Syringa vulgaris L. – therapeutic potential

Syringa vulgaris L. (fam. Oleaceae), known as common lilac, is a shrub widely grown in Europe and North America and it has been cultivated as an ornamental plant. Different parts of the plant like flowers, leaves, or branches, mostly as alcoholic or aqueous extracts, are used in traditional medicine, in internal use, in common cold, in gastrointestinal disorders or rheumatic diseases but also in external use in dermatological disorders. Scientific studies confirm that active substances with an antioxidant, analgesic and antipyretic, antidiabetic or antitumor effect can be isolated from the common lilac.