Useful and medicinal properties of angelica medicinal( angelica officinalis)
Family Umbrella( Celery) - Apiaceae
The generic name and species definition in Greek means "angel-archangel", because according to the Christian myth this divine spirit brought the root of the angelica to the earth, which then began to treat the plague.
Botanical Description. A perennial or biennial herbaceous plant with a short, thick vertical rhizome, from which thin subordinate roots and one or two thick rods leave. When the fresh root is broken, whitish or yellowish points are visible - receptacles. The stem is erect, branched at the top, hollow inside, 1-2.5 m high. Leaves alternate twice or tridelyperistorassechennye, with hollow round petioles, which are widened at the base of the vagina. Upper leaves with small plates, sitting on strongly inflated vagina. Leaf segments are ovate with serrate margin and often with three acute lobes.
The flowers are plain or whitish-yellowish-greenish, they are collected in an almost spherical complex umbrella without a common wrapping. Private overtakes consist of linear or subulate leaflets.
Fruit is a fruit-tree, which breaks down when it ripens to two half-fruits. They have edges at the edges of the lobed overgrown ribs and, therefore, appear flat.
Blossoms in June - August the fruits ripen in July - September.
Geographic distribution. It grows along the banks of rivers, streams, lakes, in flooded meadows, among bushes, in glades and fringes of swamp forests.
For plants, open areas with humus and moisture rich soil are particularly favorable. Distributed throughout the European part of the USSR, except for the steppe strip, the main areas of blanks are in the Voronezh region and the Bashkir ASSR.It is widely found in Belarus, especially on peat bogs.
Collection and drying. They gather rhizomes and roots at different times: in plants of the first year of life, which have only a rooted outlet of leaves, in August and October, and in plants of the second year of life that have a stem, in the spring. The plant is excavated, the ground is shaken off, the entire aboveground part is cut with a knife, then thick rootstocks and roots are cut along.
Dry in the open air, bringing in the room at night, or in attics, in barns, under canopies. When drying in dryers, the temperature should not exceed 30-35 °.
Medicinal raw materials. The finished raw material - rhizome and the root of the angelica officinalis( Rhizoma et radix An-gelicae) consists of short conical annular rhizomes 6-8 cm long with numerous longitudinally wrinkled, slightly tuberous subordinate roots 15-25 cm long and 0.2 mm thick-0,7 cm. The fracture of the rhizomes is even, smooth. The color on the outside is brown or reddish-gray, in the fracture white or slightly yellowish. The smell is strong, specific, fragrant, with crushing intensifying;the taste is spicy, bitter, slightly burning.
GOST 21569-76 allows moisture not more than 14%;ash not more than 14%;rhizomes with the remains of unseparated leaves no more than 5%;crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 10 mm, not more than 3%;organic and mineral impurities not more than 1%.
The organic admixture includes the roots of other, non-poisonous plants and, above all, Angelica sylvestris L., in which the rhizomes have an unpleasant odor. From angelica medicinal plant is distinguished by the fact that it has whitish flowers, collected in a corymbose complex umbrella.
Chemical composition. Rhizomes and roots of angelica officinalis contain up to 1% of essential oil, which includes phellandrene, pinene, borneol, cis-mole and other terpenoids, as well as numerous
coumarins: osthol, ostenol, umbelliptrenin, xanthotoxin, emperorin, angelicin, arhangellicin, umbelli-feron, etc. There are tannins, organic acids, etc.
Action and application. Essential oil and angelica coumarins possess a diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant and anti-inflammatory effect, strengthen the secretory and motor function of the intestine, suppress fermentation processes, relieve spasms.
Used for flatulence, as an antispasmodic agent for spasms of smooth muscles of the stomach, intestines, etc., as an appetizing stimulant, diaphoretic for colds, expectorant - with bronchitis. Assign infusion of 10 g. Of raw materials per 200 ml of water 2-3 table spoons 3-4 times a day after meals