Polyplant A/S
This is a complex of plant extracts containing the extracts of the following plants: Great-Burdock,
Juniper, Gentian, Lemon and Thyme.
Great burdock
BOTANY AND CHESMITRY
Arctium majus Bernh, Arctium lappa L. or Lappa officinalis All are the different denominations of the plant
which is commonly known as Burdock.This is a biannual grass. During the first year it forms a thick root
and large leaves on the ground and in the second year a tall, twisting stem develops with alternate
leaves. The plant has a height of around 1 metre but can easily reach up to 2 metres. The root is long,
pivoting and fleshy when it is fresh. It is a greyish colour, and has a weak but unpleasant scent and a
sweet, mucilaginous taste. The stem is hard and strong with white or purple lengthwise edging
alternating with with green strips, and it is covered with short hairs. The leaves of the plant are very
large, heart-shaped, deticulate and petiolate with smaller upper caulinars. The flowers are pinkish purple
in colour (from July to September) and gather in loose corymbs on thick, spherical, peduncular capitula
surrounded by green bracts and ending in a point. The fruit is a brown achene, or light red with a tuft.
The root is the part of the plant which is used.
The chemical composition of the root consists of 10% water, from 6 to 7% mineral salts, and it is
particularly rich in KNO3. The root holds the hydrocarbonate reserves in the shape of inulin (27-45%)
accompanied by arctose (hexasaccharide). There is no starch content.
Fig.1. Inulin.
The Burdock root contains a very small amount of essential oils (up to 0.2%). It also contains tannins,
chlorogenic acid and sterols.
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The root also contains substances with antibacterial and antifungal action whose structure corresponds
to unsaturate compounds (polyenes and polyines). These substances are present in very small
concentrations (1-2 mg/100g of dry root).
In the leaf of the Burdock plant, a bitter component has been isolated, arctiopicrine, which is a
sesquiterpenic lactone, with a concentration of around 1.8% in young leaves, diminishing to 0.3-0.5% in
adult leaves. This substance possesses a bactericidal action, especially on Gram+ bacteria.
Fig.2. Arctiopicrine.
The fruit exhibits a bitter ingredient, arctiin (lignan glycoside). This heteroside may be found in the fruit of
Compositae plants.
Juniper
BOTANY AND CHEMISTRY
Juniperus communis L. A plant of the Cupressaceae family, the Juniper is a shrub of between 1 and 6,56
feet in height which is very common in Europe. It has acicular leaves which are flat on top, stiff and
stretched out almost to a point, normally set out in threes with a white stripe on the rear.The yellowish
flowers are dioecious, not very visible and grouped together on the axil of the leaves. The fruit (berry) is
green at first and blue-black later on with a star-shaped division at its tip with three triangular seeds.
The part of the Juniper which is used is the fruit which have a resinous, strongly aromatic smell and
sweet and sour taste. This fruit takes three years to reach maturity. Juniper fruit contain 30% glucides
(especially invert sugar), 3-5% catechol tannins, flavonoids, organic acids, waxes, 10% resin and a bitter
principle called as juniperine. The main active ingredients of the Juniper are the essential oils which are
found in proportions of between 0.2 and 2% and in which more than 70 components have been isolated.
The monoterpenes are the principal components of the plant and especially  and ß-pinene, sabinene,
limonene, terpin-4-ol, -terpineol, borneol, geraniol, etc. Traces of phenols, esters and sesquiterpenes
have also been found.
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Gentian
BOTANY AND CHEMISTRY
Gentiana lutea L. is a plant which is usually found in mountainous terrain. Its roots are collected in
autumn and are usually used orally as an appetiser because of their high content in bitter compounds. It
is a lively plant with a strong, straight, non-ramified stem between 1 and 1.5 m tall. The leaves at the
base are on opposite sides and have short petioles. It has a large, oval limb (up to 30 cm long and 15 cm
wide) and between 5 and 7 nerves run along its length and converge at the end of the leaf. The leaves
high up on the stem are much shorter and groups of flowers spring from their axillas, forming a bunch
which is interrupted at the top of the stem. These bunches are made up of three to five groups of
glomerules of flowers. Each flower has a one-piece yellow corolla. Their anthers are long and yellow and
the fruit is an ovoid capsule with many wing-shaped seeds.
The Gentian root contains 8-10% water, 5-6% mineral salts, a small amount of lipids and essential oil.
The most noteworthy aspect of its composition is the presence of glucides, pigments, alkaloids and,
above all seco-iridoid, bitter substances.

Glucides: There is a large proportion of these products which points to the absence of starch. It
contains pectin (3-11%) and certain oligosaccharides; gentianose, gentiobiose and saccharose.
Gentianose is a non-reducing trisaccharide of the Gentianaceae family which is hydrolyzed by
the enzyme invertase in D-fructose and in gentiobiose (made up of two molecules of glucose).

Pigments: These correspond to the xanthones derivatives (dibenzopyrones) and are yellow. The
presence of gentisin (1,7-dihydroxy-3-xanthone) and isogentisin (an isomer as it contains a
methyl group in the 7th position) is most significant.

Bitter substances: These constitute the most important active ingredients of Gentian. They are
heterosides in which the genin in C10 is linked to a monoterpene. The bitter taste of the Gentian
root is caused by its glucosides, the most significant being gentiopicrin, which is found in the
recently pulled root in a proportion of 2%. The dry root has a smaller proportion of the product
because much of it disappears through a process of fermentation.
Fig.3.
Gentiopicrósido
=
Gentiopicroside;
Amarogentiósido = Amarogentioside.
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Gentiopicrin is accompained by other very similar glucosides of which the most notable is amarogentin.
Although this is found in small concentrations (0.10%) it is the ingredient which is responsible for the
bitter taste of the Gentian root.
Lemon
BOTANY AND CHEMISTRY
Citrus limonum Risso. A fruit originally from the East (India and China), it was introduced into North
Africa and the European Mediterranean.The plant is a small evergreen tree of approximately 3.6 metres
in height, with a robust root and yellowish bark. It has a straight trunk with a large number of slightly
prickly branches; the leaves are alternate, long and narrow at the tip, yellow-green and with a shiny
surface; the flowers are white on the inside and purple on the outside and are found alone or in a group;
the yellow fruit is oval with a tip in the shape of an aureole and a fine skin. The epicarp of the fruit is
rough; the mesocarp, parenchymatous and coriaceous; the endocarp is pulpous, full of juice and divided
into large segments. The fruit is covered with a coriaceous, streaked, oval tegument.
The part of the lemon fruit that is generally used is the essential oil that is extracted from the skin and its
juice.The main components of the essential oil in the skin of the fruit (epicarp) are as follows: limonene
(75%), citral (3 - 6%),  and -pinene, sabinene, myrcene, p-cymene, citronellal, linalool, -terpineol,
geraniol.The fruit pulp contains useful active components, and particularly sugars (basically glucose,
fructose and saccharose) in amounts of around 4-6%.
Another of the components with great biological activity are the organic acids; it contains around 0.1 0.3 % of malic acid and larger quantities (4-6%) of citric acid. The peel of the fruit contains also a
significant content of pectin and flavonoids (naringine, hesperidin) present in the skin. The flavonoids
belong to the group of flavanones and their structures appear in figure 4.
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Fig.4. Lemon’s peel flavonoids.
Lemon is a very important source of vitamins, principally Vitamin C or ascorbic acid, which is found in the
fruit in concentrations of 0.3 - 0.6 mg/g.
Traces are also found of vitamin B complex, provitamin A (carotenoids), biotin, folic acid, inositol,
riboflavin, thiamine and niacin.
The most important mineral elements are potassium (100-200 mg/100 g), which represents 60-70% of
the total ash. Ca and Mg are also found in soluble form, in combination with the pectins.
Thyme
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BOTANY AND CHEMISTRY
Thymus vulgaris L.. This plant is widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean. It is a thicket of between
0.10 and 0.40 metres in height, with a tortuous, woody stem and brownish, straight, compact branches. The
leaves of the plant are small, sesile, lanceolate, velvety and white on their backs. Thyme, which blooms from
May to October, has light pink or white flowers which are small, terminal and axillary. The single calix has
tough hairs, three wide upper teeth and two sharp lower ones. The corolla is divided into two lips with four
stamens and the fruit of the plant is a brown tetrachene.
The part of Thyme which is used are the leaves and the flower head.
The triterpenic acids are characteristic of Thyme (ursolic and oleanolic acids) as well as caffeic acid, the
flavonoids luteolin or tetrahydroxy-5,7,3'.4'-favone and its glucosides and triterpenic saponins.
The essential oil makes up 1-2% of the dry plant. The total proportion of phenols varies from 20% to 70%
depending on the species (thymol and its isomer carvacrol). It also contains precursors of synthesis (terpinene, p-cymene).
Fig.5. Tijmol and carvacrol structure.
POLYPLANT COSMETIC PROPERTIES
Seborrhea is a condition of the skin in which excess sebum is produced. Sebum is the secretion
produced by the sebaceous glands of the skin. This usually results in dandruff and scaling and redness
of the eyelids. A slight oiliness of the face can also be seen and a common form of this in childhood is
known as cradle cap.
The composition of this special blend is specially designed to be adapted for the formulation of any kind
of cosmetic product with specific action on the seborrhea:

Juniper: The use of the plant in cosmetics is based on its invigorating and seborrhoeic
properties. It is incorporated in capillary products as it decreases sebaceous secretion and acts
by activating the root. Juniper is also suitable for use in bath products and body creams.

Gentian: is also used in cosmetics because of its invigorating properties, therefore it is usually
incorporated in body milks and foam baths. Its astringent, antiseborrheic and antiseptic
properties also make it suitable in products used in combatting excesses of sebaceous
secretion.

Burdock: Its use in cosmetic is linked to its antiseptic properties, which make it suitable for use
in facial cleansing, capillary products and for the bath.

Thyme is an excellent tonic for the scalp and for preventing hair loss, invigorating it and
sparking off its growth.

Lemon: the active principles it contains, such as carbohydrates, fruit acids and vitamins, are
responsible for its moisturizing and cleansing action, while the flavenoids normalize the
permeability and increase the resistance of capallaries.
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RECOMMENDED DOSE
The recommended dose is between 0.5% and 5.0%.
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