| Family |
Cucurbitaceae |
| Subfamily |
Zanonioideae |
| Tribe |
Zanonieae |
| Subtribe |
Gomphogyninae |
| Scientific name |
Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunberg) Makino |
| Synonyms |
Gynostemma pedatum Blume; Vitis pentaphylla Thunberg |
| Common name |
(Japanese common name) ama-cha zuru (アマチャヅル or アマチャズル, 甘茶蔓 [meaning: sweet
tea vine]) |
| (English common name) gynostemma |
| Distribution |
(Japan) Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu |
| (Other nations) Korea, China, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia |
| Habitat |
Mountain, bush |
| Chromosomal number |
2n=66 |
| Description |
Leaves 3, 5 or 7 pedately compound leaves. Flowers pale green corollas
4mm-5mm across, flowering in August to September. Fruits ca. 7mm across.
Vine. Perennial plants |
| Reference |
Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino |
| Gynosaponins, their use and a process for preparing the same (US Patent 4339442/1982) |
| Alpha-glycosyl ginsenosides (US Patent 4621137/1986) |
| Pharmaceutical composition from Tienchi (US Patent 4755504/1988) |
| Method of cultivating animal or plant cells (US Patent 5180676/1993) |
| Herbal extract composition containing gynostemma pentaphyllum, crataegus pinnatifida and camellia sinensis (US Patent 5910308/1999) |
| Process for the preparation of metabolites of Ginseng saponins (US Patent 5925537/1999) |
| Methods and compositions employing red rice fermentation products (US Patent 6046022/2000) |
| Prostaglandin compositions and methods of treatment for male erectile dysfunction (US Patent 6323241/2001) |
| Method for anticancer therapy using an herbal extract composition (US Patent 6168795/2001) |
| Bactericide against vancomycin resistant enterococcus (US Patent 6387417/2002) |
| Cosmetic composition (US Patent 6348200/2002) |
| Aqueous disinfectant/sterilizing agent for foods (US Patent 6554620/2003) |
| Method for inhibiting pathogenesis associated with particle-inhalation (US Patent 6713094/2004) |
| Compositions and methods for treating female sexual arousal disorder using hydrophobic-calcitonin gene related peptide (US Patent 6809079/2004) |
| Cosmetic composition comprising a phosphoric triester and a skin activating component (US Patent 6932975/2005) |
| Use of plant extracts and their derived fractions as herbal medicines or nutraceutical supplements for chemoprevention or treatment of human malignancies (US Patent 7033617/2006) |
| Process for co-spray drying liquid herbal extracts with dry silicified MCC (US Patent 7179488/2007) |
| Pain relief composition (US Patent 7282224/2007) |
