Useful and medicinal properties of Chinese magnolia vine
Family Lemongrass - Schizandraceae
The generic name comes from the Greek words - schizo - to divide and andros - a man, as the plant has same-sex flowers - male and female.
Species definition in Latin means "Chinese".
Botanical Description. Wooden leaf deciduous liana, reaching 8( 12) m height. The stem is covered with a dark brown wrinkled bark. On the young shoots the bark is smooth, red-brown. These shoots, making levorotatory movements, twist the stems of other plants, taking leaves to the light. Leaves are alternate, obovate or pointed-elliptical, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. Edge of leaf blade with small, unclear teeth. Leaves on top dark green, glabrous, below - lighter, with slight pubescence. Petioles are red.
The plant is monoecious. Flowers are crowded at the base of one-year branches, 3-5 in the axils of leaves, with a pronounced aroma. Perianth is aureate-shaped, consisting of 6-9 leaves outside of white, and inside pink with a brownish tinge, arranged in two circles. The outer leaves of the perianth are drooping, but the inner ones are convergent, obtuse, oval-oblong in shape. Male flowers have 5 stamens, fused into a column, which is much shorter than the perianth. In female flowers, located on the tops of the stem, on the cylindrical peduncle sit numerous pistils. After fertilization, the peduncle and flower-bud extend and form a fruit - a juicy multi-leaf consisting of numerous red berry-like seed fruits located on an elongated peduncle, which in everyday life is called berries. The lignified shoots, leaves and bark have a lemon scent, which is more pronounced when rubbed.
Blossoms in May - June. Fruits ripen in September.
Geographical spread. In its natural state, the Schizandra grows in the coniferous-deciduous and deciduous forests of the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, along the middle course of the Amur, Sakhalin, in Japan and Northern China. Primarily grows on easily permeable soils along the banks of rivers and streams, but avoids the swampland. Shade-tolerant and winter-hardy plant. Successfully cultivated in various regions of the USSR, including in Belarus.
Collection and drying. Prepare fruits and seeds. Collection of fruits is produced as they mature. Drying consists of two stages: first, the berries are dried in the air( under a canopy, in the attic) for 2-3 days, then dried in a dryer( oven, oven), first keeping the temperature no higher than 40 ° and raising it to the end of drying to 60°.
Medicinal raw materials. Large-grained, rounded, partially deformed red or dark red fruits( Fructus Schizandrae) with a diameter of 5-9 mm are used. Small chunks of stray berries are allowed. In the fruiting pulp there are 1-2 light brown or yellowish-brown shiny seeds. The smell is weak, peculiar, the taste is bitter-sour, tart, with a characteristic burning sensation in the mouth.
Art.294 GF X admits moisture not more than 14%;ash not more than 4%;burnt and damaged fruit not more than 2%;other parts of the plant( twigs, remnants of the flower-root) no more than 1%;The organic impurity is not more than 1%, the mineral impurity is no more than 0.5%.
Dry fruits are packed in fabric bags of 50 kg. Store in dry, shaded, well ventilated rooms. Bags are stacked on racks or podtovarniki.
Seeds are isolated from pulp when they receive juice, which is a food product. The pulp is piled in wooden barrels, 10% of water is added to its mass, mixed well and podrazhivayut, after which( after 4-5 days), the mass is washed with water, the seeds are separated and dried in air or in dryers at a temperature of no higher than 50 °.
Seeds are round-shaped, 3-5 mm long, 2-4.5 mm wide, 1.5-2.5 mm thick. On the concave side have a dark gray hem, located across the seed. The surface is smooth, shiny( with prolonged storage becomes matte), yellowish-brown color. The rind easily breaks down and freely lags behind the core.
Grated seeds have a strong specific odor, the taste is bitter-burning, spicy.
Art.604 GF X allows moisture not more than 12%;ash not more than 3%;other parts of Schizandra( flesh of fruit, twigs) no more than 3%;damaged seeds not more than 5%;organic impurity not more than 1%;mineral - no more than 1%.
Store in two-layer paper or fabric bags of 25-30 kg, laid on podtovarniki or racks, in a dry ventilated room.
Chemical composition. Fruits contain up to 20% organic acids( mainly lemon, apple and wine), relatively few sugars and up to 500 mg / 100 grams of vitamin C( in dried fruits).In the fruits found saponins, anthraquinones, flavonoids. The plant is rich in essential oil: in stems it is more than 2%, in the bark of stems - more than 3%, and in seeds - up to 2%.Essential oil is used in the perfume industry.
Seeds are rich in fatty oil( up to 33%), consisting mainly of glycerides of unsaturated fatty acids - linoleic and oleic. In the unsaponifiable fraction of the oil contains lignans - Schisandrine, Sci-Zandrol and -Shisandrine, which have stimulating, tonic, adaptogenic and immunostimulating properties. In addition, vitamin B is found in the fatty oil. Tonic substances are found not only in the seeds, but also in the flesh and skin of the fruit, however in smaller quantities. They are also found in roots, bark and fruit bearing.
Action and application. The therapeutic effect is inherent primarily in seeds. It is due to the whole complex of biologically active substances and in particular to lignans.
Lemongrass has long been used in Chinese and Japanese medicine as a stimulant and tonic. To restore the working capacity of a tired person, it is enough to take 0.5-1 grams of powder of seeds or 25-30 grams of fresh fruits within a day. Valuable properties of fruits have long been known to the peoples of the Far East. Hunters, going to the taiga, took with them berries of lemongrass. Having eaten a handful of dried berries, they could without food for many hours, not knowing fatigue, hunt down the beast. In China, the fruits of Schizandra are called the berries of five tastes - y-wai-dzy( the fruit pulp is acidic, the shell is sweet, the seeds are bitter-burning taste, and the medicines prepared from seeds acquire a salty taste over time).
Toning properties are also infused with leaves( a tablespoon of dried leaves pour a glass of boiling water and stand until cooled).
Fruits and magnolia seeds strengthen the processes of excitation in the brain, excite the cardiovascular system and breathing. Schisandra increases physical performance, enhances the acuity of night vision. For this purpose, it is prescribed in the form of a tincture of 20-30 drops per reception or in the form of tablets from fruit powder 0.5 g before meals or 4 hours after eating. The latter drug contains more lignans and is therefore more effective than tincture. Both drugs are often prescribed for asthenia, after prolonged debilitating diseases, in the postoperative period.
Schizandra and its preparations are contraindicated in cases of increased excitability, insomnia, hypertension and heart diseases.