Development Of Jewelweed-based Skin Care

Jewelweed has a long history of medicinal use in treatment of poison ivy and other itchingconditions. There is evidence that jewelweed is as effective as currently available systemicsteroids, and that it causes fewer side effects.Commercial development of jewelweed-based skin care products, however, is limited byjewelweed's inconsistent results when applied to affected skin. The inconsistency appears toresult from variations in the levels of active materials in individual plants. It is not known towhat degree this variability results from environmental as opposed to genetic factors. It issimilarly unknown which environmental factors favor high levels of active material.The primary objective of this project is to identify environmental conditions which favor highlevels of active material. Jewelweed plants will be collected at locations throughout the easternUnited States. The impact of several variables, including time of year, sunlight or shade, andeffect of soil conditions, will be studied for their impact on the levels of active material.Variations in the level of active material among individual plants will also be studied.