Rosehip

COMMON NAME: Rosehip

FAMILY: Rosaceae

CHARACTERISTICS: Rosehip is a spontaneous rose that grows as a woody shrub; the branches are rich in fleshy, red spines, robust and arched. The flowers are pale pink and scented and the corolla is made up of 5 bilobed petals (similar to a heart with a rounded tip).

HABITAT: Rosehip grows wild up to 1900 meters above sea level near scrublands and hedgerows. It is very widespread in Italy but also in the rest of the world and in particular in Asia and North Africa.

USES: Rosehip has always been used as an immunostimulant due to its high vitamin C content.

MECHANISM OF ACTION: Vitamin C contained in the fruits and buds of Rosa canina is used in phytotherapeutic preparations as an immunostimulant. Vitamin C is in fact useful in the prevention of cooling diseases as it acts in various ways on the human body. It initially acts as an antioxidant, meaning that vitamin C can reduce radical formation in the body; radicals are highly reactive molecules, capable of permanently modifying functional molecules (protein, lipids, carbohydrates) or even cells, causing significant damage. Radicals are normally produced by our bodies to a controlled extent but, due to pollution, bacteria and disease, their production can increase and become dangerous. For this reason, vitamin C is important because, thanks to its chemical structure, it can donate hydrogen ions to radicals, making them less reactive and therefore limiting their harmful effect on cells. Another important function of vitamin C is the stimulation of the production of neutrophils, cells that can engulf and eliminate substances foreign to the body and that respond to bacterial and fungal infections. Vitamins, and in particular vitamin C, intervene in the development process of neutrophils by regulating some enzymatic functions that lead to the production of these cells. Furthermore, some recent studies have demonstrated how vitamin C is directly related to the concentration in the blood of a series of proteins (Complement System) that work together to control the immune response to pathogens. In addition to these effects aimed directly at the immune system, vitamin C is able to increase the production of catecholamines, chemical compounds such as adrenaline, dopamine or norepinephrine, which have the function of responding to situations of physical or psychological stress.