Fumaria officinalis is the most common species of the genus Fumaria

Fumaria

Fumaria is a genus of 50 species of annual plants, native to Europe, Africa and Asia, most diverse in the Mediterranean region, and introduced to North and South America and Australia. Fumaria indica contains the alkaloids fuyuziphine and alpha-hydrastine...

in Western

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

 and Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

. It is closely related to the Papaveraceae

Papaveraceae

Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of 44 genera and approximately 770 species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics...

 (Poppy) Family.

Description

It is an herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 annual plant

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

, which grows weakly erect and scrambling, with stalks about 10 to 50 cm long. Its pink 7 to 9mm flowers appear from April to October in the northern hemisphere. They are two lipped and spurred, with sepal

Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s running a quarter the length of the petals. The fruit is an achene

Achene

An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...

. It contains alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

s, potassium salts, and tannin

Tannin

A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...

s. It is also a major source of fumaric acid

Fumaric acid

Fumaric acid or trans-butenedioic acid is the chemical compound with the formula HO2CCH=CHCO2H. This white crystalline compound is one of two isomeric unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, the other being maleic acid. In fumaric acid the carboxylic acid groups are trans and in maleic acid they are cis...

. The "smoky" or "fumy" origin of its name is uncertain.

Herbalism

It was traditionally thought to be good for the eyes, and to remove skin blemishes

Acne vulgaris

Acne vulgaris is a common human skin disease, characterized by areas of skin with seborrhea , comedones , papules , pustules , Nodules and possibly scarring...

. In modern times herbalists use it to treat skin diseases, and conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva...

; as well as to cleanse the kidney

Kidney

The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...

s. However, Howard (1987) warns that fumitory is poison

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....

ous and should only be used "under the direction of a medical herbalist."

Chemical contituents

The plant contains isoquinoline

Isoquinoline

Isoquinoline is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound. It is a structural isomer of quinoline. Isoquinoline and quinoline are benzopyridines, which are composed of a benzene ring fused to a pyridine ring. In a broader sense, the term isoquinoline is used to make reference to isoquinoline...

 alkaloids protopine

Protopine

Protopine is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid occurring in opium poppy, corydalis tubers and other plants of the family papaveraceae. It has been found to inhibit histamine H1 receptors and platelet aggregation, and acts as an opioid analgesic....

 and allocryptopine. Both protopine and allocryptopine increased CYP1A1

CYP1A1

Cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CYP1A1 gene. The protein is a member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes.-Function:...

 and CYP1A2

CYP1A2

Cytochrome P450 1A2 , a member of the cytochrome P450 mixed-function oxidase system, is involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics in the body...

 mRNA levels in human hepatocyte

Hepatocyte

A hepatocyte is a cell of the main tissue of the liver. Hepatocytes make up 70-80% of the liver's cytoplasmic mass.These cells are involved in:* Protein synthesis* Protein storage* Transformation of carbohydrates...

 cells. The use of products containing protopine and/or allocryptopine may be considered safe in terms of possible induction of CYP1A enzymes.