Useful and medicinal properties of the Moldovan snake
Synonyms: motherhood, Turkish melissa, dragon head.
Description. Annual herbaceous plant of the family of the clearing( Lamiaceae) about 55-80 cm high. The stem is tetrahedral, erect, branched. Leaves opposite, petiolate. The flowers are pale violet, located by ring circles around the stems, form a racemose inflorescence on the main stalk and on the lateral branches. Seeds are small, oblong, dark brown, up to 3 mm in length and 1.5 mm in diameter.
Medicinal raw materials: grass.
Biological features. Flowering and maturation of seeds is uneven: it starts from the lower layers and gradually rises.
Distribution. In the wild, the snakehead occurs in Europe and Asia( Mongolia, Western Himalayas).In the CIS, it grows in the Altai Territory, the Baikal region, Western and Eastern Siberia. In the wild state, a weed occurs in Ukraine, Belarus and the Volga region( Saratov and Volgograd regions).It grows on gravelly, stony slopes.
In culture, the snakehead was cultivated in the Volga region, in the south-west of Ukraine, in the Crimea, the Krasnodar Territory, Transcaucasia, etc.
Chemical composition. In the dry leaves of the snakehead, there is an essential oil, one of the components of which is aldehyde citral( 40-50%).The outlet of the essential oil from the snakehead varies depending on cultivation conditions from 0.078 to 0.784% on wet weight and from 0.235
to 2.8% by dry weight. In addition, the snakehead contains up to 20% of the fatty drying oil.
Application. The snakehead is used in perfumery, confectionery, soap and alcohol industry. It is cultivated primarily for the production of essential oil, from which citral is obtained. The latter determines the lemon scent of the snakehead and is the source of the production of the ionone used in the manufacture of the best varieties of soap and perfume. In folk medicine, he is a substitute for lemon balm.
Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Under the snakehead, clean, weed-free, fertile soils should be removed. The best forerunners are winter crops that go through fertilized steams, and row crops.
Soil treatment. The main soil cultivation is carried out according to the general rules of the system of autumn plowing. In September, deep plowing by 22-25 cm is required. Deep plowing on plowing after row crops is carried out immediately after harvesting. In early spring, the moisture is closed by harrowing. After that, the soil is ready for sowing. In the case of strong soil compaction, additional cultivation and harrowing are necessary.
Application of fertilizers. Organic or mineral fertilizers are applied to fall plowing from this calculation: manure or compost is 15-30 t / ha, ammonium nitrate 0.8-1.0 c / ha, superphosphate 2.0-2.5 c / ha andPotassium salt - 0,8-1,0 c / ha. If organic fertilizers have not been introduced since the fall, then the necessary amount of mineral fertilizers should be introduced under the pre-planting soil treatment in the spring.
Reproduction. The snakehead reproduces by sowing seeds in the soil in spring or under winter. Spring sowing should be carried out as early as possible. Method of sowing is wide-row or belt( one- or two-line).In the latter case, the distance between the bands should be 40-50 cm, and between the lines of 18-25 cm. The best results are given by a two-line tape method of seeding. At the same time, a larger number of plants are produced per hectare than with broad-seeded sowing. The seeding rate for belt sowing is 8-10 kg / ha, and for broad-row sowing - 5-6 kg / ha. The seeding depth is 2-3 cm. The sub-winter crops are produced in late autumn before frosts.
Care of plantations consists in systematic loosening of rows with simultaneous weeding of weeds in rows. To obtain high yields, two or three additional fertilizing with organomineral fertilizers should be carried out.
Harvesting. The snakehead is cleaned at the beginning of flowering, and the collection is subject only to leaves and flowers. There are two ways to clean: on a wet( green) mass and on a dry mass. In the first case, cleaning is carried out during the appearance of buds and not later than the beginning of flowering. The harvested mass is immediately processed to avoid large losses of essential oil. By harvesting on a dry mass proceed somewhat later, i.e.at the beginning of flowering. In both cases, harvesting is done by conventional reapers, and in small areas by hand.
After drying, the snakehead is sent for processing or piled in stacks of 8 m long, 4 m wide and 5 m high for temporary storage. The moisture content of dry grass should not exceed 16-18%.The average yield of the green mass of the snakehead is 80-120 c / ha, and the dry grass is 15-20 c / ha.
Seed growing. To obtain seeds, the best specimens of the snakehead are selected from the best technical plantations along the grass stand or lay special seed plots on more fertile soils. The testes are removed with a header or just a scythe, when the seeds become brown. To prevent large losses of seeds, cleaning should be carried out in cloudy weather or in the early morning by dew. During harvesting, the plants are bundled into sheaves and put into the worts for three to four days to dry. Threshing is made with a grain thresher. After threshing the seeds are cleaned on the winder and finally dried under a canopy on the tarpaulin. The average yield of the seeds of the snakehead is 7-15 centners per hectare.