Compounds in the bark of the Scotch pine, more usually used for Christmas trees, show promising anti-inflammatory action in cell studies, say Finnish researchers, and could be developed into food supplements for arthritis patients. Extracts from another type of pine, the French maritime pine, are already used in the well-known supplement Pycnogenol, but the team from the University of Turku believe this is the first time that similar compounds, called phenolics, have been identified in other pine species. Highly purified preparations of pine bark extract taken from the Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) were found to have potent anti-inflammatory effects, according to study leader Kalevi Pihlaja from the University of Turku in Finland.
