Periwinkle (Vinca major) — The Sunlight Experiment

What Is Periwinkle?

Periwinkle was most commonly used to treat cognitive decline, heart disease, and topically for bruises. The active constituent vincamine has been shown to lower heart rate, reduce muscle spasms, and has a vasodilating action on the cerebral arteries.

Due mainly to the last action, vincamine and its semi-synthetic counterpart vinpocetine have become popular additions to nootropic formulas.

What Is Periwinkle Used For?

Periwinkle’s main use as a whole herb is for digestive complaints, mouth ulcers, menorrhagia, and metrorrhagia. The concentrated extract of vincamine, or the semi-synthetic alkaloid vinpocetine is a common ingredient in nootropic formulas.

Botanical Information

Periwinkle is a member of the Apocynaceae family of plants, which includes everything from trees, to shrubs, to herbs, to succulents, to vines. There are as much as 5100 species in this family as a whole.

Periwinkle is a spreading, sub-shrubby, vine. It trails along the ground and forms clumping groups of plant material.

Habitat, Ecology & Distribution

Periwinkle originates from Southern Europe and Northern Africa.

This herb has since spread itself all over the world and become an invasive species in Australia, The United States, and New Zealand.

Phytochemistry

Periwinkle’s reputation rests on its monoterpene indole alkaloids [1]. The signature member is vincamine — the molecule concentrated and chemically modified into the nootropic vinpocetine (a semi-synthetic derivative, not present in the living plant). Alongside it, Vinca major yields a large family of minor indole alkaloids including vincamajine, reserpinine and majdine, set against a background of astringent tannins [2].

Constituent Summary

No single standardized assay exists for whole Vinca major herb; published alkaloid levels are sparse and vary strongly with the growing environment [2]. Amounts below are for the plant material as noted.

Grouped by class · 5 compounds

Indole alkaloid4 compoundsno data

Indole alkaloidVincamineNo data

Indole alkaloidVincamajineNo data

Indole alkaloidReserpinineNo data

Indole alkaloidMajdineNo data

Phenolic1 compoundno data

PhenolicTanninsNo data

A related species, Catharanthus roseus (“Madagascar periwinkle,” also Apocynaceae), carries a comparable indole-alkaloid profile along with tryptamine and other active constituents, but is botanically and chemically distinct from true periwinkle.

Clinical Applications

The most well studied, and arguably the best use of periwinkle, is for its nootropic benefit from the concentrated extract of vincamine or vinpocetine. They are used to improve memory and cognition, and ameliorate or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

The indole alkaloids in the plant have also been found beneficial for cancers, however, more research is needed to understand these mechanisms.

References

Hoffmann, D. (2003). Medical herbalism: The science and practice of herbal medicine. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press. (Pg. 594).
Farnsworth, N. R., Loub, W. D., Blomster, R. N., & Gosmann, M. (1964). Studies on Vinca major (Apocynaceae) II: Phytochemical investigation of the leaves and stems. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 53(11), 1330-1333.