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Saw palmetto

Saw palmetto is a small, creeping palm (Serenoa repens) of the southeastern United States, having palmately divided leaves with one-ribbed segments and black, one-seeded fruit. The saw palmetto grows a seed stalk (spadix) in late spring, which flowers and then develops a hard green fruit about the size of a small olive. The fruit ripens in the summer, turning shades of yellow, orange and black. The ripe fruit is then harvested by hand during the late summer and early fall. The Saw Palmetto extract is an extract of the berries of the Saw Palmetto tree, which is a small palm tree with large leaves and large deep red black berries. Extracts of saw palmetto act as a multi-site inhibitor of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which is responsible for prostatic hypertrophy. In botanical preparations, the small brownish-colored berries have been used for many years to treat diseases of the bladder and the prostate. Saw palmetto extract reduces prostatic inflammation and swelling and improves uncomfortable urinary symptoms. Saw palmetto also inhibits the action of testosterone 5 alpha-reductase thereby reducing the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Saw palmetto can also improve urinary flow, reduce residual bladder urine volume, increase ease in commencing urination, decrease frequency of urination and decrease the need to empty the bladder at night. Extracts of the Saw Palmetto are prepared in variety of ways, typically, hexane extraction or supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. There are also lipidic extracts and saponifiable extracts that are commercially available. Saw palmetto extract is a purified fat-soluble extract prepared by extracting the fat-soluble components of the berries. These components include steroidal saponins, fatty acids, phytosterols, volatile oil, resins and tannins. The saw palmetto berries contain an oil with a variety of fatty acids and phytosterols. The fatty acids include capric, caprylic, caproic, lauric, palmitic and oleic acid and ethyl esters. The major phytosterols found in Saw Palmetto berries include beta-sitosterol, stigmasteriol, cycloartenol, lupcol, lupenone and 24-methyl-cycloartenol. Saw palmetto berry extract (SPB") has been shown to block 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts the hormone testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DH), the major androgen implicated in changes in the pilar cycle. This enzyme also blocks the binding of DHT to androgen receptors. Saw palmetto has been shown to inhibit 50% of the binding of DHT to receptor sites in the prostate thereby blocking the uptake of DHT into the nucleus of prostate cells. It also blocks the uptake of DHT into the nucleus of prostatic cells, and strongly inhibits the action of the enzyme testosterone 5 alpha-reductase which reduces the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Saw palmetto contains fatty acids (lauric, myristic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic), phytosterols (beta-sitosterol and its glucosides, stigmasterol and campesterol) and high molecular weight fatty alcohols (docosanol, hexacosanol, octacosanol and triacontanol). The fatty acids, notably lauric and myristic acids, present in saw palmetto extract are mainly responsible for 5-alpha reductase inhibition, although the sterols and other ingredients in the saw palmetto are also known to confer beneficial effects.

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