Joster laxative belongs to the buckthorn family. More often this plant looks like a small tree, sometimes - like a shrub. The laxative buckthorn (the second name of the joster) is easy to distinguish from the alder.
The branches of this tree end in thorns, the leaves are finely serrate, opposite, ellipse-shaped. Joster flowers are also small, crowded, greenish. They have four sepals, stamens and petals. Flowers bloom in May-June. The fruits of laxative joster are a pea-sized spherical bluish-black drupe with 3-4 ovoid stones 5 mm long, with a curved back and a slightly pronounced edge on the ventral side. The pulp is juicy, greenish-brown. The fruits ripen towards the end of August - in October. They do not crumble for a long time.
Joster laxative: area
The plant is widespread in Eastern and Western Europe (with the exception of its northern regions), in Central Asia. An extensive area of laxative joster is isolated from the European part.
It is located in the Caucasus (except for eastern Transcaucasia) and inall regions of Crimea.
Joster laxative: chemical composition
The bark of the shrub contains a lot of tannins. Its fruits include anthraglycosides, pectin and coloring, bitter and other substances, flavonol glycosides, gum, mucus, sugar. There are up to 700 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of the leaves of this plant.
Laxative jaster: blank
For medicinal purposes, fully ripened fruits of the plant without pedicels are used. When harvesting, it is advisable not to break off the branches in order to pick berries from them. This, of course, speeds up the harvesting process, but can lead to the complete death of the joster thickets. The fruits are first dried, then they are dried in not too hot ovens or in dryers, scattering a layer of 2-3 cm on sheets or nets.
Beware of burning. Raw materials should not contain impurities of twigs and other black berries. The fruits of alder buckthorn are especially dangerous: they provoke vomiting. They differ in that they have only 2 bones, which resemble lentils in shape and have a cartilaginous beak at the top. And the branches of this buckthorn do not have thorns, and the leaves are not opposite, but arranged one by one.
Joster laxative: use in everyday life and medicine
In former times, the plant was used as a dye for silk, cotton and woolen fabrics. It also has a fairly beautiful wood and is sometimes used in woodworking. Joster is an excellent honey plant. However, due to the fact that the plant is an intermediate host for oat rust, itsit is not recommended to plant near the fields. For medicinal purposes, the fruits of the plant are used. Properly dried, mature, they are used as a gentle laxative for constipation. The therapeutic effect is due to the anthraglycosides contained in them. Decoctions or infusions are prepared from the fruits. A tablespoon of dried raw materials is poured with boiling water (a glass). The product should be infused for at least 20 minutes, and preferably 2 hours. After that, the remedy is filtered and taken at night for ½ cup. Freshly squeezed joster fruit juice also has the same gentle laxative effect. In a pharmacy, you can buy a liquid extract of joster. It also needs to be taken at night, but only 1 teaspoon. Joster laxative is also part of the general fees that help with constipation. Also, its fruits are used as an external remedy for arthritis. To this end, the fruits insist on vodka (100 g of berries per ½ liter of vodka) for 12 days. Sore joints are rubbed with the resulting remedy twice a day.
