Aesculus hippocastanum L.

Seeds and bark A. hippocastanum, or horse chestnut tree, have been widely used in European traditional medicine since 16th century. Nowdays horse chestnut extracts (HCE), escin, a pure saponin and esculin, a glucosidate coumarin, are still widely employed in clinical practice mainly for the treatment of peripheral chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Due to the effect on capillary permeability, HCE and escin have found an application in the cosmetic field. Furthermore, esculin is reported to possess microvasculokinetic activity and is indicated for the treatment of unattractivenesses such as cellulitis and hair loss. More recently proanthocyanidin A 2 , a catechic dimer isolated from the bark, has shown an interesting protective effect against UV damage, mainly due to its very strong antioxidant properties.