Each gardener more than once struggled in the beds with a green weed with large leaves and inflorescences-baskets with small hooks along the edges. This is a biennial plant called burdock. The Aster family, to which it belongs, has 11 species. Almost all of its representatives are considered medicinal plants.
Where is burdock found?
The plant is very common. It can be found in the steppe zones and in forests. Habitat - almost the entire Eurasian continent. This type of burdock can be seen in the Caucasus, in many European countries. In Russia, the plant is distributed even in the Far East and Siberia.
Plant characteristics
Large, small and felt burdock are widespread on the territory of Russia. In the people it is called burdock, burdock. The plant is quite unpretentious, found on roadsides, grows in garbage dumps and under shrubs. Grass leaves, growing, do not allow any plant to grow next to them. If you come across sweeping huge green leaves in your garden, you should know that this is cobweb burdock. A photo of a plant allows you not to confuse it with any other.
Chemical constituents
Traditional medicine has long used the beneficial qualities of the plant to help the sick. After all, its leaves and roots surprise with a rich chemical composition.
| Name | Percentage content | |
| 1 | Fatty oils | 22, 1 |
| 2 | Acids (myristic, palmitic, stearic, linoleic, oleic) | 67, 8 |
| 3 | Insulin polysaccharide | 45 |
| 4 | Protein | 12, 3 |
| 5 | Tannins | 2, 8 |
The leaves of the plant contain bitter substances, mucus, essential oils and trace elements, and they contain many times more vitamin C than in lemon, beet, pepper. Rich in useful ingredients and burdock roots. Annual roots, sweetish in taste, are saturated with essential oils, protein and carotene. They are harvested in the fall, pre-washed, cut into small pieces and dried in the shade.
Use in cosmetology
Many women use burdock oil to strengthen their hair. Its fatty oils and phytosterols have a beneficial effect on hair follicles. Perhaps this is the most affordable tool that can control the work of the sebaceous glands of the head. Even our great-grandmothers knew about this property, so they used cobweb burdock. Photos of the plant can often be seen on bottles withshampoo.
Useful properties
Burdock has a huge number of useful properties. Consider the main ones:
- Wound healing action. The green leaves of the plant are used for burns, after crushing them. Green gruel, having an antibacterial property, promotes the fastest healing, relieves pain.
- Prevention of cancer. Joint research by Indian and Russian chemical scientists confirmed the ability of the plant's roots to help with the manifestations of melanoma. In the presence of internal neoplasms, they take a remedy that includes burdock roots, eggs and butter. May burdock leaves are especially prized.
- Used to support liver he alth. For her diseases, herbal preparations are used, one of the components of which is burdock. The chemical constituents of the plant (carbon tetrachloride and acetaminophen) reduce inflammation and have a beneficial effect on liver cells.
- Help the digestive system. Decoctions of herbs treat such diseases of the digestive system as ulcers, gastritis, dysbacteriosis. The mucous substances of the plant envelop the walls of the esophagus, protecting it from the effects of toxins. Seed infusions cleanse the body while lowering blood glucose levels.
- To support the immune system. During autumn colds, burdock tea increases immune resistance, improves blood circulation, helping the body resist viruses and bacteria.
- Diuretic action. ATIn pharmacy stalls, burdock is a common diuretic, the root system of which is filled with substances that stimulate the kidneys and, as a result, perform the function of removing toxins.
- Help with allergic reactions. The property of the plant to relieve the manifestations of atypical dermatitis, characterized by itching of the skin, is due to the ability of burdock to inhibit genes and improve the quality of immune molecules. Dressings with a decoction of the plant are applied to the affected areas after mosquito and bee bites.
- Anti-infectious property. The active substance polyacetyl, which is part of the phytochemical composition of the grass roots, resists infections, stimulating rapid healing.
- To improve the work of the heart. The high content of vitamin B6 in burdock roots makes this herb essential for maintaining a he althy heart. A glass of warm tea infused with the plant extract will provide your daily dose of this vitamin.
Using the plant for food
Do not rush to remove cobweb burdock from your beds. What kind of plant it is, says the fact that the Japanese specially cultivate it, inventing many delicious diet dishes not only from its leaves, but also from its roots.
Few people know that the root system of a plant accumulates inulin over the summer. Its amount reaches 45%. The substance is classified as dietary fiber, so necessary for normal digestion, acting as a prebiotic. In pharmacology, fructose is obtained from burdock extracts.
Greena lot of herbs are used to make salads, added to side dishes, meat dishes, and chopped roots boiled in milk are put into jam and syrups. Burdock goes well with sorrel in summer salads. Fish dishes with boiled burdock roots have interesting taste qualities. It won't spoil meat dishes either.
In the summer, raw materials are harvested for future use, pickling it with spices and vinegar.
Contraindications
Green burdock leaves and roots should not be used when:
- Hypersensitivity to plant ingredients. Excessive use of ointments and infusions can cause severe allergic reactions.
- During childbearing, women should protect themselves from using burdock ointments.
- Prolonged use of the extract can have the opposite effect.
- Diseases of the digestive system with severe pain colic do not allow the use of grass.
- The herb extracts should not be given to children under the age of 12.
- Overdose of herb extracts can cause altered mental status in both children and adults.
Interesting plant facts
Burdock is an excellent honey plant and is valued by beekeepers.
Under good conditions, the plant is able to exceed the mark of one and a half meters in growth.
Thanks to the hooks on the flowers, a zipper was invented. Prickly inflorescences cling to clothing and animal fur,spreading over long distances from the place of growth, and unpretentiousness allows the grass to grow in any, even the most unsuitable places.
Cooked sourdough from raw burdock can destroy garden pests without using chemicals.
Bread cakes are mixed with rye root flour, and the roasted root is added to coffee drinks.
Inhabitants of the Caucasus and Siberia consider burdock a vegetable plant.
In the common people, phases often sound: “hung ears like burdock”, “simple as burdock”, “fluffed like burdock”, but this does not in the least belittle the positive properties that the plant is capable of giving to a person.
