Persicarin is a sulfated

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

naturally found in the cells of several plant species, including the water dropwort (''

Oenanthe javanica ''Oenanthe'' can refer to: Taxonomy *Oenanthe (bird), ''Oenanthe'' (bird), a genus of birds in the family Muscicapidae *Oenanthe (plant), ''Oenanthe'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae Persons

* Oenanthe of Egypt (flourished 3r ...

''). It was first isolated from water pepper in 1937 by Jeffrey Harborne. The name of persicarin is derived from the Latin name of the plant: ''Persicaria hydropiper''. It is also found in

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...

and because it is then excreted into

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...

, that makes persicarin a potential

biomarker In biomedical contexts, a biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated using blood, urine, or soft tissues to examine normal biological processes, ...

for the consumption of this food. Persicarin has been reported to show some promising results in protecting against and treating

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...

-induced liver inflammation and damage in mice models. Persicarin is poorly soluble but is potentially a very strongly acidic substance based on its estimated pKa value. The functional role played by persicarin in plant cells and tissues, and in fact the role of other sulfated flavonoids in general, is currently not clear. It has been theorised that sulfated flavonoids play a role in molecular recognition, stimulate

plant hormone Plant hormones (or phytohormones) are signal molecules, produced within plants, that occur in extremely low concentrations. Plant hormones control all aspects of plant growth and development, including embryogenesis, the regulation of Organ (anat ...

transport,

detoxification Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...

and

signalling A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

pathways. Sulfated flavonoids seem to also have an important role in co-pigmentation by forming stable complexes with anthocyanin pigments, but the specific function of persicarin remains unknown.{{Cite journal, last1=Teles, first1=Yanna C. F., last2=Souza, first2=Maria Sallett R., last3=de Souza, first3=Maria de Fátima Vanderlei, date=2018-02-23, title=Sulphated Flavonoids: Biosynthesis, Structures, and Biological Activities, journal= Molecules, volume=23, issue=2, pages=480, doi=10.3390/molecules23020480, issn=1420-3049, pmc=6017314, pmid=29473839 , doi-access=free

References

Flavonoids Sulfate esters