How do dock leaves work?

I’ve already written extensively about the right way to use dock and how powerfully it works. The trick being to use the gel found inside the young, furled leaf sheath and not to just rub old leaves together. But here I thought I’d try to explain the chemistry behind why dock leaves work from a biochemical reason.

Why dock leaves work

First of all, this has not been an easy task. It costs money to do laboratory analysis and research, plus a lot of time and effort to submit papers for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. As no one is going to easily patent the humble dock (although some once tried) to make money from it, providing the evidence is purely a curiosity and, as a result, is scarce.

The main clue is in a family of phytochemicals called anthraquinones. In aloe vera gel – a well-known, pain-relieving gel – two of the most important anthraquinones are aloin and emodin. They are both pain-killing (analgesic) as well as laxative compounds. Dock root (Rumex obtusifolius) also contains anthraquinones of which two are emodin and aloe-emodin. In addition to being inherently analgesic, these anthraquinones can also generate salicylic acid (Nature’s aspirin) via enzymes, when under attack. (Coincidentally, emodin and aloe-emodin are also effective against the herpes simplex virus (HSV1 and HSV2). Dock is also very high in chrysophanol and physcion which are both anti-inflammatory. This would explain why dock leaf gel worked so well on my hot oil burn. It also contains rhein (shown to exhibit antimicrobial and antibiotic properties), another anthraquinone.

 

 

 

 

 


References

Fairbairn, J.W. & El-Muhtadi, F.J. (1972). Chemotaxonomy of anthraquinones in Rumex. Phytochemistry, 11(1), 263-268. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)90001-3

Rao, K.N.V., Sunitha, C., Banji, D., Sandhya, S., & Mahesh, V. (2011). A study on the nutraceuticals from the genus Rumex. Hygeia.J.D.Med. 3(1), 76-88.

Mulisa, E., Asres, K., & Engidawork, E. (2015). Evaluation of wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity of the rhizomes of Rumex abyssinicus J. (Polygonaceae) in mice. BMC Complement Altern Med. 15, 341. doi: 10.1186/s12906-015-0878-y

Vasas, A., Orbán-Gyapai, O., & Hohmann, J. (2015). The Genus Rumex: Review of traditional
uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. J Ethnopharmacol. 175, 198-228.
doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2015.09.001

Zhang, N., Zhang, X., Liu, X., et al. (2014). Chrysophanol inhibits NALP3 inflammasome activation and ameliorates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in mice. Mediators Inflamm. 370530. PMID: 24876671. doi: 10.1155/2014/370530.

Featured post image by Sten Porse – Own photo, taken in Jutland., CC BY-SA 3.0

 

4 Comments

    • I refute that. The author has obviously only looked at a narrow range of research. For a start, the main activity is found in the young leaves because of the gel around them, not the leaf juice analysed by his research reference. The gel contains anthraquinones such as chrysophanol and aloe-emodin. These have been shown (in peer reviewed studies) to alleviate skin irritation and itching in scabies and psoriasis. Chrysophanol in particular ‘significantly eradicates atopic dermatitis’. A nettle sting is mild in comparison. It’s annoying that 2000 years of documented use (Shennong Ben CAO Jung c.206 BCE and numerous other records) by medical practitioners is assumed to be false due to one badly put together research study on a limited range of compounds in the wrong part of the plant, – despite many journals publishing papers on the benefits. This sort of thing happens all the time though.

      Reference for chrysophanol in dermatitis
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6406798/

      Reference for anthraquinones in psoriasis “characterized by scaly and red lesions with an itching sensation.”
      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332221012683

      Chemical analysis of the Dock family https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9203642/

  1. This might be just anecdotal but I’m suffering from systemic poison ivy, the rash was quite inflamed on my foot, I picked a bunch of Dock leaves, chopped them and then ground them into a poultice and applied it onto the rash and left it for an hour. The angriness of the area was calmed and I had no itch.

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