Useful and medicinal properties of the lily of the valley May
Family Liliaceae - Liliaceae
The generic name comes from Latin and Greek words: convallis - valley and leirion - lily, i.e.lily of valleys, with connection to the habitat and a pleasant smell. Specific definition - from the Latin adjective "May", as the plant blooms in May.
Botanical description. A perennial monocotyledonous herb with a horizontal knotty branchy rhizome, from which thin subordinate roots leave. The stem is shortened, has two, rarely one or three leaves. Leaves are pointed-elliptical or lanceolate, entire-edge with arcuate venation, bright green and shiny. At the base, the leaf blade passes into closed vaginas, which cover each other. From the sinus of the upper sheet comes a three-sided flower arrow 15-20 cm long, which ends with a slightly drooping one-sided brush. Flowers white, fragrant, campanulate, with a six-toothed limb, in number 3-13.Stamens are six, their filaments are attached to the perianth base. Pestle is one, with the upper three-cavity ovary. Fruit is a globose, orange-red berry with three( 2-6) angular seeds.
Blossoms in May - June. Fruits ripen in June - July.
Along with this species is used and lily of the valley Keyzke, growing in the south of the Far East.
Geographical spread. Lilysh mai grows in broadleaf and broadleaf-coniferous forests, less abundant in coniferous-small-leaved forests and their derivatives. In the forest-steppe and steppe zones it occurs along the bottom of beams, on the slopes of hills and mountains. Distributed in the European part of the USSR, except the northeast, in the Caucasus. The main areas of blanks are in Belarus, Ukraine and many areas of the RSFSR.
Collection and drying. Collect leaves and flower arrows - "lily of the valley grass", flowers and leaves. The collection is conducted during flowering, and the leaves can be collected before flowering. When harvesting grass, plants are cut at a height of 3-5 cm from the soil. To preserve the thickets of the lily of the valley, it is necessary to leave at least one plant per 1 sq. Km.m, and also strictly to ensure that when harvesting the plants are not cut off, but cut off. When harvesting flowers, bouquets are torn off, after which the flower arrow is cut off at the level of the lower flower.
Collectors should remember that the plant is poisonous.
Dry raw materials in attics, in rooms with good ventilation or in dryers at a temperature of 50-60 °, laying out a thin layer and often a tedder. Drying should be done on the day of collection and be carried out quickly, because after cleavage the glycosides are cleaved, and the activity of the raw material is sharply reduced.
Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw materials are of three types: flowers( inflorescences) - Flores Convallariae, Folium Convallariae leaf and lily of the valley grass - Herba Convallariae. Each of them contains dry organs of the described structure, but grass is used more often than others.
Art.322 GF X regulates the quality of raw materials, depending on the presentation.
1. Grass. Moisture is not more than 14%;inflorescence not less than 5%;crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 3 mm, not more than 3%;raw materials that have lost their normal coloring, no more than 5%;organic impurity not more than 1%;mineral - no more than 0,5%.Biological activity is not less than 120 ICE.
2. Leaves. The requirements are the same, except for additional information about inflorescences. Biological activity is not less than 90 ICE.
3. Flowers. Moisture is not more than 12%;inflorescences with blooming flowers not more than 5%;flower arrows, having a length of more than 3 cm below the last flower, not more than 4%;integral and broken flower arrows without flowers not more than 1%;organic impurity not more than 0.5%;Mineral - no more than 0,3%.Biological activity is not less than 200 ICE.
Chemical composition. The above-ground parts of the lily-of-the-valley contain at least eight cardiac glycosides, the main of which are konvalyatoxin, konvalaza-zid, desglyukheyrotoxin, vallarotoxin. Glycosides are accompanied by steroid saponins, flavonoids( 3-gly-
isozarnetine, quercetin and kaempferol), organic acids, and in flowers - essential oil. Glycoside konvallyatoksin with acid or enzymatic hydrolysis gives sugar rhamnose and genin strophan-tyidine.
Action and application. The main biologically active substances of lily-of-the-valley preparations are glycosides konvalatoksin and konvalazid. The first on biological activity surpasses other cardiac glycosides. The effect of lily-of-the-valley preparations is primarily directed to the cardiovascular system. The mechanism of action is the same as that of other cardiac glycosides. As a result of the normalization of the heart, the excretory function of the kidneys improves, which leads to a reduction in swelling( if any).In addition, they have a calming effect on the central nervous system.
In contrast to digitalis, lily-of-the-valley preparations have a "milder" effect on the myocardium, are less toxic and do not have the ability to accumulate in the body. They are widely prescribed for compensated defects, heart neuroses, thyrotoxicosis in the form of a tincture of 15-20 drops 3 times a day, or a preparation of a corglion containing all the glycosides of the lily of the valley. The latter is widely used in the clinic in acute decline of cardiac activity intravenously in combination with a solution of glucose. Often, lily of the valley preparations are combined with preparations of valerian, motherwort, hawthorn, belladonna, bromides, menthol.