Rules and time of collection of medicinal raw materials
With , the medicinal raw material needs to be brewed at a time when it contains the maximum amount of biologically active
substances. Their accumulation in the underground organs of plants usually coincides with the accumulation of reserve nutrients, which is usually observed at the end of the growing season - in the fall. The above-ground parts of plants accumulate biologically active substances, from the period of flowering to the formation of fruits. However, this pattern is not without exception.
Blooming of the same types of medicinal plants in different areas of our country, at different latitudes and in different climatic zones occurs non-simultaneously. At the same time, as almonds are already flowering in the valleys of Central Asia, in Belorussia, for example, snow still lies. And even within a relatively small region, there are differences in the timing of the collection of medicinal raw materials. For example, in Gomel, the small-leaved lime blossoms usually on July 1, and in Polotsk - 10 days later. In addition, depending on the weather conditions, the flowering period varies by year. The collection calendar, placed at the end of this book, gives only an approximate idea of the time of collection. However, if you carry out phenological observations every year, you can compile a more accurate calendar of collection of medicinal plants for the area. This is especially important in the case if the collection period is short, as in harvesting grass motherwort, hawthorn flowers and many others.
Aboveground parts of plants are harvested in good weather, as plants moistened with dew or rain deteriorate during drying. Underground organs can be excavated in any weather, because before drying they usually have to be washed.
You should not collect plants along highways, as a large amount of lead accumulates in raw materials, which is unsafe for health.
Kidneys( Gemmae) - unbroken shoots of plants. In trees and shrubs they are formed in the axils of the leaves and at the apex of the stem to autumn. Distinguish the apical buds, which, expanding, contribute to the elongation of the main stem and lateral branches, and axillary ones, of which lateral shoots develop. The buds formed are wintering, and in the spring they swell and start growing. From one kidneys a stem with leaves is formed - they are called leafy, from others - flowers, these buds are called flower buds.
Collect kidneys in early spring in March - April, when they only swelled, but have not yet gone into growth. Birch buds can be collected earlier - from January. Large buds, such as pine, are cut from the branches with a knife, and small ones, such as birch, are cut with branches, dried and threshed or torn off with hands in tarpaulin mittens. Brooms made from branches of birch for household needs are threshed, receiving kidneys. Collecting the kidneys, in any case can not be cut or cut off apical, especially on the top of the main stem.
Poplar collects only leaf buds. The first flowers of this tree bloom, from which the earrings are formed, and the leaf ones are still closed at this time. They are cut with a knife or cut off by hands during the flowering of the plant. It is convenient to do this with the spring pruning of trees.
The bark( Cortex) is the outer part of the stem and root. In medicine, the bark of trees and shrubs is used. It is harvested in early spring during the period of sap flow, in April-May. At this time, cambium cells( on the border of the cortex and wood) swell, and the crust easily flakes. At a later harvest, the cortex is poorly separated from the wood. The collection is subject only to a smooth bark from young branches, the old one contains a lot of cork and little active substances.
The collection should be agreed with the leshoz. In the forestry they will indicate where the oak felling will be done, and the scrubbing of shrubs. When cutting the forest, the bark is removed entirely from all branches. If the plants are used
, and in the future, the strip of bark is left to cause sap flow. To peel off the bark, make two half-ring incisions with a knife at a distance of 20-30 cm, join them 2-3 longitudinal incisions and rip off the bark in the form of grooves. When harvesting bark of buckthorn it is often exfoliated only from the bottom and left in the form of tapes for several days. The dried bark is then removed and dried.
Collected raw bark should not be stacked with grooves one on top of the other. From this it molds and rot.
The bark, covered with bushy or leafy lichens( popularly called "mhami"), it is not necessary to collect. In extreme cases, the lichens are preliminarily scraped with a knife.
Leaves( Folia) are harvested shortly before or during flowering plants. The exception is the leaves of the mother-and-stepmother, which are collected after flowering, since they do not yet exist during flowering;and leaves of some plants, for example watches, which accumulate more biologically active substances after flowering.
Tear off the lower leaves, leaving the top, so as not to damage the flowering and fruit bearing of the plant. Thick juicy stalks that slow down drying or contain few biologically active substances are removed( watch, mother-stepmother, plantain large, etc.).Burning nettle leaves are harvested in gloves or plants are first mowed and torn off the leaves when they and the stems are faded and lose the burning sensation.
When collecting small leathery leaves( bearberry, cranberries, etc.), first cut off the tops of plants, dry them, after which the leaves are cut off, combing the stems, or plants threshed, discarding the stem parts. The final cleaning is done by sieving.
Flowers( Flores) are collected at the beginning of flowering. Collected later, they change their color or crumble after drying. Often commodity experts, this kind of raw materials are mistakenly called flowers. This means individual flowers of plants, as in hawthorn;part of a flower, like a mullein, in which only the corollas are collected;and whole inflorescences, for example, baskets of Compositae( like tansy, chamomile), and linden flowers with a cover sheet, etc.
When harvesting flowers, they are cut without the
flower color, and when collecting baskets of Compositae, combs are combed between the diluted fingers, afterwhat stop the pedicels. When collecting chamomile pharmacy use special crests, scoops.
Compositons of Compositae with reed flowers are collected in the phase of the horizontal arrangement of the latter. The exception is arnica, the inflorescence of which is collected in an earlier phase, namely during the vertical arrangement of reed flowers. Compositae of Compositae with one tubular flowers are collected at the beginning of the opening of the marginal flowers - with centripetal flowering - or at the beginning of the blossoming of the middle flowers - with centrifugal flowering. Such requirements are required because in the cotyledon the colony always contains a supply of nutrients and when drying them in natural conditions, the flowering continues, causing the flowers to separate from the cotyledon, in the presence of crochets they are dissolved, and unripe fruits appear. Increased chopping reduces the quality of raw materials, making it unfit for consumption. The same applies to the collection of herbs of complex plants.
When collecting flowers from trees and shrubs for bending branches use a stick with a hook, for cutting branches - garden knives or scissors( pruners).
Flowers are the most delicate parts of a plant, so they can not be laid tightly in closed containers. It is best to collect in baskets and after collection immediately start drying.
Herbs( Herbae).The term "herbs" in pharmacognosy means olive and flower-bearing stems of herbaceous plants. Collect herbs at the beginning of flowering, cutting the knife or sickle above the ground at the level of the lower leaves. Bared stems do not collect. If plants form pure thickets, they are mowed down with a scythe, and foreign plants are removed before drying. In plants with hard stems, separate leaves( if they are large) and flowering tops( wormwood, turn, sweet clover, etc.) are collected. In semi-shrubs, the aerial part is cut off, dried, after which the leaves and flowers are cut off, and the stems are discarded. It is possible after the drying of the plant threshed to remove the stems, but in this case the medicinal raw material is excessively ground. Thus, in semi-shrubs under
, "grass" means a mixture of leaves and flowers.
Annual plants with too thin and shallow roots( dried wheat flour) or, conversely, with thick but containing many active substances, are collected together with roots( dandelion, celandine).
Fruits and seeds( Fructus et semi pa).Dry fruits and seeds are harvested mature, sifted and dried. Final cleaning is carried out on the windmills. In plants with non-simultaneously blossoming inflorescences, fruit ripening also occurs non-simultaneously. Ripe fruits crumble, which leads to large losses( cumin, coriander, etc.).In this case, the tops of plants are cut at the moment when half of the fruit ripens, then the plants are bundled and suspended for ripening in a dry room. Ripening, the fruits crumble, they can easily be collected, and the dry sheafs can be threshed. To avoid loss, the collection of umbrella fruits should be done early in the morning, when the dew has not yet come off, or in wet weather.
Juicy fruits are removed early in the morning or in the evening, as collected in the day, in extreme heat, they quickly deteriorate. The hips are harvested a few days before full ripening. At this time, the fruit walls are elastic and the fruits do not deform during transport.
The collected fruits are folded into small baskets and quickly delivered to the drying site. They should not contain impurities of leaves, immature, contaminated or spoiled fruit, so they should be sorted during collection, and not before drying, when fruits are easily deformed and slightly moistened.
Juicy fruits in everyday life are often called berries, which does not always correspond to the same botanical term. For example, the fruit of a raspberry is called the national team of a drupe, the bird cherry is a drupe, the dog rose is false, the mountain ash is apple-like;single-seeded dry fruits - seeds.
Underground organs of plants are harvested at the end of summer or in the fall at the end of the vegetative development, when the fruits are ripe and start to crumble. In some plants, the root is harvested( Radix), as in the dandelion, in others - only rhizome( Rhizoma), as in the aura, rhizome and separated from them by the root( Rhizoma et radix), like a bloodlet, rhizome with unseparated roots( Rhizoma cum radicibus), as in valerian, the
club, Tuber, bulb( Bulbus).To restore the thickets of medicinal plants in the hole, formed during the preparation of underground organs, shake the seeds or dig in part of the rhizome.
Underground organs can be harvested in the spring, before the aerial parts move into growth. However, in the spring it is much more difficult to collect them, since the aerial part is not always preserved and it is difficult to determine where the plant grows. When there are shoots with leaves, the formation of which plants expend nutrients, the content of biologically active substances in raw materials is reduced.
In biennial plants, underground organs are collected in the first year of life, in the autumn, from plants that do not have a stem.
Roots and rhizomes are excavated with shovels( marsh plants - forks), shake the ground, cut off the entire above-ground part and wash with water. Thick rhizomes with thin roots( valerian, cyanosis, etc.), to better wash from the ground, cut along 2-4 parts so as not to cut off the roots, separate them and wash with cold running water, very convenient in baskets, immersing them inriver. Taking out and immersing the baskets, drain the dirty water. Rhizomes with roots of cyanosis and other plants containing saponins are washed quickly. Raw materials containing mucus, as the root of the althaea, can not be washed, but at first wilted, then cleaned of cork. Untreated roots can be washed, only very quickly.
When harvesting all organs of plants, it is necessary first to familiarize yourself with the normative technical documentation in order to know what the medicinal raw material should be: the length and thickness of the stem in the herbs, the thickness of the roots, etc.