Pycnogenol also acts as antioxidant. It is an extract from the Shoot Ropes Review bark of the French maritime pine tree. Pycnogenol contains several active constituents including flavonoid monomers such as catechin, epicatechin, and taxifolin. It also contains condensed procyanidins (also known as flavonoids or proanthocyanidins) such as procyanidin B1, B3, B6, and B7 which are dimers, oligomers, and polymers of catechin and epicatechin. Pycnogenol also contains phenolic acids including gallic, ferulic, caffeic, vanillic, p-coumaric, protocatechuic, and p-hydroxybenzoic acids, and their glucosides and glucose esters.
Ginkgo biloba stands for a singular Chinese specie of tree with no near living congeners. The useful parts of ginkgo are the leaf and the seed. Ginkgo leaf is the most commonly used form of ginkgo, usually as an extract. Ginkgo leaf and its extracts contain many active constituents including flavonoids, terpenoids, and organic acids. Many ginkgo leaf extracts are standardized to contain 24% to 25% flavonoid glycosides and 6% terpenoids. The major flavonoids are primarily derived from the flavonol rutin and include isorhamnetin, quercetin, kaempferol, and proanthocyanidins.
The primary terpenoids are ginkgolides A, B, C, M, and J, and bilobalide. Although many of ginkgo's constituents have intrinsic pharmacological effects individually, there is evidence that the constituents work synergistically to produce more potent pharmacological effects than any individual constituent. Ginkgo leaf products have a potent antioxidant action; inhibit the platelets aggregation (blockade of blood clotting; blood-thinning effect), and also relax smooth muscle of arterial wall, therefore enhancing blood flow. These are the reasons why Ginkgo leaf products are so important for people with ED and/or many other conditions.