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Glite Dictionary
hydrastine

hydrastine

1 9.9
A natural substance from the goldenseal plant used in some medicines
  • noun
  • /haɪˈdræstiːn/
  • Specialized
: hidrastina
  • Researchers are studying hydrastine for its possible effects on blood pressure.

Examples

  • The roots of goldenseal contain both hydrastine and berberine.

  • Many people are unaware of hydrastine's benefits.

  • Pharmaceutical companies extract hydrastine from plants for use in certain medications.

  • The herbalist recommended hydrastine for its medicinal properties.

  • Goldenseal's potent properties are primarily due to the alkaloids berberine, hydrastine, and canadine.

  • When taken orally, berberine and hydrastine, the main active alkaloids in goldenseal, are not absorbed well from the digestive tract.

  • The therapeutic effects of hydrastine have made it a popular choice in herbal medicine.

Surface Forms

hydrastine singular
hydrastines plural

Morphology

hydrastine = Hydrastis (semi-transparent) = hydrast + ine

Formed from the botanical name 'Hydrastis' plus the chemical suffix '-ine'; the suffix signals a chemical substance but the botanical root is specialized vocabulary for most learners.

Etymology

Hydrastine comes from the plant name Hydrastis, the old scientific name for the 'goldenseal' plant, and the chemical ending -ine, which you see in names like caffeine and nicotine. So, hydrastine is the natural plant chemical taken from goldenseal.