Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXI
Written by Livia APOSTOL, Corneliu Sorin IORGA, Claudia MOȘOIU, Gabriel MUSTĂȚEA, Șerban CUCU

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is an annual or biennial plant of the Asteraceae family that and usually grows in dry, sunny areas in Romania, but throughout in the world.The milk thistle seeds have been used since ancient times to treat a large variety of liver and gallbladder disorders. Theoprastus (IV century B.D.) and Plinius (1st century A.D.) were the first to report the medicinal benefits of this plant. All parts of the plant can be used, but the milk thistle seeds are considered to be the most medicinally potent for therapeutic use. The seeds and extracts of the milk thistle plant are a well established herbal food for protecting, detoxifying and regenerating the liver, one of the most important organs of the human body. We explored the physico-chemical properties as well the amino acids content of the milk thistle partially defatted seeds, The obtained results revealed that partially defatted milk thistle seeds are a good source of protein (20.35%), lipids (11,69%), total carbohydrates (38.16%) from which crude fiber (27.24%). This by-product presents a high mineral content (mg/100g): calcium (912), magnesium (433), iron (80,5), zinc (7,38) and copper (2,69). The partially defatted milk thistle seeds protein contained markedly amounts of essential amino acids such as arginine, leucine valine and lysine.

[Read full article] [Citation]

SPUPOPUPNO1