Useful and medicinal properties of wild strawberry
Family Rosaceae - Rosaceae
The generic name is mentioned by ancient authors. It is formed from the Latin verb fragere - to smell( because of the pleasant smell of fruits).
Species definition in Latin means "small", "small" because of the size of the fruit.
Botanical description. A perennial herbaceous plant with a short, coral-like rhizome and creeping shoots, which, taking root, give rise to new plants. Leaves are triple, located on a shortened shoot and form a rosette rosette. The flowers are white, collected in the corymbose inflorescence on the top of the peduncle, devoid of leaves. Calyx with subgrade, 5 outer sepals and 5 internal sepals. Corolla with 5 white petals. Stamens and pistils are many. Fruit is a false red berry, with a delicate pleasant aroma, on the surface of which sit fruit-achenes.
Blossoms in May - June. Fruits ripen in June - July.
Geographical distribution. It grows almost all over the USSR.It occurs on forest fringes, felling, where it is especially abundant, in forests, on the slopes of mountains and hills. Widely found in Belarus.
Collection and drying. Collect leaves with a short remainder of the petiole or without it, so as not to damage the plant, tear off, holding one petiolar, or cut with a knife or scissors. Collect all the leaves can not, as this will damage the fruit bearing, and the fruits of strawberries are especially appreciated and they bring people not only pleasure, but also enhance health.
The strawberry fruit is also harvested as a medicinal raw material.
Fresh fruits in the form of gruel are now recommended( on the advice of MA Nosal) for treatment of the eczema in combination with
with other agents. And they are dried usually in ovens at a temperature of no higher than 60 ° C.
Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw materials - a sheet of strawberry Folium Fragariae consists of crumpled and folded, whole or partially broken leaves. They are complex with the rest of the petiole with a length of not more than 1 cm, consisting of three leaves with a length of 1.5 to 6 cm, a width of 1.6 to 4 cm. Leaflets are ovoid with a jagged margin. On the underside of them, the yellowish main and lateral veins of the first order are sharply prominent.
Leaves on top with sparse hairs, below - more pubescent. The color from above is green or dark green, from below - grayish or bluish-green. The smell is weak, the taste is astringent.
FS 42-134-72 allows a moisture content of not more than 13%;screening through a sieve with a hole diameter of 3 mm is not more than 5%;browned and blackened leaves not more than 2%;leaves with remains of petioles longer than 1 cm not more than 5%;other parts of strawberries, flower stems, fruits, etc., not more than 5%;organic impurity not more than 1%.
As an organic impurity, parts of other non-poisonous plants and leaves of strawberries of green, or semis, Fragaria viridis Duch can be found. It grows in the southern belt of the European part of the USSR, the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia.
The leaves of this plant are larger, dark green on top, shiny on both sides covered with shiny hairs, especially below the veins.
The second type of raw material - fruits of strawberry( Fructus Fragariae) consists of ovoid red or brownish-red, with a wrinkled surface of false fruit, which is often incorrectly called "berries".On the surface of their well-marked small, dry, oblong-conical achenes.
Chemical composition. The strawberry leaf contains vitamin C( up to 250-280 mg per 100 g of fresh leaves), tannins, flavonoids( mainly derivatives of quercetin and kaempferol), traces of alkaloids.
Fruits contain up to 50 mg of vitamin C, up to 0.5 mg of carotene per 100 g of fresh fruits, traces of vitamin B [null, flavonoids( galactoside pelargonidin and cyanidin glycoside), malic and salicylic acids, sugars, up to 1.5% pectin substances, aromatic
compounds with a lemon scent, tannins, etc.
Action and application. Biologically active substances of the strawberry leaf have a diuretic effect. In addition, they slow down the rhythm and increase the amplitude of the heart, expand the blood vessels, increase tone and increase uterine contraction.
Apply in the form of infusion from 20 g. Raw materials for 200 mg of water for 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day for gout( promotes the removal of salts from the body), with kidney stone disease, liver and spleen diseases, atherosclerosis.
In the absence of other means, the infusion of the sheet can be used as an antiscorbutic agent.
The presence of tannins explains the effect of leaf decoction in the same concentration as infusion, with diarrhea, inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal tract. Decoction is also shown in night sweats.
Outwardly, the decoction is prescribed in the form of poultices with hemorrhoids, in the form of compresses - with damp and bleeding wounds, for rinsing the oral cavity as a deodorant.
Fruits of strawberries have a diuretic effect and are used for gout, kidney stone disease, and also as a vitamin remedy.
Juice made from strawberry fruit and whipped egg whites is used in the form of cosmetic masks.
It is necessary to take into account the individual increased sensitivity of individuals to strawberries, which manifests itself in allergic reactions.