View source for Angelica gigas

{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Gigas3UME.jpg
|taxon = Angelica gigas
|authority = Nakai
}}

'''''Angelica gigas''''', also called '''Korean angelica''',<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |title=English Names for Korean Native Plants |publisher=[[Korea National Arboretum]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-89-97450-98-5 |location=Pocheon |pages=354 |access-date=24 December 2016 |via=[[Korea Forest Service]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105020/http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }}</ref> '''giant angelica''', '''purple parsnip''', and '''dangquai''', is a [[monocarp]]ic biennial or short lived perennial plant from [[Korea]] and [[China]]. It inhabits forests, [[grasslands]] and banks of streams. The roots are used in [[traditional Chinese medicine]].

==Description==
''Angelica gigas'' is a stout plant that is 1 to 2 meters high with deep thick roots and a purplish, ribbed stem. It has deeply dissected, very big, broad, pointy leaves. [[Image:Angelicagigas.jpg|thumb|left|Flowers]]
The plant is a [[biennial plant|biennial]] that flowers in the months of July to August in dark purple [[umbel]]s and selfseeds abundantly when the seeds have ripened.

==Cultivation==
Giant angelica prefers moist soil and full sun or semishade. The plant is best propagated through seeds in the spring or through transplantation of selfseeded seedlings.<ref name="pfaf">{{cite web|title=Angelica gigas - Nakai.|url=http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Angelica+gigas|publisher=Plants for a Future|access-date=4 October 2011}}</ref>

==Chemical components==
Research in 2007 has isolated a chemical from the root of the plant, a [[coumarin]] [[derivative (chemistry)|derivative]] called [[decursin]], that may have [[anti-androgen]]ic properties ''[[in vitro]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 17723170 | year = 2007 | last1 = Lu | first1 = J | last2 = Kim | first2 = SH | last3 = Jiang | first3 = C | last4 = Lee | first4 = H | last5 = Guo | first5 = J | title = Oriental herbs as a source of novel anti-androgen and prostate cancer chemopreventive agents | volume = 28 | issue = 9 | pages = 1365–72 | doi = 10.1111/j.1745-7254.2007.00683.x | journal = Acta Pharmacologica Sinica| doi-access = free }}</ref>
In 2013, the main substance decursin, decursinol angelate (its [[isomer]]), JH714 (the ether form) and [[epoxide]] decursin (the epoxide form) were analyzed in vitro and in vivo. [[Cytochrome P450|CYP]] isoforms were inhibited more than 50%. There was good [[blood brain barrier]] permeability in rats after oral administration of all but epoxide. [[Pharmacokinetic]] studies after oral and intravenous administration of 10 mg/kg showed that  after 8 hours all test compounds stayed in the gastrointestinal tract at more than 1.5% of the dose and less than 0.5% was excreted in urine.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mahat | first1 = B | last2 = Chae | first2 = JW | last3 = Baek | first3 = IH | last4 = Song | first4 = GY | last5 = Song | first5 = JS | last6 = Ma | first6 = JY | last7 = Kwon | first7 = KI | date = Oct 2013 | title = Biopharmaceutical characterization of decursin and their derivatives for drug discovery | journal = Drug Dev Ind Pharm | volume = 39 | issue = 10| pages = 1523–30 | doi = 10.3109/03639045.2012.717296 | pmid = 23003006 }}</ref>

=== Medicinal uses ===
In Korea its root  has been traditionally used as a folk medicine for the relief of menstual pain and for anemia.<ref>{{Citation |last=안 |first=덕균 |title=당귀 (當歸) Angelica |encyclopedia=한국민족문화대백과사전 [Encyclopedia of Korean Culture] |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0013871 |access-date=2024-09-24 |publisher=Academy of Korean Studies |language=ko}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.gbif.org/species/5537749 ''Angelica gigas'': Images & occurrence data] from [[GBIF]]
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200015368 Flora of China: Angelica gigas]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1038017}}

[[Category:Angelica|gigas]]
[[Category:Flora of Korea]]
[[Category:Flora of China]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1917]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants of Asia]]