Pinitol

Research & Evidence

Pinitol — usually written D-pinitol — is a cyclitol: a methylated inositol, so a sugar alcohol rather than a phenolic or a terpene. It is widespread in legumes, which is why it turns up in both Desmodium and Lespedeza.

Its clearest documented role here is hepatoprotective. In an animal study of chemically-induced liver damage, a quantified Desmodium adscendens decoction and D-pinitol itself were both assessed, with the cyclitol named as the constituent carrying the antihepatotoxic activity ^{1Reference 1Magielse et al. · 2013AnimalAntihepatotoxic activity of a quantified Desmodium adscendens decoction and D-pinitol against chemically-induced liver damage — animal model (rat)View study →}. That is a useful result for two reasons: the decoction was quantified rather than nominal, and the isolated molecule was tested alongside it, which is a stronger design than either alone.

Being water-soluble and sugar-like, pinitol is one of the constituents a decoction actually delivers — unlike the lipophilic fractions of many herbs, where the traditional preparation and the studied extract diverge. Species discipline still applies across Desmodium: this work is D. adscendens.