Gemmotherapy, and the Scientific Foundations of a Modern

Gemmotherapy,

and the Scientific

Foundations

of a Modern

Meristemotherapy

Gemmotherapy,

and the Scientific

Foundations

of a Modern

Meristemotherapy

Marcello Nicoletti

and Fernando Piterà di Clima

Gemmotherapy, and the Scientific Foundations of a Modern

Meristemotherapy

By Marcello Nicoletti and Fernando Piterà di Clima

This book first published 2020

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without

the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-5593-3

ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-5593-8

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The authors certify that there is no conflict of interest with any

financial organization regarding the material discussed in this

book

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ...................................................................................................... vii

Part I

Chapter 1 .................................................................................................... 2

New Frontiers for Natural Products

Introduction to Chapter 1

The food supplements galaxy

Evolution of food supplements

Chapter 2 .................................................................................................. 14

The Green Living World

Introduction to Chapter 2

Plant meristems

Development of meristems

Chapter 3 .................................................................................................. 23

Meristemotherapy

Introduction to Chapter 2

Raw materials in meristemoterapy

Plant molecular mechanisms

Chapter 4 .................................................................................................. 63

Postulates of Meristemotherapy

Introduction to Chapter 4

Prescription moldels

The meristemotherapy recipe

Administration and posology

Contraindications

Galenics in meristemotherapy

Preparation method of bud-derivatives according to French

Pharmacopoeia

Table of Contents

Chapter 5 .................................................................................................. 75

Method and Study

Introduction to Chapter 5

Cytological study

Study on coagulopathies throughout thromboelastography

Scientific research and experimental data in meristemotherapy

The analytical approaches in the study of bud-derivatives and their

utilisation

The analytical approaches in the study of bud-derivatives and their

utilisation

Electrophoresis of proteins

The electrophoretic diagram in normal conditions

Analytical studies, chemical analyses and quality controls

Conclusions ............................................................................................ 108

Part II

Introduction ............................................................................................ 112

Special Gemmotherapy Monographies of Bud-derivatives .................... 115

Synopsis of the Main Clinical Indications of the Above Reported

Bud-derivatives....................................................................................... 421

References .............................................................................................. 437

PREFACE

Radical planetary changes announced the advent of the 21

century, causing

enormous impacts on human life. The changes were the development of

previous situations already set in motion in the previous century. Several

signals indicate what will occur in the future, but interpretations—and, in

particular, necessary measures and counteractions—are largely lacking. The

interpretation of these changes and how we act has clear consequences: the

lack of this process of reflection means only being alert to something when

it is already happening, i.e., not adequately considering a catastrophe or a

real emergency until its occurrence. There are many examples of this

attitude, and the themes and the considerations of this book are fundamental

and crucial to the projections of our future. Our only hope is a general

consciousness of the perils of the current pathway. Some causes of the

changes can be attributed to the planet, but others are due to human

influence; in any case the lack of action in the right direction will be our

fault. Selected cases will here be exposed to evidence ongoing trends and

the need for a new consciousness.

Acting on the current changes in the planet’s climate is going to be

fundamental for the success of every human activity and enterprise, from

agriculture to trade. Temperature growth is generating massive migrations,

from the rural to the megalopolis and from the South to the North of the

planet, remodelling animal and human distribution. Technology is the key

influence in these transformations, but the changes have also been fuelled

by several other factors: the crisis of the traditional family model,

urbanization, and progressive dependence on artificial intelligence and the

global connection network. However, it’s probable that current changes are

mainly connected with the increase in life expectancy, with the emergence

of new pathologies and health disorders, and the revolution in the nutritional

environment, due to radical changes in food. Changes are rapidly affecting

our quality of life and health, asking for new approaches and solutions. If

we want to imagine the future, as derived from this “evolution sap”, we must

consider alternative utilisations of natural resources, facing the challenges

of sustainability and overconsumption. The adequate utilisation of plant

remedies is useful for inverting the tendency of dramatically exploiting any

of the planet’s resources.

Preface

viii

This book is focused on gemmotherapy—also reported as meristemotherapy

or phytoembryotherapy—meaning a medical treatment that uses remedies

principally obtained from the meristem raw material of various juvenile

tissues, like shrubs, emerging shoots, buds, cambium, even seeds and young

roots. Among gemmotherapy topics, we find the production of bud-

derivatives and validation of their utilisation.

The main concern about the future of gemmotherapy is a part of the general

debate on the rational and coherent utilisation of natural resources. Its

dedicated target is the satisfaction of the great human desire for a long life,

free from disease and sickness, by using a modern and natural approach. In

fact, new tendencies and new products are emerging, and they are the result

of the careful utilisation of natural products obtained from novel raw

materials transformed into marketed offers, which are useful for healthcare

and wellbeing.

This new use (in addition to other natural approaches in medical treatment)

has caused much surprise, as for a long time natural substances have been

relegated to an ancillary role. Natural products are experiencing a new

renaissance after a long period of difficulties when they were considered

mainly as models or templates for the development of new pharmaceutical

drugs. Natural resources, like buds and shoots, can be considered as a

natural means of living in harmony with our body and the environment.

Gemmotherapy is a part of this movement. The aim of this book is to report

the current state of this discipline and the next steps, in order to inform

everyone interested, starting with those working in medicinal sectors, how

to appreciate and utilise the potentiality of buds in a reliable and complete

way. The target of this book is every interested person, including the student

and the curious, the producer and the consumer.

Nowadays, natural products are regaining their principal role in health

maintenance with an explosion of marketed solutions in food supplements

and phytomedicine. Areas of this sector are evolving fast and continuously

creating information, claims, rules, and quality controls. The result is

complicated, but also widespread and fascinating. This is evident particularly

in gemmotherapy, where the current sources of information are very few,

though the use of plant meristems is greatly increasing.

This book intends to fill this gap, offering a complete update of the

gemmotherapy world.

PART I

CHAPTER 1

EW FRONTIERS FOR NATURAL PRODUCTS

Introduction to Chapter 1

This chapter concerns the recent utilisation of natural plant substances, from

food supplements to bud-derivatives. In the market of new fast-growing

areas of herbal products, recent introductions have exerted a revolutionary

impact on the concept of food and its ordinary range.

Herbal product use, starting from a generic request for the “natural”, has

been subjected to several variations, which have modified its limits and

inputs:

a) Scientific knowledge. Thanks to the enormous work of phytochemistry,

we can rely on an ample catalogue of natural products, based on

hundreds of thousands of identified and determined structures, which

are today very useful as standards and references of data (not to

mention another four hundred thousand similar products synthesised

by the chemical industry).

b) The appearance on the market of new products for health needs. A

great quantity of marketed products is accessible in accordance with

emerging requests for a better life.

c) Quality control. Nowadays, raw plant materials are subjected to

several checking stages and radical transformations until they

become marketed final products. Therefore, proper controls on their

chemical constitution are necessary to ensure efficacy and security.

d) Recently, new fast-growing areas have exerted a revolutionary

impact on the food supplement market. The new products, generally

called nutraceuticals, offer health benefits and have a positive effect

on metabolic disorders. The discovery, development, and marketing

of these products have been fuelled by their positive reception by

consumers. The nutritional sphere is at the centre of everybody’s

attention, from governments to ordinary people. Besides the

omnipresent concerns regarding the quantity of food, recently

quality has become fundamental for maintaining health and

New Frontiers for Natural Products

improvement in lifestyle.

The main categories of food supplements can be organized on the basis of

their appearance on the market:

First Generation Vitamins, Proteins, Minerals, Probiotics

Second Generation Nutraceuticals, Botanicals, Novel foods

Third generation Functional foods, Multifunctional foods

Future generation Bud-derivatives, Cosmeceuticals, Pharmafoods

The differences between these categories lie in form and composition (Fig.

1). The constituents of the first-generation food supplements were limited

to vitamins, minerals, proteins, and carbohydrates, mainly addressing

dietary and other simple targets. Their explicit goals were limited to

supporting nutritional needs and/or supplying food deficiencies.

Later, a second generation of food supplements appeared, subsequent to

increasing expectations for a better life and health maintenance, with the

consequent contamination of the narrow line between drug and food. Their

composition showed a massive introduction of natural products, collectively

named “other substances”, which distinguished them from the former

constituents. Other substances were mainly extracts of medicinal plants,

meaning the same ones used for centuries as remedies in the ethnobotanical

herbal tradition, but often also as foods or spices. However, the identity of

these products (in composition, utilisation, manufacture, quality control,

etc.) were different from those of the first generation. Therefore, several

new names spontaneously appeared to mark the differences, including

nutraceuticals (the most frequently used, but still not officially recognised),

dietary supplements, medical remedies, herbal drug preparations, traditional

herbal medicine products, and others. Recently, botanical food supplements, or

botanical supplements, or simply botanicals, are the words used to name

food supplements, which are derived only from plant raw materials.

It is time to empower the third generation of food supplements. The future

invasion of the food market will see the appearance of special medical or

health foods, or simply pharmafoods, that will be followed by functional

foods, fortified foods, and multifunctional foods. Marketing creativity has

even produced superfoods. Among them, the introduction of new raw

materials, like buds, is relevant.

Nutraceuticals propose health benefits and positive effects in case of

metabolic disorders. The nutritional environment is at the center of

Chapter 1

everybody’s attention, from governments to ordinary people. Besides the

eternal problems concerning the quantity of food, recently quality has

become fundamental for health maintenance and lifestyle improvements.

Quality involves the effects of the composition of food on health, and the

need to integrate or improve the effects of the ordinary food.

The result is a complex dynamic situation, requiring careful analysis of each

of the various aspects. Only people directly involved in this matter can

understand the process and explain the complicated mechanisms.

Furthermore, besides the official documents, there are few sources of

information explaining all aspects of the sector. Usually, information is

scattered in single arguments or is available only to specialised people.

The common aspect in natural products is the presence of nutrients, in

contrast with medicinal drugs, where synthetic products are prelevant and

generally considered dominant. In the last few decades, food supplements

have undergone a complex evolution that has radically changed their forms,

targets, and composition, influencing health aspects at the same time (Fig.

1).

Fig. 1. The large and complex situation of new marketed products based on natural

products, in relation with their pharmacologic and clinic utilizations.

Food

Supplements

Omega-3 fatty acids

Selected fibers

Cardiovascular problems

Minerals

Food

deficiency

Soja proteins

Mg input

Sugar metabolism

High colesterol level

Natural products

Poliphenols

Prevention

Green tea

Algal products

Obesity

New Frontiers for Natural Products

The food supplements galaxy

Definition of food supplements by UE Directive 2002 – 2002/46/CE:

Food supplements are “concentrated sources of nutrients with nutritional of

physiological effects whose purpose is to supplement the ordinary diet, they

are designed to supply nutrients, micronutrients and other physiologically

active substances in predetermined amounts. They are marketed in dose

form, i.e. pills, tablets, capsules, liquids, etc. in a measured dose.”

Definition of Dietary Food by the Food and Drug Administration (USA)

“Conventional foods are foods that are not dietary supplements. A dietary

supplement is a product taken by mouth that is intended to supplement the

diet and that contains one or more "dietary ingredients." The "dietary

ingredients" in these products may include: vitamins, minerals, herbs or

other botanicals, amino acids, other substances found in the human diet,

such as enzymes.”

Definition of a Nutraceutical by the inventor Dr. Stephen DeFelice:

"Food, or parts of food, that provide medical or health benefits, including

the prevention and treatment of disease."

Definition of a Nutraceutical by the Oxford Dictionary:

“A food containing health-giving additives and having medicinal benefit”.

Fig. 2. Expectations of consumers regarding a better life and nutraceuticals

ingredients.

Chapter 1

The term functional food was first officially introduced in Japan in the mid-

1980s, defined as FOSHU, an acronym meaning FOods for Specific Health

Use. These foods are eligible to bear a seal of approval from the Japanese

Ministry of Health and Welfare. In Japan, more than 100 products are

licensed as FOSHU. So far in Europe, the functional food category is not

legally recognised.

The effectiveness of a FOSHU product on the human body is proven by

several characters:

* Absence of any safety issues (animal toxicity tests, confirmation of

effects in the cases of excess intake, etc.)

* Use of nutritionally appropriate ingredients (e.g. no excessive use of

salt, etc.)

* Guarantee of compatibility with product specifications by the time

of consumption

* Established quality control methods, such as specifications of

products and ingredients, processes, and methods of analysis. For

example, dietary fibre, sugar alcohols, oligosaccharides, proteins,

polyphenols, lacto- or bifido-bacilli, chitosan, and sodium alginate

are considered helpful in maintaining good health.

The food supplements front is completed by the products related to

microorganisms, concerning probiotics, the symbiotic bacteria, and

prebiotics, which are useful for their health and survival. Here, we will focus

on emerging products, like bud-derivatives (Fig. 2).

New Frontiers for Natural Products

Fig. 3. The galaxy of food supplements and nutraceuticals.

Evolution of food supplements

Nutraceuticals imposed their importance by the number of them on the

market. That is, from their appearance these numbers increased constantly,

both in money and in sales. During the last decade, this impact attracted the

general attention of ordinary people and producers, despite the connected

problems of safety, massive regulation, and compliance (Fig. 3). At the

same time, the regulation about these products generated a plethora of

indications, responsible of an increase of the confusion about the food

supplements (Fig. 4).

Chapter 1

Fig. 4. The relevant figure of Regulations in E.U. concerning food supplements.

Fig. 5. The market of US Nutraceutical Market and the expected growing.

New Frontiers for Natural Products

The food supplement market shows an upward tendency (Fig. 5), which is

confirmed for the entire sector of natural products. The nutraceutical

market, including pre-biotics and pro-biotics, vitamins, minerals, fibres,

proteins, omega-3 and structured lipids, amino acids, functional foods, and

varied forms of dietary supplements, is consolidated and improving. The

amount of sales involved in all sectors reached $142.1 billion in 2011, was

valued at around $250 billion in 2014, and is expected to reach $204.8

billion by 2017 and 385 billion by 2020, with a growing rate at a compound

annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3-7.5%. The nutraceutical foods fortified

with omega fatty acids are expected to grow by 6.8% during the forecast

period. The nations spearheading the global nutraceutical markets are the

United States, Japan, Israel, and Germany. Rising consumption of dietary

supplements among the baby boomer generation and the thriving food and

beverages market is driving the US nutraceutical market, which is expected

to reach $90 billion by 2020, at an increase of 6%. The United States should

also dominate the functional food market globally by 2020, with an

expected 8.8%. This is followed by Asia-Pacific: 47% of the Japanese

population consumes nutraceutical products, probably thanks to a growing

ageing population.

The US market is considered more reliable, large, and active, but the EU

market is more differentiated, dynamic, and is progressing rapidly.

Nowadays, within the EU market, vitamins and minerals hold the largest

share (about 50-55%: €4.1 - €4.73 billion), with the balance (€3.87 - €4.1

billion) constituted by “other substances”, mainly containing extracts of

plants and their constituents. In 2005, Euromonitor estimated that probiotics

accounted for 45% of the EU market, followed by combination products at

44%, including all the “other substances” food supplements. It is estimated

all the other product categories accounted for less than 10% of the retail

value. Several EU companies believe that innovation is the way forward for

the nutraceutical industry: in particular, Germany, the Netherlands, and

Sweden have emerged as nutraceutical innovation hubs in Europe, while

Great Britain and Spain have emerged as key test markets for new products.

Italy is the leader in Europe with one third of the Italian population

consuming dietary supplements regularly, in accordance with a strong

herbal tradition. US companies are above all looking to diversify their

products and are leaning towards natural nutraceutical ingredients in them,

mainly following the increasing demand for all-natural, non-modified

functional ingredients.

Usually the reasons for the success of natural products are related not only

to a propensity towards “naturalness”, converted into a generic request for

Chapter 1

biological products, but also towards other more inherent matters.

- The ageing of the world population and expectations of life are

growing exponentially. In Europe, people aged over 65 are expected

to double in 2060 and reach nearly 30% of the total population in

2080. Roughly 8% of the worldwide population, about 500 million,

are over the age of 65. Individuals over 65 will number more than 1

billion in 2020, among them 70% living in developed countries and

having the benefit of a good spending capacity. However, rapid

increases are expected among the elderly in developing countries.

The main preoccupation of all these people will be to maintain good

health conditions by requesting anti-ageing and weight control

products. The general tendency is to avoid chemical drugs and

medical controls. Improved diagnostic methods are leading to the

earlier diagnosis of diseases or simple dysfunctions. Patients

increasingly wish to control and manage directly their conditions and

are incredibly alert with regard to increasing cholesterol levels or

weight diagnostics. The next step for these people is a continuous

collection of information, either by direct acquisition or by following

the sirens of marketing. These new types of self-made health-

conscious consumers are the strong and durable basis of the

nutraceuticals market.

- Cuts in healthcare costs will lead governments to increase self-

diagnosis and self-medication. In this kind of situation, marketing is

highly facilitated, convincing people with all sorts of product

promotion and offering spectacular results. The trend is already

consolidated, nutraceuticals being utilised to increase the strong over

the counter (OTC) market. Easy production conditions and limited

controls are also attracting the interest of the big pharmaceutical

companies.

- Domestic growth of nutraceutical consumption is expected to

continue and increase, fueled by the appearance of new attractive

products and new segments targeted by local producers for domestic

requirements.

- The nutraceuticals market is rapidly expanding towards unexplored

targets, like pet care and livestock feed. The future expectations of

this market are impressive and practically without limits. The

importance of nutraceuticals will be higher if today's multidrug

resistance (MDR) continues, especially in the field of antibacterial

medication. Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels

in all parts of the world. Several studies are prospecting the end of

the Antibiotic Age, meaning that soon most of the current

New Frontiers for Natural Products

antibacterial drugs will have no effect against microorganisms’

attacks. We are heading for a post-antibiotic era, in which common

infections and minor injuries can once again kill. Other strategies

must be experimented, again exploring mother nature’s molecular

gifts, including prevention and reinforcing the immune system’s

capacities.

- These are only a few of the possible arguments (and others can be

presented), but probably the most convincing causes of the boom can

be found in the crisis within the pharmaceutical industry, strangled

by the overwhelming cost of adverse claims and the evidence of long

term collateral effects. Furthermore, the expectations of a healthier,

longer lifespan are not really a pharmaceutical matter, pharmacology

having been focused up until now on the treatment of evident

pathologies. The care of people’s health in order to improve their

physiological welfare is being—and in time will have been—

efficiently assumed by nutraceuticals. Thus, the gap created in the

market and in consumers’ perceptions between medical drugs and

food has been promptly filled by nutraceuticals, which are the

modern answer to the new request and increasing expectation of a

better and healthier life.

- Up until today, food supplements and related products have

benefited from relative freedom or indulgence from restraints and

easy marketing. However, this scenario could be radically changed

by the introduction of the claims regime for food supplements. In

this case, any declared influence on a disease, or a pathological state,

must be justified at the same level as a medicinal drug. In the EU,

the toxicity of nutraceuticals, as well as adherence to their claims,

has been seriously considered by the EFSA (European Food Safety

Authority), practically adopting the same judgment criteria used for

medical drugs. Consequently, the first examination resulted in the

rejection of almost all botanical claims (c. 95%). Based on the

current judgment criteria, the situation will not improve, causing the

exclusion from the market of most botanicals. The future impact on

the market of EFSA statements has been considered devastating. The

economic impact assessment of the EU Regulation on Nutrition and

Health Claims (EC/1924/2006) on the EU food supplements sector

and market of botanicals has been calculated in an independent study

commissioned by the European Health Claims Alliance. The effects

of adoption of legal decisions proposed by EFSA will affect the

majority of the deposited claims, resulting in a decrease in size by

about 25% of the whole sector. In two years, one third of the sector

Chapter 1

could be at risk. The subsequent fall in employment is expected to

be of about 18% of the total employment in botanicals and “other

substances”. In 2009, the employment in the “other substances”

sector accounted for an estimated 70,500 people (44,930 units in the

major producer countries). The negative economic impasse,

increased by the claims’ impeachment effects, could have a great

impact on the European food supplement industry and its

employment. On the other hand, the simple introduction of

nutraceuticals into the old category of food has generated a

continuous conflict with their non-nutritive character.

- Among the arguments of the debate opposing the simple

identification of nutraceuticals with food, we can find posited their

retail points, marketing information, the adopted drug form, their

composition, the target consumer, and the consumers’ expectations.

On the other hand, in favour of the food categorisation, there is: the

absence of quantification of the constituents; the activity of

physiological functions and the lack or vagueness of target diseases;

difficulties in identifying the active constituents; and their similarity

to other food products, like juices, yogurts, hydrocolloids, etc. In

reality, all these aspects can be summarised in the novelty of this

kind of product, which cannot be considered either as food or as a

drug. Therefore, these new products should appeal for adequate

protocols in accordance with their special nature. The multi-

millionaire nutraceuticals industry has to face this problem and

invest part of the accumulated money into research converting

pharmaceutical and clinical studies into adapted innovative

knowledge. The nutraceuticals and botanicals market in the near

future is probably going to experience a complicated period without

any security apart from the considerable amount of interest and

money involved. This is the real insurance card for the survival of

these products while they await scientific support.

On the basis of the aforementioned background, bud-derivatives can now

be assigned to the world of botanicals/herbal medicinal products. However,

several peculiar characteristics have to be considered:

a) The presence of meristems and juvenile tissues, whereas mature

materials are preferred in botanicals

b) The raw material usually consisting in the fresh, i.e. recently

collected, part of a plant

c) The extraction process involving glycerol and ethyl alcohol

d) The therapeutic approach based on the original intuitions of Pol

New Frontiers for Natural Products

Henry and confirmed by clinical experience and modern techniques

e) The different chemical composition, as fully reported for the first

time in this book.

In conclusion, gemmotherapy must be considered as a special case among

the therapeutic tools based on natural products. Its evolution is strictly

related to the galaxy of the new marketed products generated by the request

for health by natural approaches. Before considering its efficacy and utility,

it is necessary to understand its peculiar nature and acquire full knowledge

of its potential.

References

Data on nutraceuticals market were mostly taken from the general report

Nutraceuticals Market Analysis By Product (Dietary Supplements,

Functional Food, Functional Beverage), By Region (North America, Asia

Pacific, Europe, CSA, MEA), And Segment Forecasts, 2014 – 2025.

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry.../nutraceuticals.

Baby Chauhan, Gopal Kumar, Nazia Kalam, Shahid H. Ansari. Current

concepts and prospects of herbal nutraceutical: A review. Pharm

Technol Res. 4(1): 4–8 (2013).

Manisha Pandey, Rohit K Verma, Shubhini A Saraf. Nutraceuticals: new

era of medicine and health. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical

Research 3 (1): 11-15 (2010).

Graham Brookes Economic Impact Assessment of the European Union

(EU)’s Nutrition & Health Claims Regulation on the EU food

supplement Sector and market. European Health Claims Alliance

(EHCA) (2010).

Frost & Sullivan Global Nutraceutical Industry; Investing in Healthy

Living. FICCI. (2010).

Global Health and Wellness Food and Beverages: Nutraceuticals a Must

Have or Unnecessary Indulgence. Strategy Briefing. (2009).

Nicoletti Marcello Nutraceuticals and botanicals: overview and perspectives.

Int J Food Sci Nutr 63 (1): 2-6 (2002).

Nicoletti Marcello Microalgae Nutraceuticals. Foods 5: 54-67 (2016).

CHAPTER 2

HE GREEN LIVING WORLD

Introduction to Chapter 2

Plants are exceptional examples of adaptation to environmental conditions.

We are not able to fully comprehend their ability to change, being more

accustomed to variations in animals, like the enormous neck of a giraffe or

the wings of a bat. However, sometimes evidence of adaptation in animals

is also difficult to understand, for example the change in a butterfly’s

colours caused by pollution. Adaptation changes in plants are very

important and impressive only when we accommodate our sensibility to

plant metabolism. Plants act in silence, slowly, with respect for the

environment. We must consider that they have had much more time to adopt

strategies and develop solutions, and therefore we have a lot to learn from

their abilities.

Every year, in harmony with the seasonal changes, plants are able to react

to temperature, moisture, and wind, by modifying their morphology and

metabolism. Certainly, in temperate zones, spring is the most spectacular

and astonishing time, when trees experience a real revolution in their

structural and molecular organisation. The waking-up of vegetation after a

long and difficult period of stasis, when for months the trees appeared dead

and immobile, demonstrates an extreme capacity for renaissance. Several

questions naturally arise. What is moving inside their bodies? What kind of

force animates the buds to generate branches and leaves? How is a tiny seed

able to start on the pathway to becoming a magnificent oak or a powerful

giant sequoia? However, more importantly, is it possible to grasp this

prodigious capacity and use it for medicinal purposes?

Plant meristems

The key of the extraordinary plant exploits is the presence of particular cells,

totipotent cells, named meristem (divisible, divide into parts) for their

capacity to operate continuously the miracle of mitosis, modulating cell

The Green Living World

generation and reacting properly every time. New cells must act in relation

to the environmental situation, but in accordance with the genome

strategies. In the meantime, the plant’s juvenile cell reacts to the habitat

pressure and maintains intact the general project of programmed

development of the species. Inside the plants, there are many microscopic

“seeds”, like embryotic cells, distributed throughout several parts of the

plant; these are active in all plant life. We are talking of very special cells,

capable of the supreme denial, being able to face apoptosis, i.e. programmed

death, which is the torment of each living being from the moment of birth.

The expectation is that the same vitality can in some way be captured and

technologically transferred. We can not remain indifferent to the miracles

of plant revival, and we have to try to obtain the essence of buds and shoots,

with the help of scientific knowledge and technological devices. An

opportunity is now available, after centuries of inadequate and thwarted

attempts. The challenge of modern meristemotherapy is the revelation of

the most intimate secrets of plants, to make them available for the benefit

and health of humankind. It is evident that this tentative ambition is in the

tradition of phytotherapy.

A parallel approach can be proposed with staminal cells, although it is clear

that we must go a long way in order to obtain an effective utilisation of

staminal cells, even if we do not take into consideration the possible barriers

caused by ethical questions. While waiting for answers to overcome

questions and doubts, some easier applications have started in the field of

plant science, where ethical arguments are so far minimal. Utilisations in

gemmotherapy are focused on juvenile tissues, which can be considered the

staminal cells of plants. Plant staminal cells are called meristems. Despite

the many analogies, several differences between juvenile tissues of animals

and plant must be considered. The main difference between staminal cells

and plant meristems is that meristems are active during all the steps of plant

life and distributed throughout several parts of the plant’s body. Some

applications for them have already been realised. Plant micropropagation

using juvenile plant cells is widely used and its methods are applied in many

cases for selection of cultivars and reproduction in sterile conditions.

Vascular plant structure is based on three basic mature tissue types (Fig. 6):

ground tissue (parenchyma, sclerenchyma and collenchyma), vascular

tissue (phloem, xylem), and dermal tissue (epidermis, endodermis, bark).

All of these tissues arise from specific meristems, consisting of small

regions of undifferentiated cells, in which most cell divisions take place

(Fig. 7). Two systems, responsible for the plant’s architecture, are present:

Chapter 2

the root system and the shoot system. The root system consists of branching

roots, which anchor the plant and penetrate the soil, to absorb water and

ions, but also to integrate the plant with the soil network. The shoot system

consists of the stem branches and their leaves sprouting. Stems and roots

have apical meristems that produce the primary growth of the plant, whereas

the secondary growth, involving wood or bark, arises from the cambium, a

later meristem layer. The vascular cambium is a ring of cells, one layer

thick, that produces tissues, like secondary xylem and secondary phloem, as

well as parenchymal cells in the stem rays. In plants growing in temperate

regions, the activity of meristems is concentrated in the vegetative shoots,

usually in axillary positions. There is an iterative unit of the vegetative

shoot, consisting of the internode, node leaf and axillary bud. In terms of a

tree’s growth, the axillary meristems are considered lateral, in consideration

of their development, whereas the apical ones are considered vertical. These

meristems are the evidence of the different organisation of plants compared

to animals. Animal organisations are models of centralised systems based

on brain activity, whereas in plants everything is delocalised in a plurality

of units working together in a network. Both plurality against the

concentration of activity and buds are responsible for the development of

the plant in accordance with the genome of the species. The key role of

meristems is also important for their correct utilisation in meristemotherapy.

The term meristem was coined in 1858 by Carl Wilhelm von Nageli,

referring to types of plant cells, which are able to give rise to entire organs.

In the modern definition, a meristem is considered a population of

mitotically active cells able to produce new cells, tissues, or organs in

plants, excluding small clones potentially active for reproduction. Much of

the adult plant body is patterned post embryonically through the action of

coordinated groups of meristem cells in the stem apex, root apices, and

shoots. From the germinating seed to the mature stage, the development of

the plant body depends on the activity of meristems.

Plant meristems consist of clumps of small totipotent cells, characterised by

a dense cytoplasm and large nucleus. Meristems are mainly present in

shoots, buds, and apices, as well as in other parts of the plant. However, the

definitive parenchymal cells are able to work in a similar way if necessary.

The function of meristem cells consists in the generation of new cells that

will differentiate accordingly to their position and final function. Each cell

of the meristem divides in mitosis to give rise to two cells. One of them

remains meristematic, while the other undergoes differentiation according

to its role inside the plant body. That is, in the meristematic area there are

juvenile cells, working so that the population of meristem cells is

The Green Living World

continually renewed and a series of cells are produced. Meristems are

divided into two types: a) the primary, mainly derived from the embryo,

which are responsible for the tissue architecture of herbs and for the primary

structure of any plant; and b) the secondary, which, when present, contains

the tissue from which the production of plant secondary structure derives,

including most wood and additional functional parts.

In the meristem, the produced cells, at first indeterminate, follow their

destiny until maturity, achieving different shapes and displaying different

activities in accordance with their position in the pertinent organ. Thanks to

meristems, the plant grows, changes, and renews itself. Even when the plant

is not growing, the meristems are still present and active. Thanks to these

cells, in temperate zones each year in spring, perennial plants restart their

lives, generating new tissues, since meristems elaborate the body of plants

according to the environmental conditions and the plant’s development

plan.

Apical meristems produce the primary tissues forming the so-called primary

plant body. Both root and shoot apical meristems are composed of little

delicate cells. In particular, the root apical meristems, moving through the

soil, must be protected by the root cap. Many herbaceous plants undergo

only primary growth, whereas others, like woody plants, experience a

secondary growth, which is accomplished mainly by lateral meristems.

Tissues formed by these new meristems are responsible for most of the plant

body, including the trunk, branches, older roots of trees, and shrubs, and are

collectively called the secondary plant body, compared to the primary one

now limited to its innermost parts and derived from the first step of plant

growth from the plantula.

The potential of meristems has not been ignored by the nutraceuticals sector.

Among botanicals, the most innovative products, like those utilised in

meristemotherapy, deserve special attention. The utilisation of meristems

possesses a special appeal, derived from the therapeutic use of buds or other

young and developing vegetal parts. The general idea is to profit from the

renewing force of growing or of newborn parts of the plant. Nowadays, this

is reported in the new approach based on botanicals focused on the use of

juvenile parts, named in several ways, e.g. bud-, meristematic-, embryo-,

phytoembryo-, or blasto-therapy, among others. For the sake of simplicity,

we will adopt the terms gemmotherapy or meristemotherapy, referring to a

modern non-conventional medical therapy, using plant raw materials rich in

meristems to obtain bud-derived products. Despite an increase in public

interest and requests, gemmotherapy is still in search of its proper definition,

Chapter 2

recognition, validation, and an adequate regulatory acceptance.

The true meristem is a special very narrow membrane, one cell thick.

Therefore, only experts in plant histology are able to separate the meristem

from the adjacent cells. The result is that, usually inside the bud, we find a

mix of cells, which are very different in shape and function, even in the

differentiation stage. This is a key consideration with regard to other reports,

where meristems are considered a distinct tissue easy to detect and separate,

where the only distinctive character is the function. Inside a bud, there is a

mix of cells at different stages of differentiation and with different positions,

including the double one in part producing other cells and in part remaining

juvenile. In the production of bud-derivatives, the raw material is restricted

to fresh plant tissues or juvenile parts, like buds, shoots, young roots, and

branchlets and their bark, as well as any other tissues in some way

containing meristems or developing cells. In the presence of the embryo,

seeds and fruits are included too.

Fig. 6. Localization of meristems in apical, axillar, and root apex buds. Apical bud,

axillary buss, stem, root, little root, root apex.

The Green Living World

Fig. 7. Vegetative apex and other meristematic structures, including the foliar and

branch primordia, present at the beginning as simple little axillary appendices

developing in buds.

Development of meristems

To understand the development of a meristem, we must consider that in a

short time during the spring, buds are able to regenerate the new latent tree.

This is the result of a process, which started several weeks earlier. Inside

the vegetative apex and in the axillary regions, the production of primordia

of the leaves and branches by the bud has been going on for a long time.

During this time, the primordia are invisible, because they are deep inside

and protected by the perulas (or perules). Perulas are scales covering a bud,

Chapter 2

consisting of specialized leaves metamorphosed exactly for this role. The

aim of the meristems is the production of cells, but the speed of this

production is slowed down for long time, a pit stop in the construction of

the future architecture of new parts, awaiting better times to accelerate. The

acceleration is possible in consideration of this precise work. When the

temperatures rise, rainfall gives an enormous quantity of water and the

longer days provide the necessary sunlight; the buds are then ready for

metamorphosis. The concentrated meristem layers produce differentiated

cells in quantity, resulting in the change of the buds into shoots. The young

shoots have already produced myriads of little young leaves and branches,

which are much bigger than buds and therefore are now visible. The passage

from the bud to the shoot is generally rapid; the plant has already taken the

long awaited pathway and is going to develop all its capacity for growing.

The mature shoot is already the model of a little plant, where the meristems

are now limited although still active. Inside the shoot, the new cells are of

sufficient number and they have only to grow in accordance with their

position inside the bud. The final step is a natural evolution towards the final

formation of the organs. The difference between an apical and a lateral

(axillary) bud is mainly due to the number of primordia, the model being

essentially the same and corresponding to that which is called a fractal in

mathematics.

In conclusion, we have the sequence bud > young shoot > mature shoots >

generated organs, with a progressive decrease in the percentage of

undifferentiated cells (meristems) in favour of the differentiated cells,

pertaining to one of the aforementioned types of tissues (Fig. 8).

Buds and shoots, as in any meristem, are the unique result of a balance.

They are never static nor homogeneous. They are the plant’s dynamic reply

to environmental challenges. A balance between cell division and

differentiation, cell wall loosening and wall tightening, they work as a

mixture of maintenance and change, stability and growth, life and death, all

forced to coexist, until the new cells claim their final supremacy.

Therefore, in plants, all tissues and organs—albeit very different in form,

shape and function—are the result of the development of a unique starting

model: the bud, including the specialised meristems. The representation of

such a process resembles the phylogenetic tree, where, starting from an

initial common ancestor, the descendants are the result of a progressive

process of dissemination with an increasing of number of taxa and a

decreasing difference between taxa of the same group (clade). A

phylogenetic tree models the phylogeny of an observed set of species (taxa)

The Green Living World

and of their unobserved common ancestors. Its terminal spots (leaves)

represent the observed taxa, its internal vertices represent the common

ancestors, and each edge weight represents the evolutionary distance

between the pair of vertices connected by the associated edge. We really do

not know if reality is in accordance with this approach, named

monophyletic, but its application has been very useful for obtaining

interpretations of natural phenomena or the classification of complex

systems in biology. Typical monophyletic trees come from molecular

biology. We can consider a case involving all of us, like the origin of

mammals. At the time of the decline of the dinosaurs, from Monotremata,

only two groups were generated, Marsupalia and Placentalia, each of them

producing several subgroups, always in accordance with the monophyletic

scheme. Following the phylogenetic tree, we find out that all marine

mammals share a common ancestor (still unknown) and our close ancestor

was probably a lemur. This approach allows a simplification of the

complexity of the reality and can be successfully applied in many fields.

Therefore, in phytochemistry, all the isoquinoline alkaloids come from the

reticuline structure generated from the junction of two phenylalanine

moieties and all monoterpenes have the geraniol as their unique precursor.

In any case, botany and chemistry must coincide strictly. Throughout a

period of 50 years, based on an evolution in applied experiments and clinical

trials, this method evolved in terms of research and the validation of its

points of view. Therefore, thanks to the network involving any living

organism and those that lived before, the buds can be considered as a key to

understanding some of the secrets of life.

Chapter 2

Fig. 8. Main differentiated structures in plant body.