Useful and medicinal properties of thyme creeping( thyme)
Synonyms of : thyme, Bogorodskaya grass, chubrets, chabrik, chaibur.
Description .A small perennial creeping semi-shrub of the family of clearing( Lamiaceae) 15-25 cm high. The stems are creeping, self-rooting, they become lignified with age near the base. Leaves opposite, short-kochereshkovye, small, ovoid-shaped. The flowers are irregular, bisexual, collected in the capitate inflorescence on the apexes of the ascending branches. Calyx campanulate, corolla bilabiate, pink, rarely white or violet-red. The fruit is dry, it breaks up into four nuts of black-brown color. Blossoms from May to September. Seeds mature in August-September. Weight of 1000 seeds - 0,2-0,3 g.
Medicinal raw materials: herb.
Biological features. Thyme belongs to a polymorphous species, distributed throughout Ukraine. Thyme is a light - and thermophilic drought - resistant plant.
Distribution. Occurs in Europe, West Asia and North Africa.
Chemical composition. The yield of essential oil from dry leaves and flowers is 0.5-2%.The oil contains up to 30% of thymol( the main component), about 20% of carvacrol, cymol, linalool, pinene, terpinene, terpineol, borneol. In addition, thyme contains tannic and bitter proteinaceous substances, resin, gum, fat, etc.
Useful properties of
Galenic preparations of the plant have expectorant, antibacterial, antispasmodic and analgesic effect, soothing effect on the central nervous system, intensifying the secretion of gastric juice. They can be used for laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, bronchopneumonia, with gastrointestinal diseases accompanied by a decrease in gastric secretion, atony or spasms of the intestine, meteorism-
In folk medicine, in addition, thyme is used in the treatment of pertussis, pulmonary tuberculosis, insomnia, dyspnea, bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, hemorrhoids, joint pains, paralysis, sacro-lumbar neuralgia, in case of invasion by ribbon worms, alcoholism and algomenorrhea.
As an external agent used for inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity and nasopharynx caused by pyogenic bacteria( rinses);with nervous and skin diseases, rheumatism( bath);with inflammatory diseases of the vagina, with whites, especially in elderly women( douching).
Preparations of thyme creeping are contraindicated in pregnancy, cardiac decompensation, liver and kidney diseases. Overdose can cause nausea.
In cooking, thyme is used in the preparation of vegetable and meat dishes, dishes from eggs, sausages, sauces, cheese, tea, jelly, used as a salad, used to enhance the smell of vinegar, and in the liquor industry for the preparation of liquors. In the food industry it is used for canning, pickling and pickling cucumbers and tomatoes in a mixture with other spices. In Spain, essential oil of thyme is used for marinating olives.
Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. The most favorable for thyme are light chernozems with good structure. Thyme grows well on loamy, fertile soils. The best precursors are pure steam, winter crops that go along a fertilized couple and a row crop.
Soil tillage is carried out according to the system of autumn plowing to a depth of 27-30 cm, with preliminary stubbling. After row crops, autumn plowing should be carried out immediately after the harvesting is completed, in early spring after the moisture is closed, cultivation with 2-3 harrowing in two directions is necessary.
Application of fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are applied in the form of compost at the rate of 20-30 t / ha. If humus was added under the predecessor, mineral fertilizers should be applied to thyme during autumn plowing( 2-3 c / ha ammonium sulphate, 2-3 c / ha superphosphate and 1-2 cc / ha potassium salt).
Reproduction. Can be propagated by seeds, seedlings and cuttings. In early spring, dry seeds are sown at a rate of 5-6 or for winter - 6-7 kg / ha with a row spacing of 45 cm.winter sowing gives the best results. The depth of seeding in the spring is 0.5-1 cm, and for sowing without sowing for winter. Thyme shoots are very weak, germinate gradually and in order to accelerate the period of the first loosening, a few seeds of lighthouse plants are added to the seeds. The seedlings grown on the sites are planted in pits or under pegs and sprinkled with earth.
Care of plantations. Sowing in rows is mulched with compost. When emergence occurs during loosening and weeding weeds should be weed out also beacon plants. The subsequent care consists in loosening the rows, weeding the weeds and fertilizing the plants with fertilizers. Care of transitional plantations consists in harrowing them in early spring across the rows. Then during the summer, also 2-4 times loosen the soil and weed as necessary. Harvesting .Collect only the upper thin parts of the stems along with the leaves and flowers. In the first year of culture, when the plants have not yet grown, they are cut off with sickles, and starting from the second year - with reapers. With proper care for the second year, thyme yields( for two mowings during the summer) about 20 q / ha. The harvest of the first year is 5-7 c / ha.
Drying. Grass is dried in attics under an iron roof, in dryers and outdoors, in the shade. When drying, you should carefully handle the leaves and flowers containing the greatest amount of essential oil, as they easily crumble. The collected mass, intended for factory processing on essential oil, is delivered fresh.
Dried thyme is purified through sieves and sorted, getting rid of extraneous impurities, dust, sand, thick lignified parts of the stem.
Packing .The grass is packed in bales of 50-75 kg or bags of 20 kg.
Storage. Thyme should be stored separately from other aromatic plants in a dry, well ventilated place on the shelves.