Flowers of chicory in folk medicine. What are the benefits of chicory flowers and how to use them?

The scientific name of chicory is mentioned for the first time in the writings of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, the Greek philosophers who named this plant Kichorion.

The Latin name intybus from the Greek language is translated as "incised"( because of the shape of the sheet), and from Latin - as "tube"( due to a hollow stem).The name wegewarte( German) - "plantain", "watchman roads" - emphasizes that this plant can be found near roads, along the fields. At the same time, the Ukrainians call it the wooden strength "petriv batig".In this article we will find out what kind of plant it is, and how to use the flowers of chicory.

Description

This herbaceous perennial plant is a family of Compositae gray-green color with a multi-headed thickened spindle-shaped root, reaching a length of 1.5 m. In this case, all parts of this plant contain milky juice.

The stem is upright, single, up to 150 cm high, covered with sparse hairs, branched.

The leaves are regular, harvested, rooted, pinnatized, pubescent on the underside, narrowed to the base in the petiole, while the cauline leaves are sharp-toothed, regular, sessile;the upper ones are solid, lanceolate.

Tsikoriya flowers are blue, sometimes white or pink, reed, collected in a variety of solitary and sitting on several pieces on small flowerpots of a basket.

Fruit - seed is irregularly wedge-shaped, prismatic, with a small tuft of films. One plant can produce about 25,000 seeds, which retain their germination capacity not more than 7 years. Chicory blooms all summer, fruits ripen in early autumn.

Propagation

Propagates vegetatively from the root and seeds. It is distributed practically throughout the territory of Russia, excluding the northern regions.

Zones of growth

Chicory grows on loamy and sandy-loamy fresh and dry soils along steep coasts of rivers, as well as along roadsides and slopes of ravines. It transfers the temporary lack of moisture and significant soil compaction.

The flowers of chicory have long been considered medicinal. Avicenna, a famous doctor of the Middle Ages, widely used plant drugs for the treatment of a number of diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, and inflammation of the eyes. He recommended externally applying chicory in the form of a bandage with gout on sick joints. The plant was familiar to ancient Romans and Greeks.

The first plantation of chicory in Russia was laid in 1880 in the vicinity of Yaroslavl. The roots of the plant contain lactucine, choline, pectin, lactukopicrin, intibine, which gives the leaves and roots a bitter taste, glycosides, cichorian, inulin, tannins, silicic acid, taraxosterol, sugars, ascorbic acid, thiamine.

Chicory flowers contain crystalline glycoside, young leaves are carotene, seeds are fatty oil. Also in the plant are found inulin, ascorbic acid, potassium salts.

Cultivation and cultivation of

Propagation of chicory seeds and from the root. After harvesting the plants that were on the selected site earlier, perform basic plowing and peeling to a depth of about 30 centimeters. The soil is harvested in spring and buried before sowing. In the spring they sow, shoots appear after ten days. Care of them consists in weeding weeds and cultivating the rows.

Collection, drying and billet

As mentioned above, chicory is actively used for medicinal purposes. Flowers and leaves of the plant are harvested in autumn, after the rosette of the basal leaves begins to fade. Roots dig up, gently shake off the clinging earth, cut off the above-ground parts with knives, wash very quickly in flowing cool water, remove rotten damaged parts and spread out for wilting in the shade. Thick roots need to be cut along, while long ones - a few pieces across. Several developed specimens are left on the thickets for the resumption of stocks of this raw material. Dry in dryers or ovens at temperatures up to 60 ° C.The raw smell is absent, the taste is bitter.

The healing properties of

So, why are the chicory flowers useful? They have astringent, sedative, diuretic, choleretic, anthelminthic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory properties, improve digestion, regulate metabolism, improve cardiac activity, reduce blood sugar levels.

Use in medicine

The use of chicory flowers has long been known to healers. Decoction is used inside with liver, gall bladder, kidney, to increase appetite, improve digestion, dyspepsia, gastritis, enlarged spleen, constipation, diabetes, helminthic invasion, anemia, asthenia, itchy dermatoses( neurodermatitis, eczema, pruritus, skin itching,seboroid dermatitis, urticaria), hysteria, vitiligo, psoriasis, furunculosis, alopecia, vulgar acne, and also as a diuretic, sedative, choleretic agent and for the regulation of all metabolic disorders.

Chicory flowers in folk medicine are used in the form of a decoction, applied externally in the form of lotions, baths, bandages, used for gout, itching dermatoses. In Bulgarian medicine - in the form of gruel for the treatment of furunculosis.

Also infusion is used as a digestive, appetizing, choleretic, diuretic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and astringent, with gastroenteritis, gastritis, cholelithiasis, hepatitis, nephritis, diabetes, hysteria, neurasthenia. In the form of washing with ulcers, wounds - broth, infusion;with eczema, boils - in the form of lotions;with inflammation of the glands, pain in the abdomen - in the form of compresses.

With anemia - juice as a tonic heart function and a soothing nervous system;for the treatment of skin rashes, furuncles, acne, eczema and pustular skin diseases, purulent wounds, as well as with diathesis is applied externally.

Chicory flowers in the form of decoction and infusion can also be used for hysteria, neurasthenia. As a cholagogue means the juice of the plant is relevant.

Medicines

Chicory is not used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. A drink from this plant is popular - it is sold together with ordinary food products.

Decoction of grass

To do this, brew one spoon of crushed fresh or dry grass with a glass of boiling water, lightly heat for 10 minutes, 15 minutes.insist, then strain. The broth is used externally for washings, lotions, baths for the treatment of acne, for the elimination of skin rashes, purulent wounds, boils, eczema, pustular diseases, diathesis.

Tincture

To get the tincture, you need to brew 1 liter of boiling water 40 grams of the plant, in a warm place to insist for three hours, drain. Use half a cup three times a day to remove bile with liver cirrhosis, jaundice, to cleanse the spleen and liver, with clogging of the stomach, swelling of the spleen, pain in the digestive tract. So, how many drops do you drink the tinctures of chicory flowers? Daily for a few days in the evening and before breakfast one glass each.

Decoction of the root

Brew a glass of boiling water with a spoonful of root, heat for 20 minutes, then drain. Use a tablespoon several times a day or as a tea without dosing.

Poultices

With strong inflammation or pain in the stomach from the leaves of chicory poultices are made. First they are poured hot water, then wrapped in a clean cloth and applied to the sore spots every day twice.

Using plants in other areas

Roasted plant roots are a surrogate for coffee. So, in Latvia they are added to the usual coffee for us, they also prepare from it a drink with apple juice, honey and lemon.

Tea made from chicory flowers is also very popular. They are often flavored with fruit and berry drinks. Roots can serve as a source of fructose, inulin, used to make alcohol( from chicory, the yield of alcohol is more than from potatoes, while its quality is better).

The plant is especially appreciated in dietary nutrition. It is actively used in the production of cakes and sweets in the food industry. Fresh leaves can be eaten, deduced salad varieties contain a large amount of ascorbic acid. In this case, salads are prepared from young stems, leaves and shoots. Young shoots fry, boil, bake. In Belgium, the plant is baked in wine with apples and cheese.

In Europe, cultivate vitluf( leaf chicory).It is added to the side dishes to steamed, fried, baked and stewed fish, salads, in raw form - in soup.

During the rains and in wet weather, the flowers give off a huge amount of blue nectar. From 1 hectare, plants receive up to 100 kilograms of honey.

Side effects of chicory and toxicology

Chicory roots are not toxic and do not show any obvious side effect. But with prolonged use, they can increase the secretion of bile and gastric juice. Consequently, to persons with high acidity of gastric juice, chicory-based agents should be used as carefully as possible.

Roasted plant roots show a pronounced choleretic effect. They can significantly increase diuresis. Consequently, prolonged use of coffee from chicory is undesirable for people with diseases of the gallbladder and liver.