Useful and medicinal properties of medicinal sage
Synonyms: sage pharmacy.
Description. A long half-shrub in the height of 50-70 cm of the labiate family( Labiatae).The root is woody, branched, powerful. The stem is tetrahedral, in the lower part is woody, gray in color, and on top is pubescent, green. Leaves opposite, petiolate, finely toothed, 5-8 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, with a fine-meshed surface. Flowers on short pedicels, collected in a false whorl. Blossoms in June-
July grayish-violet, occasionally white or pink flowers. Seeds ripen in July-August. The fruit consists of four seed nuts. Seeds have a round-ovoid shape. The mass of 1000 seeds is 7-8 g.
Medicinal raw materials: leaves.
Biological features. To obtain a high yield of leaves, moist soil is needed.
In areas with cold and low snow ground, the sage freezes. In the first year of life it grows slowly and forms several leafy shoots. Starting from the second year, in spring the plant forms up to 100 or more shoots. Over time, they lignify and persist for the following years. With the timely removal before the beginning of sap flow of old lignified shoots, new ones are formed, on which larger leaves develop in abundance. Seeds ripen gradually: first in the lower inflorescences, and then in the upper ones. Industrial plantations of sage should not be placed near roads because of mechanical contamination. It is very difficult to remove dust, since the leaves have an uneven surface covered with fine hairs.
Distribution. The birthplace of the medicinal sage is the Mediterranean. In Ukraine, mainly in the southern regions, it is cultivated as an essential oil, medicinal and ornamental plant.
Chemical composition. The leaves contain essential oil( up to 2.5%), tannins of condensed series( 4%), triterpenic acids, diterpenes, bitter and resinous( 5-6%) substances, flavonoids, coumarin esculetin and other compounds. Essential oil includes cineole( up to 15%), thujone, pinene, salvene, borneol, camphor, zedren and other terpenoids.
Application. Salvia officinalis has many uses. Galenic preparations of sage possess astringent, anti-inflammatory, disinfecting, expectorant, estrogenic and hypoglycemic action, reduce sweating, increase the secretion of gastric juice, have poorly expressed antiseptic properties, strengthen the walls of blood vessels. In scientific medicine, mainly used externally: to rinse the mouth and throat with stomatitis, gingivitis, ulcers in the mouth, paratitis, angina, catarrh of the upper respiratory tract;syringing with inflammatory diseases of the vagina, with whites and endocervicitis;lotions, washings, local and general baths with inflammatory skin diseases, purulent wounds and ulcers, light burns and frostbite.
Salvin( an acetone extract from sage leaves) is used for catarrhal and ulcerative necrotic gingivitis, acute and chronic aphthous stomatitis, periodontosis of 1-3 degrees, adenophlegmon, abscess( after opening).Depending on the nature of the pathological process, salvin is prescribed for irrigation, lubrication, washing, application, introducing turundas into canals and pathological pockets( for 10 min).The course of treatment - 2-10 sessions.
Oral administration of sage is indicated for gastritis, peptic ulcer of stomach and duodenum with decreased secretory activity of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as for spasms of the stomach and intestines, inflammation of the bladder, with hyperhidrosis( in the climacteric period), with some feverish conditions, tuberculosis;a positive therapeutic effect is also observed with inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, diarrhea of various origin, inflammation of the liver and gallbladder, and mild forms of diabetes mellitus. For the treatment of diabetes, sage is used in combination with other medicinal plants. Sage infusion is given to nursing mothers to suppress milk secretion.
Use sage and in the treatment of hemorrhoids. The treatment method is as follows: after cleansing enema from cool boiled water make a curative enema of concentrated infusion: 2-3 tablespoons of sage leaves per 100 ml of boiling water( insist 15-20 minutes, filter and use a syringe injected into the rectum).To infuse the infusion, the patient should lie down for 20-30 minutes. Such procedures are done within a week( the infusion is cooked daily).It is recommended that the patient refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages and avoid constipation( observe the appropriate diet, and take 2 dragees of the buckthorn extract for the night).
Sage leaves are a part of the ingredients for the preparation of breast teas. Using the preparations of sage, it is necessary to remember the differences in the action of water and alcohol extracts. This is due to the degree of dissolution of the active substances. Water extracts are effective in diabetes, digestive disorders, hyperhidrosis, and alcoholic as an antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. It should be borne in mind that the use of alcohol extract in large quantities for a long time can cause side effects in the form of epileptic seizures. With inflammation of the kidneys and a strong cough, sage preparations are contraindicated. Sage is used in homeopathy.
Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Under the sage should be taken away areas protected from northeastern cold winds. Well-lit, being away from the roads. The soil must be fertile, structural. The best precursors of sage are couples or winter crops going along a fertilized couple, and pro-sapnye crops, growing, as a rule, on fertilized soil. In connection with the fact that sage can grow in one place up to five years, it is recommended to take it out on the reserved areas or to introduce it into special crop rotations with perennial grasses.
Soil treatment. If the precursors of sage were cereals, immediately after harvesting the soil is plowed to a depth of 27-30 cm. On soils with a shallow arable layer, it is deepened and organic and mineral fertilizers must be introduced. In the early spring, the field is harrowed, and before sowing it is cultivated to a depth of 10-12 cm. Then they are harvested again and rolled with rollers. In the first year, it is recommended to cultivate plowland with harrowing to reduce the growth of weeds.
Application of fertilizers. Organic fertilizers in the form of manure and compost should be added at a rate of 20-30 t / ha, adding 2-3 c / ha of superphosphate. If there is a shortage of manure, its quantity can be reduced by half with simultaneous application of mineral fertilizers( 30-40 kg / ha of active substance).During sowing, 25-35 kg / ha of granular superphosphate is added to the rows.
Reproduction. The most rational method of reproduction is early spring sowing in the soil with a row spacing of 60 cm. The seeding rate is 8-9 kg / ha, the depth of the
is 2-3 cm, and in heavy soils - up to 2 cm. They are sowed with vegetable or grain seeders.
Care for plantations. The first raspushivanie rowing is carried out even before the emergence. For this, simultaneously sowing seeds of buckwheat as a beacon crop - 0.5 kg / ha. When 2-3 pairs of these leaves appear on the plant, they produce a bouquet according to a certain pattern: they cut out 20-30 cm, leaving a bouquet of 10-15 cm. Very dense shoots break through. In the first year of life inter-row cultivation and weeding of the weeds produce 3-5 times. In late autumn, bushes are hilled, and moisture is retained in winter. In early spring, for the purpose of rejuvenation of shoots on transitional plantations, woody stems are mowed or cut at a height of 8-10 cm from the soil surface. With such care, the yield of the plant rises by almost 40%, the content of essential oil increases significantly.
Application of fertilizers. To increase the yield, local fertilizers are applied in the form of manure( 4-6 t / ha) or bird droppings( 3-5 c / ha).
On the plantations of the first planting season, you should feed the soil during the bouquet, and the second - a month before the harvesting of the leaves. Plants second, third and subsequent years of life are fed 20-30 days before harvesting. In the absence of organic fertilizers, mineral substances are added at the rate of 20-35 kg / ha of the active substance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Harvesting. Gather leaves and grass. After the first year of sage planting, the harvest is harvested at the end of August, so that new leaves can appear in the winter. Collect manually for three or four calls. The first collection is made during flowering, when the lower leaves reach a length of 8 cm. The last time the remaining leaves are collected together with the tip of the stem at the end of summer. Now many farms produce a continuous mechanized harvesting by harvesting machines at an altitude of 13-15 cm from the soil surface.
Dry the leaves indoors. It is best to use a special dryer. Here, at a temperature of 30-40 "C, the moisture content of the leaves is brought to 50-60%, then it is dried at a temperature of 50-60 ° C for 8-10 hours, bringing the humidity to 13%. The grass is dried on open currents or in the field, and in bad weather- under canopies, the dried mass is threshed with a combine, and the crushed leaves are cleaned of stems and various impurities sifting through metal sieves.
The average yield of dry leaves of plants in the first year of planting is 3-6 c / ha, the second and third - 6-12 c / ha.
Packing. Dry leaves are compressed and packed in bales weighing 50 kg.
Storage. In a dry, clean, well-ventilated room.
Seed growing. For the production of seeds, special areas are assigned to fields with high-fertility soil, and seeds are sown at selective research stations. If it is not possible to single out individual plots, they sow on production plantations, during the flowering they produce weed weeding. Cleaning is carried out by a self-propelled grain harvester after the cups of most of the lower flowers dry and the seeds turn brown. Seeds are dried, cleaned on a variety of sorters. Store in a dry place in bags weighing 10-20 kg.