2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Brooch / Rubia / is a genus of herbaceous plants of the Brooch family. There are about 60 species, distributed mainly in the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.
The only representative in Bulgaria is the paint brooch / Rubia tinctorum /, which is why it is often called only "brooch". It is a perennial herbaceous plant. It has a long cylindrical rhizome. It has a black-brown color on the outside and red on the inside. Its flowers are small, yellow-green and grouped.
Its stem is quadrangular. The fruits are strawberry. The plant is known by the names red brooch, brooch, guarantor, mare. It is found in the bushes, near buildings and in yards, mainly in Eastern and Southern Bulgaria as a ruderal.
Composition of a brooch
The brooch contains 2-3.5% di - and trioxyanthraquinone glycosides ruberitric acid and galiosin, xanthopurpurin and others. The breakdown of glycosides produces the dyes alizarin, purpurin, xanthopurpurin. The root of the tree also contains rubiadin - glycoside, erythrocyte (enzyme), organic acids, tannins, pectin, about 15% sugar, protein and traces of oil.
Growing a brooch
The painter brooch grows well in deep, loose and fertile soils, with a significant content of lime and humus. It also grows successfully on light, deep, sufficiently moist sandy-clay soils. The plant needs significant fertilization due to the poor digestibility of its root system. Tolerates well and fresh manure. Preferred precursors for this plant are trench crops.
The paint brooch is propagated by seeds or root cuttings. Seeds collected from plants grown in Bulgaria are unsuitable because our latitude does not allow them to mature. Root cuttings should be 15-18 cm long and planted under a plow or in nests. The green mass from the second year can be mowed, it is a very good fodder for livestock.
Collection and storage of brooch
The roots of are used for medicinal purposes brooch / Radix Rubiae /. The roots of 3-4 year old plants are collected in autumn (September-October), when the terrestrial part of the plant begins to wither. The removal of the rhizomes takes place at the end of the second year, but it is also possible in the third. Removal is done with shovels in February-March or autumn before the frosts.
Cleaned and washed roots, which are dark red on the outside and bright red on the inside, are dried in the sun in the shade or in an oven at a temperature of up to 40 degrees. Well-dried roots break when bent. They should be yellow - red in color. As from wild plants, rhizomes are mainly obtained, and from cultivated - roots. The roots and rhizomes are cut into long curved parts 3-18 mm thick.
They have a weak specific aroma, initially have a sweet taste, which later becomes bitter-astringent. Placed in water, they color it reddish-brown. When cut crosswise, red-brown bark and orange or tile wood are noticed. The humidity of dry roots and rhizomes should not exceed 13%. The activity of the dried herb is about two years.
Benefits of a brooch
Brooch has a diuretic and uterine - cleansing effect. It has a laxative effect and improves digestion. The herb helps treat kidney and bladder stones. It also improves bone formation. It is used for inflammation of the renal pelvis and bladder, weak or no menstruation, for bone disease (rickets), as an aid in some benign anemias, for inflammation of the urinary tract, for diseases of the spleen, for nocturnal urination, helps to expel of body fluids in bone tuberculosis.
Bauer (1924) experimented by giving high doses of ground brooch root to patients and flooding phosphate and oxalate stones with still warm, red urine. He observed the release of bubbles and the visible disintegration of the stones.
According to Sokolov (1984) the main action of the roots of brooch is to destroy stones in the kidneys and bladder. The mechanism of this action is associated with ruberitric acid, which acidifies the urine, as a result of which the stones in the pelvis and urethra are destroyed. Currently, the main importance is given to dyes that interact with phosphates and oxalates of calcium and magnesium.
In addition, these substances reduce the tone of the smooth muscles of the renal pelvis and urethra, while increasing their peristalsis and creating conditions for the release of stones. The herb has anti-inflammatory action in inflammatory processes in the renal pelvis, bladder and joints. It is also used for colitis with diarrhea and to regulate menstruation.
Folk medicine with a brooch
In Bulgarian folk medicine, the decoction of the roots of brooch It is used for thorns, splenic ailments, bone tuberculosis and tuberculous ulcers in the intestines, for abscesses, scrofula, jaundice. To do this, a teaspoon of finely chopped roots boil for 10 minutes in 400 ml of water. The strained decoction is drunk 1 glass of wine before meals 3 times a day. Apart from preparing a decoction, the rhizomes can also be used in the form of a powder, which is taken as much as a corn kernel with a little water before eating 3 times a day.
Our folk medicine also offers the following recipe for brooch extract: A teaspoon of finely chopped dried roots is poured with 250 ml of cold water, left to stand for 8 hours and filtered. The herb is again poured with 400 ml of boiling water, left to stand for 15 minutes and filtered. The two extracts are mixed and taken before meals in 100 ml 4-5 times a day with baking soda. The decoction has a sharp and unpleasant taste, and after taking the urine turns red.
Painting eggs with a brooch
The roots of brooch contain the glycoside alizarin, which is used in the textile industry to dye fabrics red. The roots of the plant are a proven natural tool for dyeing eggs. The eggs are painted relatively quickly and shade from pink to deep red and burgundy. Of course, this depends on the saturation of the solution and the residence time in it.
The recipe for painting eggs with a brooch is as follows: Put a tablespoon of chopped brooch roots in 2 teaspoons of water. Add a little salt and cook with the eggs for ten minutes.
For dark red dyeing of eggs you can try another recipe with a brooch: The rhizome is removed, dried and ground or finely chopped. The crushed roots are soaked in water overnight and boiled for a long time in the morning until the red liquid becomes suitable for dyeing.
Damage from a brooch
Overdose with brooch can cause pain and exacerbation of chronic inflammatory urological diseases. In renal failure and gastric ulcer, the herb is used only on prescription.
