Horse sorrel (horse sorrel, frog sorrel, horse sorrel) is a plant common throughout Russia. It won't be difficult to find him. It grows everywhere: in fields, forest edges and even along roadsides. This plant has been used in folk medicine since ancient times and almost everywhere.
Description
Horse sorrel, whose medicinal properties and contraindications are well studied, is from the buckwheat order. This is a perennial with a strong, many-headed and highly branched rhizome, with a long and fairly powerful root. It is the root that allows the plant to live and bear fruit for more than one year. Once planted in the garden, this plant is almost impossible to breed.
The upper part of the horse sorrel is herbaceous, with rather large alternate leaves, in the lower part - large-petiolate, having a heart-shaped shape. In the upper part, the leaves are short-petioled, with an ovate-lanceolate shape.
Flowering
The plant blooms inconspicuous whitish-greenishbisexual flowers, which are collected in tall and rather dense panicles. Horse sorrel seeds are small, having three faces, 4-8 mm in size, chestnut, mostly light in color.
Sorrel begins flowering in the second half of May and continues until mid-July, at this time the fruit ripens. But sometimes it can also re-bloom. In this case, seed ripening occurs in August-September.
Reproduction
Most of the reproduction of horse sorrel occurs with the help of seeds, but it can also be vegetative, that is, by dividing rhizomes. This is what led to the fact that it can be found everywhere. Sorrel is classified as a weed that grows everywhere. But there is one condition under which sorrel feels good - moderate humidity. With an increased content of water in the soil, it disappears.
Useful properties
This unpretentious plant is not in vain popular. Nature has endowed it with many useful substances. First of all, this:
- A number of vitamins, including ascorbic acid, vitamins B and K.
- Carotene.
- Essential oils.
- Organic acids, such as oxalic and pyrogallic.
- Organic matter: calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus.
- Tannins and anthraquinone (derivatives).
Not knowing the chemical composition of this plant, since ancient times people have used the medicinal properties of horse sorrel, using it in the form of decoctions, tinctures for various diseases. Laterit has also been used for food. This was facilitated by a pleasant sour taste. Gradually, sorrel became a cultivated plant that replenished the body's need for nutrients.
What parts of sorrel are used in medicine
For the preparation of medicines, both the aboveground and underground parts of the plant, as well as branches and seeds, are used. But the most useful is the root of horse sorrel, it contains the largest amount of nutrients. Seeds are harvested after full maturity.
The aerial part, seeds and leaves, harvested from April to May. The underground part, the root, is dug up in the fall, when the leaves and stems have dried up or when they have not yet formed, that is, in early spring. Raw materials are dried in a draft, avoiding direct sunlight, it is best to do this with a canopy. After complete drying, they are crushed and packaged in dry glassware or clean canvas bags.
In what cases is horse sorrel used
The healing properties of horse sorrel have been well known since ancient times. Moreover, they are recognized as folk and official medicine. The action of the aerial part of the sorrel is slightly different than the underground. Let's talk first about the use of this plant, it is used:
- For chronic constipation. With significant doses of sorrel consumption, the effect of a laxative is pronounced. To do this, use the root. The effect of the application occurs 8 hours after ingestion.
- Maybethe use of horse sorrel for diarrhea. This is achieved by taking small doses of the seed decoction, in rare cases small doses of the leaf decoction.
- To achieve a slight choleretic effect, a decoction of the root is used.
- For skin diseases. A decoction of sorrel in wine helps against lichen.
- Anthelminthic, anthelmintic.
- In the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
- As a hemostatic and wound healing. These properties are possessed by an extract from horse sorrel or, as it is customary to call it, a herbal preparation.
- Horse sorrel liquid extract has a calming effect and lowers blood pressure.
- In case of toothache, inflammation of the pharynx, throat, with catarrhs of the upper respiratory tract, a decoction of the leaves rinses the mouth.
- For coughs, runny nose, inflammation of the sinuses, headaches, it is used as rubbing with freshly squeezed sorrel juice or its extract.
- In case of gynecological diseases, the juice or extract of the plant is used for douching.
- As bactericidal.
- As an anti-inflammatory.
Medical use
Healing properties and contraindications horse sorrel has the same as any plant. Tinctures, decoctions, powder from crushed roots, extract, extracts, ointments are made from it. At home, fresh sorrel juice, decoctions, tinctures, and dry powder are most often prepared. The leaves are used fresh for cooking. They serve as a supplier of vitamins and minerals. Keep in mind the contraindicationshorse sorrel.
Preparing a decoction of sorrel parts
This is the most common horse sorrel-based medicinal preparation. It is taken orally, lotions are made from it for skin diseases and enemas for hemorrhoidal bleeding. Here are some cooking recipes:
Recipe 1. For it, you need to take 1 tablespoon of dry crushed roots, pour them into a container, pour 250 ml of boiling water into it, close the container with a lid and let it brew for 30 minutes. Squeeze and strain. Ready broth to use 4 times a day for 1 table. spoon. Recommended for rectal fissures, hemorrhoids, colitis.
Recipe 2. Put 1.5 tablespoons of crushed sorrel roots in a saucepan, pour 350 ml of boiling water, then boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, close the lid and leave for 20 minutes. We squeeze and squeeze. Apply a decoction of 100 ml 3 times a day. Its use normalizes the blood circulation of the brain.
Recipe 3. Take 1 tablespoon of sorrel seeds, put in a metal cup, pour a glass of boiling water and put on fire. Boil for 10 minutes, remove from heat and leave to infuse for 1 hour. We filter the broth. We apply 50-70 mg 3 times a day. Used for bloody diarrhea.
Powder preparation
When taking horse sorrel, you can often hear that it is much more useful to take dry powder inside, since when heated, some of the nutrients are simply lost. The powder is recommended for anemia, for constipation as a preventive measure, fornormalization of the digestive tract. An ointment is prepared from it for external use for certain skin diseases, for example, scabies, lichen, and for wound healing. An ordinary coffee grinder is suitable for making sorrel powder.
Preparation of tincture
To prepare a product from sorrel for future use and facilitate the administration of the drug, since it will not be necessary to specially prepare it before each use, a tincture of sorrel root will do. This will require 2 tables. spoons of raw materials and 8 tablespoons of vodka, which we mix in a small, tightly closed container. We leave for 2 weeks in a dark place for infusion. After that, we filter, and the tincture is ready for use. Consume 3 times a day before meals, 20 drops each.
Eating
Since time immemorial in many countries, after a long winter, people have been gathering horse sorrel plant in the fields. In the future, it began to be cultivated and grown. For example, in France, more than 50 species of sorrel are planted annually. In the old days in Russian villages it was not possible to find a garden where this plant would not grow. It was used in the spring to replenish the body with useful substances.
In Russian cuisine there are many recipes for pies and pies with sorrel, sour cabbage soup with sorrel, sour cream and eggs. In France, warm salads and sauces are prepared from it. In the UK, it is stewed and fried like cabbage for a side dish. In Central Asia, it is used for baking cakes.
In many other countries it is used as a component in salads. Particularly widely useddry leaves of horse sorrel in Armenia and Azerbaijan for cooking various dishes. The fact is that when dried, sorrel practically loses a little bitterness, acquiring an unusual taste.
Contraindications
Like any other plant, sorrel has its contraindications and medicinal properties. The fact is that it contributes to the formation of kidney stones. If you have a predisposition to this, then this plant is not for you. It has been established that acid contributes to the formation of s alts. They increase the formation of deposits in the kidneys. It is forbidden to use drugs based on sorrel during pregnancy, inflammatory processes in the body.
