Useful and healing properties of buckthorn alder( brittle)
Family Krushinovye - Rhamnaceae
The generic name comes from the Latin verb frangere - to break, as the wood at the plant is fragile. Species definition in Latin means alder, alder - according to the similarity of the leaves of the buckthorn with the leaves of gray alder.
Botanical Description. Shrub, less often a tree, in height 2-4( 7) m, with the next branching of branches. There are no thorns, unlike the zhoster. Leaves are regular, pointed-elliptical, entire, from the main vein 6-8 pairs of arcuate lateral branches leave. The flowers are small, bisexual, five-membered, located 2-7 in the axils of the leaves. The cup is five-incised, five free greenish-white petals up to 1 mm long. Each petal( with wrapped along the edges) surrounds the anther of the stamen. Pestle is one with the upper two-cavity ovary. Fruit is globose red, and when ripe, almost black seeded drupe, with a diameter of 7-8 mm. Bones two, less often one or three, flattened with a cartilaginous coracoid outgrowth.
Blossoms in May - June. Fruits ripen in August.
The fruits of buckthorn are sweet, but inedible, and they are often called wolf berries.
Geographical spread. It grows in the woods, among shrubs, along the jowls and marshy meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes, often forming large thickets. Distributed in the European part of the USSR, except for the steppe belt, in the Caucasus and in the south of Western Siberia.
The main areas of blanks are in Belarus, Ukraine, Novgorod, Pskov, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Gorky regions and Bashkir ASSR.
Collection and drying. Collection of bark is produced in early spring in the period of sap flow and before the blossoming of flowers. Procurement should be coordinated with the leshoz. If shrubs are subject to destruction, remove the smooth bark with a thickness of no more than 2 mm from all branches. If the plants are not planned for rooting, then make two half-ring incisions at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other and connect them with longitudinal, and then remove the bark in the form of grooves from the bottom up. At the same time, only shrubs with a height of at least 3 m are used. Sometimes a part of branches is cut off by an ax or a large knife, chopped into pieces and then the bark is removed. Repeated harvesting from the same plants is possible in 3-5 years, provided that half of the branches remain. With this thinning, the remaining branches receive more light and there is a rapid growth of new shoots. The greatest yield of bark is given by the buckthorn bush at the age of not less than 15 years.
The bark, covered with bushy or leafy lichens, is not subject to collection. In a pinch, lichens are scraped with a knife.
Dry bark in the shade under canopies, in sheds, in attics, arranging good ventilation until it becomes brittle.
Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw materials - buckthorn bark( Cortex Frangulae) is a tubular or trough-shaped pieces of varying length, 0.5-2 mm thick. The outer surface is dark brown, gray-brown, dark gray or gray with whitish transverse lenticels. With a slight scraping from above, a red layer of the inner plug is detected. The inner surface is smooth, yellowish-orange or reddish-brown. The fracture is light yellow, fine-bristly. When the inner surface of the bark is moistened with calcareous water, an ammonia solution, or any other alkali, a blood-red color appears. Neither the dry bark, nor the broth with the solution of the same-lezone ammonium alum do not give coloring.
The smell is weak, the taste is bitter. When chewing, saliva turns yellow.
Art.183 GF X and GOST 2399-56 produce almost identical requirements for raw materials. The moisture content is not more than 15%;ash not more than 5%;pieces of bark covered with bushy lichens, no more than 1%( GOST allows 2%);pieces of bark with wood residues not more than 1%;pieces of crust thicker than 2 mm not more than 3%;organic and mineral impurities not more than 0.5%.The state standard, in addition, regulates the presence of crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 2 mm, no more than 5%.
The content of extractives extracted by 70% alcohol should be at least 20%.
Chemical composition. The bark of the buckthorn contains up to 8% of anthraglycosides. In the fresh bark the main glycoside is franguloroside, but when dried and stored, it oxidizes to the frangulin;There are also genins( emodin and isoemodine, chrysofanol).In addition, there are free anthranols, triter-foam glycosides, resinous substances, traces of tannins, etc.
The fresh bark of reaction with alkali does not give, but after preliminary treatment with its hydrogen peroxide, the reaction becomes positive, since anthranol-glycosides and free anthranols are oxidized to anthraquinones. Freshly picked and dried bark is not used for medicines, as it irritates the mucous membranes of the stomach, causing pain, vomiting, nausea, which is due to the content of anthranol. Therefore, it is stored in warehouses for one year before use or stored in a drying oven at 100 ° C for 1 hour. The side effect disappears after this treatment.
Action and application. The pharmacological action of the crust of the buckthorn is due to the content of anthraglycosides in it. Under the influence of enzymes and microflora of the large intestine, they decompose, forming emodin and chrysofic acid. The latter irritate the mucosa of the large intestine, which leads to increased peristalsis and emptying it. Laxative effect is manifested 8-12 hours after admission. Preparations of the cortex are prescribed for intestinal atony, chronic constipation in the form of liquid and dry extracts. The first give 20-40 drops per reception, the second - 1 dragee, containing 0.2 g of extract. The drug from the buckthorn is available in tablets called rhamnil. From the bark, also prepare a decoction of 20 g. For 200 ml of water, which take 1 tablespoon in the morning or evening.
It should be remembered that with prolonged use of the drug buckthorn is addictive and the effect is reduced.