It is cleaned, crushed and an aqueous or alcoholic-aqueous extract is made from it. “The name rhodiola does not refer to the flowers but to the rose-like smell of the rootstock when you dig it up and cut it up”explains Hermann Stuppner from the University of Innsbruck.
Importance in folk medicine
“The plant is considered resilient and robust. It should also transfer these properties to humans”, says Monika Aichberger, Vice President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists. The Vikings are said to have liked to use roseroot to strengthen themselves for a fight. In the folk medicine of the Russians and Scandinavians and in TCM, the plant has always been of particular importance. Roseroot extracts experienced real hype in the 1960s, when scientists in the former Soviet Union studied the powers of this plant. Among other things, it was also used by Russian cosmonauts so that they could better cope with the extremely demanding conditions in space.
Source: Nachrichten
