Hi Steve; There are a number of mushrooms that contain anti-viral compounds; most of the research on this topic as well as other medicinal qualities of fungi has been done in China or Japan.
Check out "Mycomedicinals" by Paul Stamets. Available from Fungi Perfecti, P.O. Box 7634 Olympia, WA 98507 or go to: http://www.fungi.com/ I'd also highly recommend his book "Mycelium Running" Take care, Malcolm On Wed, 2009-09-30 at 18:30 -0500, Norton, Steve wrote: > Doug, > > I certainly agree that pokeweed is interesting. > Both in it's unique antiviral properties: Three well-known different > pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP)isoforms from the leaves of the pokeweed > (PAP-I from spring leaves, PAPII from early summer leaves, and PAP-III from > late summer leaves) that cause concentration-dependent depurination of > genomic virus RNA. And there is the pokeweed mitogen. I have not come across > mitogens in any other plant, although there may be some with mitogens. And in > it's immune stimulating properties. > > I have to admit that the roots worry me a little since they, along with any > red parts of the plant (not including the berries), contains the highest > amount of toxins. The berries are the lowest as long as you do not eat the > seeds. > > When I grew up in Kentucky, pokeweed would be found anywhere you did not cut > or weed regularly. I have yet to see it in CA where I live now. I see that > you offer pokeweed for sale or trade on your site. What are your prices for > shoots, roots, leaves and berries and when are the seasons for each? I would > like enough berries for a pie and some jelly to try. The rest would be for > tincturing. Except for some shoots that I may cook if there are enough. > > Thanks, > Steve N > > -----Original Message----- > From: polo [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:57 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: CS>DMSO and poke > > Steve, > > I recommend a pure (upper 90s%) DMSO menstruum (herbal solvent), if you > are planning on tincturing the fresh green herb. If you are tincturing dry > herbs, I would go with the recommended ratios that are traditionally used and > varies from herb to herb. For instance it is recommended that when you > tincture dry poke root, you use a 50% ethanol/50% water solution, so I would > likewise use a 50% DMSO/50% water solution. Just substitute the DMSO for > ethanol. > > DMSO should not need a preservative if used at the higher strengths, just > like ethanol. Things usually do not grow in DMSO as they do not in ethanol, > presuming the strength is high. I would not be afraid of herbal tinctures 30% > or higher in DMSO concentrations. I mostly only use High purity DMSO in my > tincturing process and I have yet to have a tincture spoil. > > I have never tried to combine DMSO and ethanol as a combination > menstruum. Interesting concept! I can only see an advantage to this from a > solvent standpoint if both solvents can extract components of an herb, if one > by itself could not. If you are only adding DMSO to provide a more efficient > vehicle of herbal drug delivery, then yes, that might be an advantage too, > though most people detest DMSO. You could extract the herb by either using a > combined DMSO/ethanol menstruum or just tincturing each herb in a DMSO or > ethanol menstruum then combining the two. Either way should be ok to my way > of thinking. > > The eclectic medical movement that specialized in botanical medicines > from the late 1800s up till 1932 or so, found that the best poke root > tincture was made directly from the fresh green poke root. The dry poke root > is no where near as good or potent. The toxic qualities of poke weed are > highly exaggerated. No doubt if you ate the mature weed like you would the > young one or as you would any salad, you would suffer gastro-intestinal > distress, but that's about it--puking. In some circles, it is felt that > vomiting as a result of poke root is actually cathartic. This is held mainly > by the puke & cleanse old time herbalists. I would not be worried about the > widely publicized toxicity of poke. I know you will find that some young > children in the long ago past were said to be poisoned by the berry. Maybe > so. We don't know how much they ate, nor if they were compromised in some way > or if younger systems are more susceptible. In the adult, poke berries were > commonly used for arthritic conditions. As the old cliché goes, all things > are poison in the right amounts and most poisons are medicinal in smaller > amounts. Poke is no different. It is one of my favorite herbs and a superb > anti-viral and lymphatic stimulant. It is great as a topical DMSO tincture. > > doug > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > Doug, > > A little while back I asked you about making tinctures with DMSO > > (using the email address provided at your web site). If I remember > > right you recommended a 50% DMSO solution. Thanks for the info. I was > > wondering if you use a preservative in your DMSO tinctures? I am > > considering a DMSO/vodka tincture and wondered if you have tried > > something similar. If you do, would you need to combine the herb and > > DMSO and let it set first before adding the vodka, to maximize > > bonding between DMSO and herb components rather than DMSO bonding with > > alcohol? > > I also have a question regarding the tincturing of polkweed. The toxic > > components of pokeweed are water soluble. Should one dry and powder > > the pokeweed and then go through several soaking in water. Throwing > > away the water after each soaking before tincturing to eliminate the > > toxic substances? Or would you recommend an extraction using a non > > polar solvent to remove only the non water soluble components of the > > pokeweed? > > Thanks, > > Steve N > > > -- > The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. > > Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > > Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] > > The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... > > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]> > >
