Useful and medicinal properties of juniper

Family Cypress - Cupressaceae

It is believed that the generic name comes from the Celtic jeneprus - prickly and characterizes the leaves of the juniper. Species definition means "ordinary".

Botanical Description. A coniferous evergreen de

is a birch or shrub with a height of up to 8 m( in some cases, up to 12 m).Most often, the height of plants does not exceed 3.5-4 m. The crown is conical in trees, in the shrub forms it is ovoid or conical. The kidneys are naked, surrounded by pressed and shortened leaves. The shoots are reddish-brown. The bark is grayish-brownish, cracked. The leaves are assembled in whorls of 3, subulate, linear-lanceolate, 1-1.5 cm in length and 0.7-1.5 mm in width, on top are shallow-dermal, with one broad whitish stomatal band, from below glisteningly green, with bluntkeel, dense, at the end extended in a prickly point. The plant is dioecious. Male microsporangia have the form of small oval spikelets of yellow color, located in the axils of leaves on last year's shoots. Female shishechki are located in the axillary shortened branchlets and consist of several tiers of mutes often located( 3) cheshuyu, but only on the upper whorl formed three fruiting seed scales in the sinus of each of which is one ovule. After fertilization, the scales of the upper layer coalesce among themselves and with the seeds, forming a globular juicy pine cone of black and blue color( sometimes with a blue bloom), 5-9 mm in diameter, with 1-3 seeds of elongate-ovate form. Shishko-berries ripen only in the second or third year, therefore on the same plant there are both green and black-blue "fruits".Mature cones are sweet, with an aromatic odor.

Juniper "blossoms" in May, mature pine cones collect only in the second year, in autumn.

Geographical spread. Juniper grows in the undergrowth of pine, spruce and mixed forests, most often on sandy soils. Forms thickets at the site of felling. On poor soils there are so-called juniper wastelands. The plants develop superbly and abundantly bear fruit on the sandy mounds of Polissya.

Juniper grows in the forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of the USSR, in Western and Eastern Siberia. In the Caucasus, he does not occur.

Easily tolerates shading, but it develops better in lighted areas. Well adapted to various conditions and very unpretentious: not afraid of

frost, drought, growing on sandy, limestone, loamy dry and moist soils.

occurs in the middle belt of the European part of the USSR, in Siberia. Particularly abundant in the north and north-west of the European part of the USSR and in the Carpathians.

Juniper is very sensitive to air pollution, which is often absent or very depressed in the forests of the surroundings of large cities.

The main procurement areas are in Lithuania, Belarus( especially in the western regions), Western Ukraine, Sverdlovsk, Perm, Kirov regions and the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Juniper as a medicinal plant was known in ancient Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages it was considered almost universal medicine. The famous Italian doctor of the XVI century, Pietro André Mattioli( Mattiolus) stressed the effectiveness of using juniper as a diuretic and uterine agent. He also prescribed a bath of juniper broth for gout.

Collection and drying. In the fall, they collect mature pine cones. Under the bushes spread a canvas, tarpaulin or other cloth, on which the shishkyagods are shaken, lightly striking the branches with a stick or a piece of a soft rubber hose. Collected pineal glands are picked, separating them from leaves and other parts of the plant. Drying is done only in the air - in the attics( by opening the ventilation windows), under a canopy, on shaded verandas.

Medicinal raw materials. The fruits of juniper( Fruc-tus Juniperi) are spherical or globular-oval fruits, often slightly dented on the sides, 6-9 mm in diameter, smooth, shiny( less dull), dark brown or almost black, sometimes with bluish-gray waxyon the fly. At the top of the fruit there are three converging grooves, two three-leafed whorls from brown scales are visible under the magnifying glass. Pulp is greenish-brown, in it are 1-3 seeds of oblong-trihedral shape, convex from the outside and flat on adjoining sides.

The taste of the pineal is sweet, spicy, aromatic, peculiar.

GOST 2802-69 allows: moisture not more than 20%;ash not more than 5%;admixtures of brown fruits not more than

9.5%;green fruit not more than 0.5%;impurity of needles, other plant parts, foreign berries not more than 1%;mineral impurity not more than 0.5%.

The content of essential oil in raw materials should not be less than 0.5%.

Raw materials are packed in bags weighing not more than 45 kg. Store on podtovarnikah in a dry, well ventilated room, separately from other types of raw materials.

When collecting juniper fruit, an ordinary admixture of pine cones of a poisonous juniper of Cossack is not allowed. Distinctive features: in Cossack juniper leaves are not acicular, but scaly, 1-2 mm long, stupid, pairwise opposite, tightly pressed to branches, have a sharp unpleasant smell, the pineal is several times longer than the leaves( in juniper they are 2-3 timesshorter than the needles).

Chemical composition. Fruits contain 2% of essential oil, which includes a-pinene, camphene, cadinene, dipentene, atpineol, terpinelene, borneol, isoborneol, unipercamphorus, hydrocarbon juen( Ci0HI6), etc. The total pharmacological effect is also caused by flavonoids( mainly flavone glycosidesand anthocyanins), resins( about 8%), organic acids( including glycolic acid), inositol, potassium salts. Raw materials are very rich in sugar( 30-40%, mainly glucose).Found TEKZH6 wax( 0.6-0.7%), pectins, tannins, pentosans( about 6%), fatty oil, etc.

Action and application. Essential oil has a strong diuretic and disinfectant effect. It is believed that they are due mainly to the terpineol and the young. A similar action, although weaker, is also characteristic of water-infusing fruits. Another component of essential oil, apinene, proved to be an effective antihelminthic agent. When applied externally( as an ointment or rubbing), the essential oil produces an irritating and distracting effect that was previously used in the treatment of rheumatism and radiculitis.

Infusion of juniper fruit( 10-12 crushed dry fruits pour 1 cup boiling water, insist until cooled, take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day) is used as a diuretic for edema, choleretic and food-improving

cooking. It also exerts an expectorant, mild sedative effect and partly promotes lactation( the formation of milk in lactating women).

Fruits are included in the fees prescribed for amenorrhea, arthritis, bronchial asthma, glomerulus-nephritis and nephritis, gout, kidney stone disease, rheumatism, cholecystitis and others.

Internal use of juniper fruit is contraindicated in the inflammatory processes of the kidneys, renal pelvis and bladder, as essential oil irritates the renal parenchyma, which increases inflammation, as well as to pregnant women, because they increase the flow of blood to the pelvic organs.