Useful and medicinal properties of chamomile

Asteraceae

The generic name chamomilla consists of two Greek words: chamai is low and melon is an apple, because the inflorescences are like apples and in a small concentration resemble their smell. Specific definition of recutita is smooth, naked given because of absence of pubescence. Suave-olens - fragrant - is associated with a strong plant odor.

Botanical Description of .Chamomile pharmacy is an annual herbaceous plant with a thin stem root. The stem is thin, rounded, erect, branched, up to 40( 60) cm. Leaves regular, sessile, twice or thrice-bicarbonate on thin, narrow, threadlike segments. Flowers with a diameter of 18-25 mm are collected in baskets, which are located on long peduncles. Marginal flowers white, reed, they contain only pistils, but remain sterile, internal - golden yellow, tubular, bisexual. Stamens - five, fused anthers in a tube, through which passes a column of pistil with a two-rasse stigma. Ovary lower, single-nosed. The flowers sit on a conical, bare, inside hollow receptacle. Fruit is a seed without a tuft.

Blooming, as in many other composite plants, occurs non-simultaneously. The first to blossom are lingual flowers, at this time they are directed upwards, then they assume a horizontal position, and edge tubular flowers bloom, while the middle flowers are still in the stage of budding. These flowers open last, and at this time the reeds are directed downward or fall. As the flowering blossom becomes more and more conical.

Blossoms from May to August, fruits ripen in July-August. They crumble and quickly sprout.

Chamomile is also an annual plant with a thicker, branchy stem, with a height of up to 30( 60) cm. Leaves are the same as that of chamomile. There are no lingual flowers, all flowers tubular yellowish-green, collected in ovoid-conical baskets, which sit on short peduncles and are therefore often surrounded by leaves. The smell is strong, pleasant. Fruits are achenes with two resinous strips and mucous cells in the lower part, which is why sticky, and, glued to the sole of the shoe or to the legs of animals, are carried often over long distances.

Blossoms in July - August, fruits ripen in August - September.

Geographic distribution. Chamomile Chamomile is brought to us from North America. In the 40s of the last century it was bred as a rare plant in the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden, but due to the ability of the seed to spread by humans and animals, it went beyond the garden and quickly spread primarily in the European part of Russia.

Later it appeared in the Far East, where it was brought by sea from North America.

Currently widely distributed in the European part of the USSR, the Caucasus, Western Siberia and the Far East. Its area is constantly expanding due to the active activity of man.

Chamomile pharmacy grows on unbroken boundaries, in crops of cereals and tilled crops, in gardens, parks, vineyards, steppes, settlements, in meadows, along roadsides, along railroad embankments.

occurs almost throughout the European part of the USSR, except the Far North, the Caucasus, less often in Siberia: the Novosibirsk and Irkutsk regions, some areas of Central Asia. The most abundant in the black earth zone. It is cultivated in many state farms of medicinal plants, especially in Belarus and Ukraine. The main areas of procurement of wild chamomile are in Ukraine.

Collection and drying. The chemist's chamomile collects flower baskets at the beginning of flowering, when the lingual flowers are directed upwards or sideways horizontally, and the tubular flowers open only along the edge of the inflorescence. In the late collection, when the ligula flowers are deflected downwards, the raw material after drying has an increased size, it turns out to be substandard.

Tear off the baskets, combing the tops of plants through the diluted fingers, then break off the stalking flowers and pour the inflorescences into the baskets. In the state farms of medicinal plants, baskets are cut with special buckets-buckets or special chamomile harvesting machines.

In the case of the tongue-less chamomile, the baskets are also collected at the beginning of flowering, when they do not crumble when squeezing and twisting between the fingers. Tear off or cut baskets at the base with the remainder of the peduncle not more than 1 cm long, discarding accidentally fallen leaves. Often pickers pull out the plant with a root and then pluck the baskets. In this case, for 1 sq. Km.m area should be left 2-3 plants for seed reproduction.

Although the inflorescences of both types of chamomile are used in medicine, they should be collected separately and in no case mixed.

Chamomile collection is performed in good sunny weather, since raw materials moistened with dew or rain change their color when dried.

Dry chamomile inflorescences in attics, under canopies, on cement currents or in dryers at a temperature of 30-40 °, scattering them in a thin layer at a rate of 1 kg of flowers per 1 sq. Km.m area, and often mixed. When mass harvesting large amounts of raw materials can be tedled by rakes. Drying is done until the crockery becomes leathery, firm. The dried raw material has an increased grindability.

After drying, the raw material is simultaneously sieved through sieves with hole diameters of 1 cm and 2 mm.

Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw materials - chamomile flowers( Flores Chamomillae) can be of two kinds. In pharmacy chamomile it consists of whole or partially crumbling flower baskets 4-8 mm in diameter, hemispherical or conical in shape, without peduncles or with remnants of them no longer than 3 cm. Tongue flowers are white, tubular - yellow. Receptacle conical or acute, bare, with a shallowly curved surface, inside the hollow. The wrapper is cristate, multi-row, consists of numerous yellowish-green leaves with blunt tops.

The smell is strong, fragrant, spicy, bitterish.

Art.270 GF X and GOST 2237-75 show the same requirements for raw materials and allow moisture not more than 14%;ash not more than 12%;crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm, not more than 30%;leaves, stems, baskets with peduncles longer than 3 cm not more than 9%;baskets that have lost their normal coloring, no more than 5%;organic impurity not more than 1%;mineral - no more than 0,5%.The content of essential oil should be at least 0.3%.

With an increased content of crushed parts and an organic impurity content of not more than 3%, and mineral content - not more than 1%, raw materials are allowed only for external use.

As an organic impurity most often occur baskets of other composite plants. In the people, all plants with white reed and yellow tubular flowers are called daisies and are therefore collected instead of chemist's daisy or with it. All of them have baskets with an incomplete inside of a flower head, than, first of all, they differ from chamomile. Most often there are inflorescences of scallops, which have bracts on the flower-bud and dissected leaves like chamomile. In the dog's pommel - Anthemis cotu-la L. bracts are thin, narrow and located at the tip of the flower bud with a bundle, the odor is unpleasant, and in the field swine - Anthemis arvensis L. bracts are broader and are located throughout the flower-plant, there is no smell, the sheets are gray. Chamomile perforata( odorless) - Matricaria perforata Meral has a naked but inconspicuous flower. Flowers without a smell. This plant does not have an odor-repelling insect, since it does not contain essential oil, there are no bracts that prevent insect larva from penetrating inside the flower bud, and therefore it is often damaged by insects that lay on the inflorescences of the egg. Of these, larvae are formed, penetrating the flower-root, eating out its parenchyma, and then the flower-root can be mistaken for hollow. When inflorescences are damaged by insects, small dark dots are found on the surface of the flower-potter - holes that lead inside, and inside they are black from pest excreta.

Very rarely can be harvested Niviana vulgaris, or leprechaun - Leucanthemum vulgare Lam., In which the leaves are whole, and the baskets are large, with a diameter of 4-6 cm, with a flat, bare flower base.

In the case of speechless chamomile, the raw material consists of one-piece, circular-conical flower baskets with a diameter of 3-6 mm, without peduncles or with remnants of them no longer than 1 cm. The flowers are only tubular yellowish-violet-green in color. Receptacle naked, oblong-conical, inside hollow. The smell and taste are the same as the chemist's chamomile.

Art.270 GF X and GOST 2237-75 allow: shredded parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm, not more than 20%;leaves, stems and baskets with pedicles 1 cm long, not more than 2%;baskets that have lost their normal color, no more than 8%.The content of essential oil should be at least 0.2%.The rest of the numerical indicators are the same as those of chamomile pharmacy. Chemical composition of .The flowers of chemist's chamomile contain up to 0.8% essential oil, the main constituent of which are the sesquiterpenes a- and p-bizabolol;Chamazulene, which determines the color of the essential chamomile oil, which has a dark blue color;Caprylic, nonyl and isovaleric acids;flavonoids( apion, quercimeritrin, luteolin-7-gluco-kosid, etc.);coumarins - umbelliferone and herniarin;taraxasterol, nicotinic acid, choline, phytosterol, organic acids, bitterness, mucus, carotene, etc.

The flowers of the speechless chamomile contain up to 0.5% of the essential oil that does not have hamazulene, so it is light yellow in color. Among the flavonoids, quercimeritrin predominates, and apigenin and luteollingulcoside are also found.

Action and application of .Chamomile essential oil has a disinfecting effect, reduces the formation of gases in the intestines, relieves pain, relieves inflammation, normalizes the impaired functions of the gastrointestinal tract, and also increases sweating. More details about the application, see here.

It is applied in the form of infusion at the rate of 15 g. Of raw material per 200 ml of water for 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.

Infusion at home is usually cooked like tea( for this purpose, in some countries, for example, the GDR, Bulgaria and Poland, raw materials are produced packed in alginine bags for one-time brewing), but it is better to cook it in a thermos by insisting 1 teaspoon of lightly crushedflowers on 1 glass of boiling water with periodic shaking, since hamazulene is characterized by a slow and difficult solubility in water.

Assign as an antispasmodic agent for diseases of the digestive system, with spastic chronic colitis, flatulence, to stimulate bile secretion. Infusion of 1 teaspoon and 1 glass of water is taken at night for an hour before sleeping as a sleeping pill, and 1 / 2-1 teaspoon of this infusion removes spasms of the intestines, promotes the escape of gases from newborns and the disappearance of pain in the abdomen. This remedy, according to our observations, is much more effective than dill water and other carminative agents. It is also recommended for increased excitability, neuralgic and dental pain, painful menstruation, uterine bleeding, diarrhea, etc.

The liquid preparation of romazulon contains extract and chamomile essential oil, eliminating the need to prepare infusion. Diluting 1.5 tablespoons of the drug in 1 liter of water, get the drug for external use, and a solution of 1/2 teaspoon in a glass of hot water is consumed inside.

The drug Rotokan, containing liquid extracts of chamomile, calendula and yarrow, is prescribed for adults with inflammatory diseases of the oral mucosa and periodontal.

Hamazulen is effective in the treatment of bronchial asthma, rheumatism, allergic gastritis and colitis, eczema, X-ray burns and other diseases. It is a part of cosmetic creams, including children's, having blue color, shampoos and shaving creams.

Externally infusion of chamomile flowers is used to rinse the mouth and throat with tonsillitis, laryngitis and diseases of the mouth, for rinses and lotions for hemorrhoids, with conjunctivitis for eyewash, as compresses for swelling, furunculosis, painful wounds, with damp and difficult to heal dermalrashes, for foot baths with sweating.

Infusion of chamomile flowers without tongue is used only externally. Chamomile flowers are included in the collections prescribed for heart neuroses, peptic ulcer of stomach and duodenum, colitis, constipation, flatulence, chronic hepatitis, cholecystitis, gout, acute laryngitis, rheumatoid arthritis, insomnia.