Common groundsel – ingredients, effects and application

Groundsel is widespread and was valued as a medicinal plant in many places in the past. Today it is clearly proven that it contains toxic substances that damage the liver. Groundsel is therefore only used in ready-made preparations that are free of the toxic alkaloids.

Characteristics

• Scientific name: Senecio vulgaris
• Common names: Common ragwort, pusswort, ragwort, bald old man, ragwort, common ragwort, goldenwort, ragwort, Spey ragwort, grindwort
• Family: Asteraceae (Asteraceae)
• Distribution: Eurasia and North Africa, neophyte worldwide: including North America, Hawaii, New Zealand, St. Helena, Yemen, India, tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, Australia, South America, the Caribbean and Japan
• Plant parts used: Historically the flowers, leaves and herb; today only in ready-made preparations
• Ingredients: Toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such as senecionine and senecine, as well as mucilage and tannins
• Traditional areas of application: Historically as an emetic and hemostatic agent, for menstrual cramps, urinary urgency, cystitis and diarrhea.
• Caution: Because of the toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, warnings are now being given against their use as home remedies. Isolated substances from the plant are now used exclusively in ready-made preparations.

Groundsel – An Overview

• Senecio vulgaris contains toxins (pyrrolizidine alkaloids), which is why its use as a traditional medicinal plant is now obsolete.
• Breakdown products of pyrrolizidine alkaloids damage the liver. Grazing animals that consume a lot of groundwort develop liver cirrhosis and body tissue dies. High doses can cause death.
• Traditionally, groundsel was used as an emetic. This effect is a physical reaction to the toxins.
• Historically, groundsel was also a popular remedy for menstrual problems, among other things. Today, other home remedies are used due to the toxicity.
• The most poisonous ragwort species in Central Europe are Jacob’s ragwort, rocket-leaved ragwort and narrow-leaved ragwort. Common groundsel is similar to these in its chemical composition, but is not quite as toxic.
• The common groundsel grows as a ruderal plant in fresh soil with lots of nutrients.
• This wild herb is now popular in natural gardens because of its yellow flowers and as a source of food for insects.
• The common ragwort belongs to the genus of ragwort, which is widespread almost worldwide with over 1000 species.

ingredients

Groundsel contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids such as senecionine and senecine, as well as mucilage and tannins.

A 2016 study identified 14 pyrrolizidine alkaloids in common herbs that belong to the senecionine group.

Groundsel – Medicinal Effects

According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Senecio vulgaris was previously used against urinary urgency, cystitis, diarrhea, anemia, menstrual pain and lack of menstruation as well as to lower blood pressure and stop bleeding.

The healing effects of groundsel have neither been scientifically examined nor proven. On the other hand, the effects of pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been shown to be carcinogenic and genetically damaging for some animal species. Cases of poisoning in humans have also shown that these compounds have a liver-toxic effect.

Today the plant is only used as a homeopathic medicine due to the toxins it contains.

Common groundsel is no longer important as a medicinal plant due to its toxicity. (Image: float/stock.adobe.com/own editing heilpraxis.de)

Medical applications

Despite the serious risks and lack of safety of this poisonous plant, people still use ragwort as a natural remedy. The freshly squeezed plant juice is used to combat painful menstrual bleeding. There are also known applications in which the juice is pressed directly onto the gums to stop bleeding.

These and other traditional uses as herbal remedies are strongly discouraged.

Side effects

The liver-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids contained in larger doses can lead to hepatic veno-occlusive disease and thus seriously damage the liver. As a rule, such an effect occurs after constant, low consumption of these toxins over a long period of time.

Acute poisoning from food is unlikely, but even small amounts can be dangerous due to the risk of carcinogenic and genetically damaging effects. Here, too, there are still gaps in knowledge, which means that caution is warranted. Ragwort uses that are untested and free of liver-damaging alkaloids are not safe.

External use is also risky, for example against cracked skin: the dangerous substances in ragwort are absorbed into the body through damage to the skin and can therefore cause damage to health. The same applies here: skin preparations that contain ragwort and are not free of toxic alkaloids must be avoided.

For applications on intact skin, there are no studies as to whether these substances also cause such damage. Even if the alkaloids absorbed through the skin have a significantly lower toxic effect – as long as their safety is not proven, pure ragwort should be avoided here too. This applies to a large extent if liver disease already exists. It has been proven that the liver-damaging substances worsen such existing diseases.

The safety warnings apply to children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women to a large extent. These groups of people should also avoid excessive consumption of foods potentially contaminated with pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such as herbal teas.

Sensitive people in particular should avoid contact with the plants, as skin irritation and allergic reactions (contact dermatitis against daisy plants) can occur.

Poisoning of animals by groundsel

Among farm animals at risk of consuming groundsel, cows and horses are the most sensitive to the poisons, followed by pigs and chickens. Sheep, goats and turkeys tolerate the toxic substances best.

In general, young animals are more sensitive to the poisons than adult animals – the high-risk group are therefore calves and foals. These are also damaged by mother’s milk when the cows and mares eat ragwort.

The identification and control of groundsel in pastures is therefore necessary to avoid poisoning of animals. Since the beginning of the 20th century, landowners in the United States have been ordered to control ragwort plants on their land after various poisonings of livestock by hay that had poisoned ragwort.

Acute animal poisoning caused by a single consumption of ragwort in animals is unusual. Chronic poisoning caused by regular ingestion of the plant in small quantities is much more common. The toxic effects accumulate with repeated consumption. This happens, for example, when groundsel grows in pastures between edible grasses and meadow flowers and the animals consume it every day along with the harmless plants.

What is deceptive about this gradual poisoning is that the animals appear physically completely healthy for weeks or even months. Before poisoning becomes apparent, cows and horses may consume large amounts of ragwort without developing symptoms, depending on the stage of growth of the plants and the physical condition of the animals.

Another problem is that pyrrolizidine alkaloids in plants are not destroyed by drying them into hay or fermenting them as feed. Hay is also a common source of groundsel poisoning.

History of medicine

Groundsel has been used in medicine since ancient times. In ancient Rome it was used as a remedy for toothache.

Pliny’s recommended method of using the herb for this ailment presumably did not result in poisoning, but was also not medically effective as a magical ritual unless as a placebo. The affected person should pluck out ragwort, touch it to the painful tooth three times and then spit on the ground each time. Then you should put the plant back in the ground. If these took root and grew again, the tooth would be healed.

In the Renaissance it was sought after as a medicinal herb and was specifically planted in monastery gardens. The leaves were mashed, mixed with milk and drunk. They were given to children who suffered from inflammation of the gums, mouth and throat. It was said to cool inflammation and soften tissues as a tea. Mixed with beer, it was said to relieve stomach pain and help with urethral pain and urination by increasing the urge to urinate.

It was also used for missed periods and for painful and irregular periods in young women and girls. It was also popular as a remedy against the widespread worms in the intestines and stomach. It should also combat tumors and ulcers as well as colic and liver diseases. With today’s knowledge about the liver-damaging effects of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such an application is unthinkable.

Groundsel as an invasive neophyte

The common groundsel is originally native to Eurasia and North Africa, but is now found almost worldwide as a neophyte and typical ruderal plant. The plant is a widespread neophyte in North America. According to a 2007 study from Ohio, common groundsel is established as an invasive plant in numerous crops and plant communities. It is therefore present in ornamental flower cultivation as well as in grain fields or berry plantations.

In the USA, common groundsel was considered an invasive…