FAMILY BRASSICACEAE (CRUCIFERAE)
Usually herbaceous plants with alternate leaves. Flowers are regular, with separate petals, a 4-part calyx, a 4-petaled corolla, 6 stamens (2 shorter than the others), and a superior, two-chambered ovary with one style. The fruit is either a long pod or a short silique, dehiscing with two valves that detach from the longitudinal septum bearing the seeds; less commonly, the fruit is segmented, splitting transversely into joints, or indehiscent. Seeds are small, spherical, or oval, with the endosperm remaining only as an aleurone layer and a bent embryo root. The root can curve along the back of one cotyledon, forming a visible bulge («dorsal-root seed»); along the edge of two cotyledons, creating an edge bulge («edge-root seed»); or be enclosed by both bent cotyledons and not visible externally.
The seed coat has a uniform structure with several layers: a frequently mucilaginous epidermis, palisade or goblet-shaped cells, a pigmented layer, an aleurone layer, and a compressed hyaline layer. A family characteristic is the presence of appressed, single-celled, bifurcated or branched hairs on stems, leaves, and pods, noticeable under a magnifying glass. In some genera, hairs are simple, or plants may be glabrous.
Another notable family feature is the leaf epidermis structure. There are three subsidiary cells around the stomata, one significantly smaller than the others. Oxalates are not deposited in leaves (rarely in fruits).
Chemically, the family is characterized by the presence of thioglycosides containing sulfur and nitrogen compounds. The best-known is sinigrin (from mustard), which breaks down into glucose, potassium bisulfate, and allyl isothiocyanate. The latter has irritant properties, causing skin blisters and mucous membrane inflammation, stimulates intestinal activity, tastes pungent, enhances appetite, and has phytoncidal properties. Myrosin, the enzyme responsible, is found in specialized cells distributed across various plant organs. Thioglycosides or isothiocyanates, also known as mustard oils, have diverse structures. The allyl group may be replaced by other aliphatic or cyclic groups, and the thiocyanate group may occur in iso- or normal configurations, with the latter compounds having a garlic-like smell. These compounds are found in different plant organs in varying quantities.
The family also contains synapine, a derivative of choline, but true alkaloids have not yet been found.
Phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids derived from quercetin and kaempferol, are found in leaves. Tannins are almost absent.
Various vitamins and other substances occur in this family. Saponins are rare and present in minimal amounts. The family is notably deficient in manganese. Seeds are rich in fatty oil, typically non-drying. Erucic and behenic acids are characteristic of the family. In the epidermis of mature seeds, starch is present but converts to dense mucus upon maturation, which hydrolyzes to arabinose, galactose, glucuronic acid, etc. Some seeds of cruciferous plants (e.g., Sisymbrium) have been proposed as laxatives due to their mucilage content.
Thioglycosides are found in larger or smaller quantities in cruciferous vegetables (horseradish, radish, turnip, cabbage, etc.) and some medicinal plants recognized in both scientific and folk medicine. Examples include Lepidium, Thlaspi, Alliaria, Nasturtium officinale, and others. Among the genus Erysimum, Syrenia, Cheiranthus, and Iberis, steroid cardiac glycosides have been found.
ERYSIMUM
Annual, biennial, and perennial herbaceous plants. Biennials form only a leaf rosette in the first year, with a flowering stem and fruits appearing in the second year. Leaves in all species are simple, with entire or lobed-toothed margins. Flowers are in racemes, usually yellow (rarely lilac). Pods are cylindrical or quadrangular, with convex valves. Seeds are arranged in a single row in each locule (distinct from closely related genera). Appressed branched hairs are present, and the number of branches (2–3–4–5) and hair distribution serve as species-specific traits. All studied species of Erysimum contain cardiac glycosides. There are over 50 species, mainly growing in steppes of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Southern Siberia, with some species found in forest zones and meadows.
Currently, two species of Erysimum are used in medicine:
- Erysimum diffusum or Erysimum canescens — a biennial plant forming a leaf rosette in the first year and a flowering shoot in the second year. The plant has grayish-green foliage due to appressed hairs. Pods are very long, slender, and also covered with whitish hairs. It grows wild in Central Asia, but raw materials (flowering herb) are harvested from plantations.
- Erysimum cheiranthoides — an annual plant with bright green foliage. Pods are shorter and thicker than those of Erysimum diffusum. It grows in fields and meadows in the forest zone of the European part of Russia.
All species contain cardiac glycosides with cardiotonic effects.
Preparations include:
Erysimin, a solution of the primary glycoside from Erysimum diffusum, hydrolyzing into strophanthidin and digitoxose. Administered intravenously in doses of 0.5–1 ml of a 0.033% solution, available in 1 ml ampoules.
Erysimocide, a glycoside from Erysimum diffusum seeds, hydrolyzing into strophanthidin and glucose. Taken orally in tablets of 0.005 g twice daily or as a 0.2% alcoholic solution (20 drops twice daily).
Coresid, a 0.05% solution of glycosides from Erysimum cheiranthoides flowers, available in 1 ml ampoules. Administered intravenously in doses of 0.5–1 ml in 20 ml of a 20% glucose solution.
Cardiovalen, a complex preparation containing fresh Erysimum diffusum juice, adonizid, hawthorn extract, and others. Taken orally in doses of 15–20 drops 1–2 times daily.
All these preparations are prescribed for various degrees of heart failure.