Useful and healing properties of elecampane high

Family Compositae( Asters) - Asteraceae

Inula - the ancient name of the plant. Species definition is given by the name of Elena - the daughter of Zeus( in Greek mythology), from whose tears the plant grew. The Russian name comes from the "nine forces" that he was endowed with in Russia.

Botanical Description. A perennial herbaceous tall plant with a multi-headed rhizome, from which a few thick and thin accessory roots leave. Stem erect, 100-150 cm high, furrowed, covered with short hairs, simple and only at the top, branching, ends with baskets. Leaves are regular, the lower ones are large, up to 50 cm long, lanceolate on long petioles, the upper ones are sessile, ovate and oblong-ovate. Edge of sheet unevenly dentate. Leaf blades on top of the green, slightly pubescent, from below - velvety-gray. The flowers are yellow, collected in numerous large baskets 7-8 cm in diameter. The marginal flowers are reed, median -

tubular. Wrapper - a multitude of tiny leaves. The fruit is a tetrahedral brown seed with a crest, which is twice as long as it.

Blossoms in July - September. Fruits ripen in August - September.

Geographic distribution. In Byelorussia, it grows along the banks of rivers, lakes, wet meadows, among shrubs, in deciduous forests. Particularly common in the chernozem zone of the European part of the USSR: in Ukraine( except for the Carpathians), in Moldova, the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and also certain regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Devyasil is very popular among the people and is often grown in the kitchen gardens, especially to the north of the black earth zone, where he often wilds.

The main areas of blanks are the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories.

Collection and drying. The whole underground part of elecampane is collected in August-October or early spring, when its first leaves appear. Plants dig up shovels, shake the ground, cut off the stems or break them at the place of attachment to the rhizome. The subterranean organs are quickly washed with water and cut into pieces in length of 3-20 cm, the roots are cut less than 0.5 cm. For rapid restoration of the thickets, several pieces of rhizome, on the top of which there are buds of renewal, are buried in the ground without burrowing them - the upper part of the kidneyshould be covered with a layer of earth not more than 1-2 cm. For the same purpose, one well-developed plant for seed reproduction is left on an area of ​​10-15 m2.

Dry the collected raw material under canopies, in sheds, in attics or in dryers at a temperature of no higher than 50 °, until the rhizomes( as thicker) become hard, and the roots - brittle.

Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw material - rhizome and root of elecampane( Rhizoma et radix Inulae) is a mixture of formless rhizomes and cylindrical roots 2 to 20 cm in length, 0.5 to 3 cm thick, outside longitudinally fine-grained, very hard, gray-brown color. On fresh fracture, brownish shiny dots( receptacles with resin and essential oil) are clearly visible. In this case, a peculiar aromatic odor is especially felt. The taste is spicy, bitter.

GOST 15056-69 allows moisture no more than 13%;ash not more than 10%;the content of flabby roots and rhizomes, the bases of stems and other parts of elecampane are not more than 5%;darkened in the fracture of roots and rhizomes not more than 5%;pieces less than 2 cm long, not more than 5%;organic impurity not more than 0.5%;mineral impurity not more than 1%.

Raw materials that are not harvested in the spring, when large leaves grow or stems appear, contains flabby rhizomes and roots, and if the dried raw material is slowly dried, its natural color changes. Such raw materials are substandard.

Chemical composition. Rhizomes and roots of elecampane contains 1-3% essential oil, the main constituent of which is sesquiterpene alantolactone, besides it contains isoalantolactone, dihydroalantholactone, alanthol, resins, up to 44% inulin, organic acids, stigmasterol, and others.room temperature has the appearance of a yellowish crystalline mass, which is called helenin.

Action and application. Water extracts from roots and rhizomes of elecampane( 5-10 g. Per 200 ml of water) have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, expectorant, choleretic and weak diuretic action, also reduce peristalsis of the intestine, reduce the secretion of gastric juice, improve appetite. It is believed that the main biologically active substance of elecampane is alantolactone and the accompanying terpenoids of essential oil. The accompanying substances supplement and expand the range of its action.

In connection with this, elecampane is mainly used in diseases of the respiratory tract( tracheitis, bronchitis, coughing with sputum);gastrointestinal tract( gastritis with increased secretion, enterocolitis, diarrhea of ​​non-infectious origin, in the absence of appetite, hemorrhoids);liver diseases, as well as skin diseases( non-infectious nature) and difficult healing wounds( without wetting).Alantolactone acts on the ascarid approximately 25 times stronger than santonin. The

recommends also for irregular and painful menstruation. Favorably operates with kidney and liver diseases, as well as with hemorrhoids.

Decoction of the root is prescribed for rinsing with inflammation of the gums, in the treatment of difficult to heal, but not withering wounds externally in the form of rinses, lotions, compresses, baths. In the latter case, take 100 g of roots, boil in 1 liter of water, insist 4 hours, carefully filter through cotton wool.

.Allantone tablets are used for peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum.

Roots and rhizomes of elecampane are included in the collections prescribed for dry pleurisy, cardiac asthma, prostatitis, ulcerative colitis, cholangitis, epilepsy, Graves' disease, cystitis. They are used in folk medicine for the treatment of rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, dropsy, eczema and other skin diseases.