Pinellia Ternata - Crowdipper - by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Pinellia ternata is a plant native to Japan, but also grows as a weed in certain areas of North America.

Substances found in Pinellia
Stigmast-4-en-3-one, cycloartenol, 5alpha,8alpha-epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3-ol, beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside-6'-eicosanate, alpha-monpalmitin, and beta-sitosterol.

Pinellia Research

Anti-obesity Effect of Pinellia ternata Extract in Zucker Rats.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2006 Jun;29(6):1278-81. Natural Products Research Institute and College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University.
Pinellia ternata is known as the herb effective in removing dampness-phlegm, one of the causes of obesity in traditional Korean medicine. Pinellia ternata water extract was fed to rats after mixing with diet once a day (400 mg.kg(-1)) for 6 weeks. We investigated its effect on the thermogenesis and fatty acids oxidation with obese Zucker rats. The Pinellia ternata treatment lowered the levels of triglyceride and free fatty acids in blood of the obese rats and the body weight was also reduced slightly. It was also observed that Pinellia ternata significantly increased the expression of both UCP1 mRNA in brown adipose tissue and PPARalpha and PGC1alpha mRNA in white visceral adipose tissue, which may cause a reduction of obesity. These results suggested that Pinellia ternata would be able to affect anti-obesity through thermogenesis and fatty acid oxidation.