The Genus Peganum

Peganum (L.) is a smallish genus consisting of four to seven species, mostly in the arid and semiarid regions of North Africa and Eurasia, from the Mediterranean to Mongolia, and in North America, from Texas to Mexico. The differences between the species of the genus Peganum are insignificant, except for size, habit, and fruit morphology. The genus Peganum has adapted itself efficiently to the difficult natural surroundings in which it has found itself. At the same time, different cultures have found a nearly endless variety of uses for this intriguing and beautiful plant. Evodiamine is used as an anti-obesity drug with anti-allergenic, analgesic, antitumor, anti-ulcerogenic, and neuroprotective properties. Fagomine is named for the genus from which it was first identified and isolated, namely Fagopyrum esculentum , i.e., buckwheat. Fagomine is an iminosugar - a sugar in which the endocyclic oxygen is replaced by a nitrogen.