Hypericum erectum Thunb. (St. John’s Wort): In Vitro Culture and the Production of Procyanidins

Abstract

Some Hypericum species have been used as traditional medicinal plants in various parts of the world. Examples are H. erectum Thunb. in Japan (Okuda 1986) and H. japonicum Thunb. and H. perforatum L. in China. Among them, H. perforatum is one of the oldest European medicinal plants, described in The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides published in the 1st century. This plant was also very popular for its supposed magical properties, and was used on St. John’s day, from which the trivial name, St. John’s wort, was derived.