Gemmotherapy is a branch of phytotherapy, developed in the 1960s, which uses plant buds and young shoots. Developed by Dr Pol Henry, a Belgian physician and phytotherapist, gemmotherapy is based on the totipotency of embryonic plant cells, meaning their ability to differentiate and give rise to all parts of the plant (branches, leaves, flowers, fruits…), as well as all of its functional tissues and organs.
For this reason, buds exhibit a particularly high concentration of primary and secondary metabolites. Primary metabolites are essential for plant development: nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, minerals, as well as phytohormones (auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, abscisic acid), which are responsible for the initiation and regulation of the growth of plants and trees.
Secondary metabolites (polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, phenolic acids, iridoids, etc.) are involved in the plant’s defense, adaptation, and protection mechanisms. It is this richness in metabolites that gives gemmotherapy its particular interest.
The GemmoPure® concentrated macerates from Laboratoire THERASCIENCE are produced according to the traditional method of Dr Pol Henry, by macerating the buds in a mixture of three complementary solvents, in equal parts: 1/3 water, 1/3 organic alcohol, and 1/3 organic glycerin, for a minimum duration of 21 days, followed by a filtration step. This combination of solvents allows for optimal and complete extraction of the active molecules from the buds.
