Rumex crispus.  Yellow dock, Curled dock   Family: Polygonaceae  
PART USED: Root- Harvested in autumn from 2-5 year old plants, when the lifeforce has been withdrawn into the roots.
TASTE: Mucilaginous, bitter ODORLESS
ACTIONS
GROUP: Alteratives and Antineoplastics
1. Cathartic.[2] Gentle purgative.[1] Laxative.[4]
2. Cholagogue.[1,4]
3. Alterative.[4]
INDICATIONS
1. Constipation.[1,4] Hemorrhoids.[2]
2. Jaundice bilious disorders.[2,4] Obstructive jaundice.[1]
3. Skin disease, especially psoriasis with constipation. Chronic skin disease.[1,4]
SPECIFIC INDICATIONS: Skin disease expecially psoriasis with constipation.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Large doses should be avoided due to the oxalate content.[4]
COMBINATIONS
- Purifying blood, use with Dandelion.
PREPARATIONS  3X /day
Dried root  2-4 g,[1,2] or by decoction[1] 1:20.
Fluid extract  1:1 in 25% alcohol  2-4 ml.[1,2,4]
Fluid extract 1:2 in 45% alcohol.[3]
Tincture  1:5 in 45% alcohol  1-2 ml.[1,2]
    
ORIGIN: Britain. A common European weed.
DESCRIPTION: Grows to 100 cm tall, with large lanceolate leaves having curled margins, bearing a lightly branched spike of small green three sided fruits with red tubercles.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research

Determination of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Rumex crispus L. extracts.
Yildirim A, Mavi A, Kara AA.
Abstract
The antioxidant activities, reducing powers, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activities, amount of total phenolic compounds, and antimicrobial activities of ether, ethanol, and hot water extracts of the leaves and seeds of Rumex crispus L. were studied. The antioxidant activities of extracts increase with increasing amount of extracts (50-150 microg). However, the water extracts of both the leaves and seeds have shown the highest antioxidant activities. Thus, addition of 75 microg of each of the above extracts to the linoleic acid emulsion caused the inhibition of peroxide formation by 96 and 94%, respectively. Although the antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of seed was lower than the water extract, the difference between these was not statistically significant, P > 0.05. Unlike the other extracts, 75 microg of the ether extract of seeds was unable to show statistically significant antioxidant activity, P > 0.05 (between this extract and control in that there is no extract in the test sample). Among all of the extracts, the highest amount of total phenolic compound was found in the ethanol extract of seeds, whereas the lowest amount was found in the ether extract of seeds. Like phenolic compounds, the highest reducing power and the highest DPPH scavenging activity were found in the ethanol extract of seeds. However, the reducing activity of the ethanol extract of seeds was approximately 40% that of ascorbic acid, whereas in the presence of 400 microg of water and ethanol extracts of seeds scavenging activities were about 85 and 90%, respectively. There were statistically significant correlations between amount of phenolic compounds and reducing power and between amount of phenolic compounds and percent DPPH scavenging activities (r = 0.99, P < 0.01, and r = 0.864, P < 0.05, respectively) and also between reducing powers and percent DPPH scavenging activities (r = 0.892, P < 0.05). The ether extracts of both the leaves and seeds and ethanol extract of leaves had shown antimicrobial activities on Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. However, none of the water extracts showed antimicrobial activity on the studied microorganisms.
PMID: 11513714 J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Aug;49(8):4083-9. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Antioxidant activity of yellow dock (Rumex crispus L., Polygonaceae) fruit extract.
Maksimovic Z, Kovacevic N, Lakusic B, Cebovic T.
Abstract
The methanol extract of ripe Rumex crispus L. fruits was evaluated for its antioxidant potential by assays for ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), DPPH-free radical scavenging activity (DPPH) and the influence on lipid peroxidation in liposomes (LP). Considerable activity was observed in all test systems (FRAP: 9.9 mmol Fe(2+) /g; DPPH IC(50) : 3.7 µg/mL; LP IC(50) : 4.9 µg/mL), comparable to that of BHT (FRAP: 8.0 µg/mL; DPPH IC(50) : 19.4 µg/mL; LP IC(50) : 3.5 µg/mL), but lower than the activity of ascorbic acid, rutin and quercetin, used as positive control substances. The in vivo effects were evaluated in several hepatic antioxidant systems (activities of LPx, GSH-Px, Px, CAT and XOD, as well as GSH content), after treatment with the studied yellow dock extract in different doses, or in combination with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4) ). Pretreatment with the R. crispus extract inhibited CCl(4) -induced oxidative stress by decreasing LPx and increasing GSH content in a dose dependent manner, bringing the levels of antioxidant enzymes to near control values.
PMID: 20623623 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.3234  Phytother Res. 2011 Jan;25(1):101-5. doi: 10.1002/ptr.3234. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Antimalarial activity of nepodin isolated from Rumex crispus.
Lee KH, Rhee KH.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to define the antimalarial activity of Rumex crispus. To identify an active compound that is isolated from R. crispus, bioassay-based chromatographic fractionation and purification is carried out from 70 % ethanol extract of R. crispus; then, an active compound, nepodin, is identified by spectroscopic analysis. Anitmalarial activity is measured by PfNDH2 assay, cytotoxicity, and animal test. From NADH:quinone oxidoreductase enzyme (PfNDAH2) assay, nepodin exhibited significant IC50 values that were 0.74 ± 0.07 and 0.79 ± 0.06 µg/ml against P. falciparum chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) and P. falciparum chloroquine-resistant (S20), respectively. Nepodin showed a potential selective inhibition (SI index: ratio of 50 % cytotoxic concentration to 50 % effective anti-plasmodial concentration) of 161.6 and 151.4 against P. falciparum 3D7 and P. falciparum S20. In the animal test, all groups of nepodin treatment of 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg were active with a parasitemia suppression of 97.1 ± 3.3, 99.1 ± 3.7, and 99.1 ± 2.6 %, respectively. The survival time with nepodin treatment was increased by 14.6 ± 2.5, 16.2 ± 1.5, and 19.8 ± 1.7 days at each dose, respectively. This study newly identified the plant R. crispus containing nepodin, which is a potential antimalarial compound. It exhibited the inhibitory activity of PfNDH2 and prolonged the survival time on the group of nepodin treatment; moreover, it inhibited the parasitemia in the animal test.
PMID: 23440579 DOI: 10.1007/s12272-013-0055-0  Arch Pharm Res. 2013 Apr;36(4):430-5. doi: 10.1007/s12272-013-0055-0. Epub 2013 Feb 26. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov