Common names  |  New Jersey tea, Redroot, Mountain snowball 

Scientific name  |  Ceanothus americanus
Used part  |  Root

Known active compounds  |  ceanothines, americine, ceanothic acid, maesopsin 

Potential benefits in cosmetics  |  anti-oxidant, anti-microbial

Product name  |  New Jersey Tea-ANB

 

Plant Story

Ceanothus americanus, commonly called New Jersey tea, redroot, wild snowball, snowbrush, or mountain sweet, is native to eastern North America. Tribes of the Missouri River region used the leaves for tea and the roots for fuel. Other tribes used the root as a decoction to treat pulmonary ailments and colds, or topically as a wash for injured legs. The root tea was also consumed to treat bowel troubles. During the Revolutionary War, colonists used this plant as a tea substitute even though it contained no caffeine. New Jersey tea is a strong astringent due to its high tannin content.

 

Phytochemical studies identified the compounds from C. americanus, which are alkaloids (ceanoth- ines and americine), triterpenes (ceanothic acid, 27-hydroxy ceanothic acid, and ceanothetric acid), and flavonoids (maesopsin and maesopsin 6-O-glucoside). Among these compounds, ceanothic acid and ceanothetric acid demonstrated inhibitory effects against oral pathogens such as Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces viscosus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Prevotella intermedia.