2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Bitter grass / Fumaria officinalis L. / is an annual herbaceous plant of the Rosopas family. In different parts of Bulgaria the herb is known as smoky grass, dimyanka, rabbit's tail, kosopas, medicinal rosopas, fox, rooster pants, samodivski basil, shhtare, frank licorice, shefteriche.
The stem of the bitter grass is 15-30 cm high, tender, hollow, ridged, bluish-green, branched. The leaves are consecutive, double pinnately cut, blue-green. The flowers are purple-red erect, in dense clusters at the tops of the stems and branches. The petals are 4. The fruit of the plant is a globular nut, slightly concave at the top.
The bitter grass blooms from April to June. It is found in grassy places, weeds in crops, in uncultivated and abandoned places. It is spread all over the country up to 1000 m above sea level. Apart from Bulgaria, bitter grass is also found throughout Europe.
History of bitter grass
One of the names of the plant - smoke, due to the fact that its whitish, blue-green color resembles smoke rising from the ground. According to Pliny, the herb is called dimyanka because the juice of the plant causes such a flow of tears that the view is obscured as if by smoke. Hence the use of the herb against certain eye diseases. According to ancient sorcerers, when a plant is burned, its smoke drives away evil spirits and dark forces.
Composition of bitter grass
Bitter grass contains up to 1% mixture of isoquinoline (styloptin, protopine, cryptopine), spirobenzylisoquinoline (fumarophycin, perfume, fumaritrin, etc.), alkaloids, etc.
Collection and storage of bitter grass
The stems of are used for medical manipulations bitter grass / Herba Fumariae /, which are harvested from May to July. When picking the herb should not be mixed with the other 6 species of the genus that grow in our country. They are characterized by sepals no longer than 1 mm (F. parviflora, F. vaillantii, F. schleicheri and F. schrammii), with outstretched and curled fruiting stalks (F. thuretii and F. kralikii), and with pointed or rounded but not concave at the top nuts.
After the collected material is cleaned of accidental impurities, it is dried in ventilated rooms in the shade, spreading in a thin layer on frames or mats. However, it is best to dry the drug in an oven at a temperature of up to 45 degrees. From about 7 kg of fresh stalks 1 kg of dry ones is obtained. The processed and packaged herb is stored in dry and ventilated rooms, separate from non-poisonous plants.
Benefits of bitter grass
The herb is used mainly as an antispasmodic and analgesic for biliary dyskinesia, gallstones. It is also used as an appetite stimulant and tonic for the intestines in atonic constipation, hemorrhoids, scrofula, as a means of weight loss and others.
Bitter grass also helps with intestinal weakness, skin rashes, bad breath, fluid retention. The herb is also used for hepatitis, cystitis and cholecystitis, kidney stones, gout, pulmonary tuberculosis. Externally applied for skin problems, wrinkles or conjunctivitis (lavage). The plant is used in folk medicine in many countries against herpes, hysteria, infectious diseases and acne.
Bitter grass used in the form of capsules, extracts, infusions or tea. There are also preparations with choleretic and choleretic action, prepared from the herb. Bitter grass stimulates the formation and secretion of bile, normalizes the motor-secretory function of the digestive tract, increases appetite. The herb has a beneficial effect on the heart, normalizes metabolism, has a diuretic, sweating and expectorant effect, increases the overall tone of the body.
In Central Asia, another variety of bitter grass / Fumaria Vaillantii Loisl / is used for malaria, as a diuretic and for the treatment of skin diseases. The fruits of the plant are used as a means of prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases of the female genitalia.
In Iran, they use bitter grass for general weakness, headaches. Baths are prepared from it. Externally, rinsing is also done for skin rashes, acne, herpes and wounds. The plant purifies the blood, is used successfully in tapeworms, and sometimes even as an aphrodisiac.
In German folk medicine, the infusion of bitter grass is used in diseases of the liver, kidney stones, inflammation of the bladder, edema, ulcers, stomach, constipation, scurvy.
Apart from being a medicine, bitter grass can also serve as a source for obtaining yellow and green paint.
Folk medicine with bitter grass
Bulgarian folk medicine recommends a decoction of bitter grass as an antispasmodic in liver and bile diseases.
About 1 teaspoon bitter grass is boiled with 400 ml of boiling water. It stays for 1 hour. Strain and drink 1 cup of coffee 3 times a day before meals.
One tablespoon of the herb is boiled in half a liter of water for 5 minutes. Drink one glass of wine from the decoction before meals, 4 times a day.
Our folk medicine offers another recipe for a decoction of bitter grass: 2 teaspoons of the herb are poured with 500 ml of cold water, leave to soak for 8 hours and strain. This is the dose for one day, take up to 3 glasses a day. The rest of the strainer is used for warm paws.
Fumaric acid, which is one of the active substances in the composition of bitter grass, regulates the skin's metabolism. This makes the decoction of the herb suitable for the treatment of psoriasis, itching and skin lichens. Poor peristalsis or difficulty urinating are also relieved by bitter herb tea.
To do this, pour 1 tsp. dried chopped leaves of the medicinal plant with 1 tsp. boiling water. Wait for it to soak for 10 minutes before straining it. Since tea has a bitter taste, you can sweeten it with honey. The other option is, after it cools down, to make a non-alcoholic cocktail together with apple or other type of natural fruit juice.
To improve intestinal peristalsis, pour a tablespoon of oregano and a tablespoon of bitter grass with a teaspoon of boiling water. Cover the dish with a lid and set aside for about half an hour. After filtering, take 1/4 cup of the liquid three times a day.
Put a few petals of bitter grass in a blender. Strain the resulting juice. Take one incomplete teaspoon after meals three times a day if you have liver problems.
For the treatment of skin diseases Russian folk medicine offers the following recipe: Mix one part of fresh juice from the leaves of bitter grass with three parts lard or Vaseline. The resulting ointment is applied to the problem areas twice a day. The same remedy helps with hair loss.
Harms of bitter grass
In larger doses bitter grass may cause poisoning. The herb can damage the central nervous system, cardiovascular and digestive systems, so it should not be used for self-medication, but only with a doctor's prescription and under the supervision of a doctor. Taking large doses of the drug can also cause diarrhea.
Recommended:
Cereal Grass - The Superfood And All The Benefits
Triticum aestivum is the Latin name of winter wheat. This one wheat grass It is considered a superfood because it has many health benefits. It is usually consumed in the form of fresh juice, but can also be purchased in powder form. On fresh wheatgrass juice however, it is seen as a living food.
Exotic Dishes With Lemon Grass
Lemongrass is a spice that represents the leaves of a perennial herb. It can be used fresh, dried and ground to a powder. Lemongrass has a pronounced lemon flavor and is very popular in countries in Southwest Asia, such as India, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as in the Caribbean.
Duck Grass
Duck grass / Polygonum aviculare / is an annual herbaceous plant of the Lapadovi family. The herb is also known as goose grass, red bean, wild bean, chicken herb, pachina, bean, cob, hen, yarrow, tansy, lizard, enevichka, marigold, duck feathers, cuttlefish, yarrow, rhubarb herb, haidushka yarrow, juniper.
Garlic Grass
Garlic grass / Alliaria petiolata / is a biennial herbaceous plant of the cruciferous family. In different parts of Bulgaria the herb is also known as cream, spoon, garlic. Garlic grass usually has an unbranched stem, reaching 1 m in height.
Picnic: Let's Take Out The Lunch Baskets On The Grass
The good days are here again. The sun is warm, the flowers rejoice, the trees sprinkle the green freshness of the world. Now is the time to take out her tablecloths lunch baskets on the grass. A common practice today, the picnic is almost as old as humanity.
