Rosemary Extract

Rosemary Extract

Rosmarinus officinalis is a Mediterranean plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is commonly known as Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen shrub about 120-180 cm tall. Rosemary plant has a greyish-green appearance with needle-like leaves and small flowers in clusters of two or three along branches.

Medicinal Usage

Rosemary has various medicinal uses. It is stated in a clinical study on rats that rosemary extracts affect hepatic metabolism as well as have anti-inflammatory effects. (1) Another 64 days study on both lean and obese rats claims that the rosemary extracts modulate weight gain and lipid levels. (2) In addition, the effects of rosemary extract against metabolic syndrome and obesity are proved in 16 weeks study on rats following a high-fat diet supplemented with rosemary extracts with different carnosic acid contents. (3) To conclude, rosemary extracts can be used to treat circulatory and gastrointestinal disorders.

Chemistry Behind

The main compounds responsible for the medicinal usage of rosemary extract are rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid and carnosol. These constituents increase glucose and lipid metabolism. (4) Bionorm’s high-quality rosemary extract contains more than 5% rosmarinic acid.

References

  1. Romo-Vaquero, M. Larrosa, M.J. Yanez Gascon, N. Issaly, J. Flanagan, M. Roller, F.A. Tomas-Barberan, J.C. Espin, M.T. Garcia-Conesa A rosemary extract enriched in carnosic acid improves circulating adipocytokines and modulates kay metabolic sensors in lean Zucker rats: critical and contrasting differences in the obese genotype Mol Nutr Food Res, 58 (2014), pp. 942-953
  2. Romo Vaquero, M. J. Yanez Gascon, R. Garcia Villalba, M. Larrosa, E. Fromentin, A. Ibarra, M. Roller, F. Tomas-Barberan, J. C. Espin de Gea, M.T. Garcia-Conesa Inhibition of gastric lipase as a mechanism for body weight and plasma lipids reduction in zucker rats fed a rosemary extract rich in carnosic acid PLoS One, 7 (2012), p. e39773
  3. Zhao, R. Sedighi, P. Wang, H. Chen, Y.Zhu, S. Sang Carnosic acid as a major bioactive component in rosemary extract ameliorates high-fat-diet-induced obesity and metabolic syndrome in mice J Agric Food Chem, 63 (2015), pp. 4843-4852
  4. Andrea del Pilar Sánchez-Camargo, Miguel Herrero, Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) as a functional ingredient: recent scientific evidence, Current Opinion in Food Science, Volume 14, 2017, Pages 13-19, ISSN 2214-7993