Useful and medicinal properties of digitalis purpurea
Synonyms: digitalis digitalis, digitalis, thimble. In nature, there are about 35 species of foxglove( the family of the Noricornian - Scrophulariaceae).
In medicine, the following species are widely used: foxglove, n.large-flowered( D. grandi-flora Mill.), n.rusty( D. fer-ruginea L.), n.woolly( D. lanata Ehrh.), n.ciliated( D. ciliata Trautv.).
Description. Digitalis purpurea is a two-year herbaceous plant with erect stem from 50 cm to 1.5 m in height. The lower radical leaves have long winged petioles, stem - elongate-ovate, with short petioles and serrate margins;the upper ones are sessile, small. The outer side of the leaf blade is dark green, and the lower pubescent pubescence is greyish-gray. The length of the rosette and lower cauline leaves is 12-25 cm, and the width is 4-10 cm. The flowers are large, droopy, sit on short pedicels, form a one-sided inflorescence - a brush 40-90 cm long. Corolla purple, bilabial, irregular,thimble( hence the name of the plant), outside purple, inside white with a lot of purple dots. Calyx is green, hairy, not falling off. Stamens four, two upper shorter than lower ones. Fruit is a bivalve ovate capsule. Seeds are very small, brown, wrinkled. The mass of 1000 seeds is 0.07-0.08 g. It blossoms in June-July. All organs of the plant are poisonous.
Biological features. Digitalis purpurea is a moisture and thermophilic culture, which in our conditions often freezes. Her seeds already after 2-3 years lose their germination. In culture it is grown as a two-year-old, but under favorable conditions it can grow for the third year.
Seeds begin to germinate at 5-6 "C. Optimum germination temperature is 20-30 ° C. Shoots are small, so they are easily muffled by weeds. The culture is very sensitive to soil moisture during emergence and their initial development.with
lead to complete death of seedlings. Adult plants are drought-resistant
Medicinal raw materials: leaves
Places growing in bright mountain areas, on slopes of mountains and hills among bushes
Propagation.(in the east to the Alps and the Elbe Basin), in the southern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, isolated in the Carpathian Mountains, is cultivated in many countries of Western Europe, cultivated in the Kiev, Poltava, Zhytomyr regions. Further north, the foxglove often purples. In the absence of a snow cover, it freezes in the conditions of Ukraine
Chemical composition: The leaves of the digitalis contain cardiac glycosides( purple reaglycosides A and B, which in the process of drying and storage under the action of enzymes(digitonin, digonin, gitonin), flavonoids( luteolin-7-glycoside), choline, organic acids, and other compounds.
Application. The active substances of digitalis purpurea are cardiac glycosides. The most active therapeutic role belongs to digitoxin and hy- toxin. The peculiarity of the glycogenides of digitalis purpurea( to the same extent it applies to other types of digitalis) is their ability to strengthen the contractions of the heart muscle, while reducing their number, which favors, on the one hand, a better rest of the heart, and on the other - a greater blood filling. This causes an increase in the volume of blood that is pushed into the aorta, acceleration of outflow of blood, a decrease in venous pressure. Thanks to the normalization of hemodynamics and the expansion of renal vessels, urinary excretion is markedly increased, which leads to the disappearance or reduction of edema. According to physicochemical features, the digitalis glycosides belong to the group of lipophilic glycosides. They are well absorbed and do not break down in the gastrointestinal tract, quickly interact with plasma proteins, are effective enough for ingestion( in case of impossibility of introduction into the stomach, for example, when vomiting, they are administered rectally).The action of glycosides of digitalis begins
appear after 2-4 hours, reaches a maximum after 8-12 hours, and completely stops after 14-21 days. Violation of the excretory function of the kidney has little effect on the excretion of glycosides, since they are excreted in small amounts in the urine. After absorption in the intestine a significant amount of them enters the liver and is secreted with bile, and then reabsorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Simultaneous presence of these properties gives the full right to call digitalis "the queen of cardiac agents".Indications for the appointment of drugs is chronic heart failure of different origins, paroxysmal tachycardia. It should be remembered that digitalis preparations have cumulative properties and are toxic, so they should be taken only as directed by a doctor.
Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Under the foxglove purple are diverted areas protected from the cold north-east winds. The most suitable are fertile soils, structural, light, loamy, sandy loam, chernozem type, but not acidic. The best predecessors in the crop rotation are black couples or row crops and winter crops that go along the fertilized couple, as well as annual grass grown on hay.
Soil treatment. When foxfish is sown after winter crops, then immediately after harvesting they harvested stubble. Plowing on autumn plowing is carried out early in the fall with a plow with a skimmer to a depth of 22-27 cm. After plowing, plow immediately after harvesting.
The application of fertilizers is carried out in the autumn under autumn plowing at the rate of 30-40 t / ha of well-digested humus. If humus is not enough, superphosphate and potassium salt( 20-25 t / ha humus, 2-2.5 c / ha superphosphate, 1-1.5 c / ha potassium salt) are added to it. Nitrogen fertilizers should be applied in the spring for presowing or pre-planting soil cultivation( 1.5-2 centner / ha).
Reproduction. Digitalis can be propagated both with seeds and seedlings( in northern regions).The seeding rate is 5-7 kg / ha, and at the bottom of the sowing - by 20% more. Podzimniy sowing is performed before the onset of frost without seed sealing. However, the best result is a wound-seedless sowing. With the square-socket method, the norm
sowing is 3-4 kg / ha with a row spacing of 60 cm. For square-sowing seed, the field is pre-marked - 60 х 60 cm. The seedling is seeded in the early spring, followed by transplantingin the soil, so that before frosts the plant has 3-4 leaflets.
Care of plantations consists of multiple loosening of rows, weeding out of weeds, fertilization in the form of fertilizing. If the crops are too thick, it is necessary to partially damage the plants in rows, leaving a distance of 20 cm between them. As the shoots appear slowly and they are very small, the first loosening of the rows should be done "blindly".Care for plantations in the second year consists of cleaning plants from old leaves, applying nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers in the form of fertilizing with simultaneous raspushivaniem between rows.
Harvesting. Leaves of the first year are usually collected twice: at the end of summer, when they reach a standard length of 15-25 cm, and in autumn. Leaves of the second year of cultivation are harvested at the beginning of flowering and after reaching the leaves of a standard size. To increase the yield of leaves on two-year-old plantations flower peduncles are planted. The average yield of dry leaves is 7-11 c / ha, although it is possible to harvest 15-18 c / ha.
Drying. After collection, the leaves should be dried immediately. In good sunny weather, you can dry in attics under an iron roof, and in cloudy weather - in a fire drier at a temperature of 40-60 ° C.
Packing. Pack the leaves in bales of 50 kg.
Storage. Given that the plant is poisonous, raw materials should be stored indoors.
Quality requirements. Raw materials must meet the requirements of State Pharmacopoeia XI( FS-14, pp. 253-254).
Biological activity 1 g of raw materials should be 50-66 ICE or 10.3-12.6 KED.
Seed growing. To grow the seeds of digitalis purple isolate individual areas with a good herbage on plantations of technical foxglove or lay special seed areas on the background of high agrotechnics. In such areas, the leaves are collected only once, the seeds - when the middle layer of the capsule is baking and full
ripening of the capsules of the lower tier. Thaw threshed seeds with a regulated fan to avoid their blowing. Seeds are cleaned through a set of sieves, and then sorted. The yield of this plant is on the average 0.5-1.5 c / ha.