The therapeutic use of echinacea goes back to the Indians of North America, who used it in the external treatment of wounds and burns; and for internal use to treat coughing, cooling diseases and sore throat.
The plant is spread throughout North America and has numerous species: purple, anguustifolia, pale, laevigata, paradoxa, tennesseensis, bleeding, simulated, atrorubens. Of these, the most active are the first two and in particular, from the most recent studies, purpurea shows that it contains the highest percentage of cicoric acid, which is responsible for the immunostimulant action.
The properties of echinacea have been demonstrated by clinical studies since 1915, which demonstrated for the first time the mechanism of action on the immune system.
The plant studies started again around 1930 and have reached today. Echinacea purpurea was studied mainly by German researchers at the end of the 1980s and is currently the most sold.
