Rowan is such a common plant that it would seem that everything is known about it. In total, there are more than 80 species of mountain ash, of which approximately 34 species are found in our country. These are deciduous trees or shrubs from the Rosaceae family, Apple subfamily. We are best acquainted with the common mountain ash. (Sorbusaucuparia), which is distributed from Murmansk to the Urals. Such a wide range speaks for the exceptional hardiness and ecological plasticity of this species.
The use of rowan fruits is often limited to their bitterness. True, under the influence of autumn frosts, the intensity of bitterness decreases, but the content of vitamins, especially ascorbic acid, also decreases. In this regard, the sweet-fruited form of the common mountain ash - the mountain ash Nevezhenskaya is of particular value. It comes from the Vladimir region. According to legend, it was found by a shepherd in the forest near the village of Nevezheno. Its fruits, when ripe, taste sweet and sour and do not have bitterness.
Other varieties were bred from the Nevezhenskaya rowan: Kubovaya, Yellow, Red. In the state register (2010), 10 varieties are indicated, but surprisingly, among them there is chokeberry, and there is no chokeberry. In addition, many varieties are interspecific hybrids, and not only with mountain ash, such as Burka and Pomegranate. Hawthorn and chokeberry took part there. And also I.V. Michurin crossed mountain ash ... with medlar. But below we will focus on the mountain ash and its varieties.
Useful properties of mountain ash
In terms of its medicinal value, mountain ash can be put on a par with such recognized medicinal plants as rose hips, black currants, sea buckthorn, hawthorn, though not as an analogue. She has her own niche in the medicinal community.
The sugar content can be from 5 to 24% in terms of dry weight, so it is quite possible to make wine from sweet mountain ash with a minimum added sugar. These are mainly glucose, fructose and sucrose. Its fruits are rich in P-active substances, primarily flavonoids (catechins, anthocyanins, flavonols), according to the content of which mountain ash can rightfully take one of the first places among fruit crops. As you know, with insufficient intake of vitamin P in the human body, the fragility and permeability of blood capillaries increases, which can cause subcutaneous, pulmonary, nasal and gastric hemorrhages. In addition, the lack of P-active substances impairs the absorption of vitamin C with all the ensuing consequences.
But in the mountain ash itself, the content of vitamin C in the fruits is low and, depending on the growing conditions and the variety, ranges from 30 to 100 mg per 100 g of dry matter. However, it still significantly exceeds that of apple, pear, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, sea buckthorn.
Among other biologically active substances, mountain ash is rich in carotenoids, especially the active form of b-carotene.
In small quantities, the fruits contain vitamins that are very important for the body:2 (riboflavin), E (tocopherol) and folic acid. Of great importance in the healing effect of mountain ash are organic acids malic, in smaller quantities - citric, tartaric, fumaric, amber. Sorbic and parasorbic have bactericidal properties, they inhibit the growth of microorganisms and molds. Currently, these substances are used as preservatives in the food industry.
The presence of sorbic acid and sorbitol (hexahydric alcohol) in fruits, as well as a number of other substances, determines their choleretic properties. In addition, sorbitol lowers liver fat and blood cholesterol, and has a mild laxative effect. The glycoside amygdalin has an effect on the heart. Of the mineral elements found calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, iodine.Rowan fruits contain a lot of pectin substances (1-3% on the wet weight of fruits), as well as anthocyanins (cyanidin) and phospholipids (cephalin and lecithin).
The mechanism of choleretic action sequentially includes: irritation of the mucous membrane of the duodenum with sorbitol, the release of cholecystokinin, and the latter causes a contraction of the gallbladder and, at the same time, relaxation of the sphincter of Oddi. An additional choleretic effect is due to the action of amygdalin and organic acids.
Amygdalin increases the resistance of animals to oxygen starvation. The action of amygdalin is based on the protection of respiratory enzymes from destruction by forming a temporary connection with them. Amygdalin increases the body's resistance to hypoxia, and this property is associated with the use of rowan berries in case of carbon monoxide poisoning (fumes). In this case, the people give the victim to chew rowan berries. There is also evidence of the participation of amygdalin in the reduction of sulfhydryl groups and the protection of fats from peroxidation, which explains the use of mountain ash in atherosclerosis.
In the presence of sugars and organic acids, pectins can gel (form a jelly-like mass), which is often used in the preparation of jams. In the body, or rather in the intestines, these compounds prevent excessive fermentation of carbohydrates, which prevents gas formation. Jelly-forming properties contribute to the binding of exogenous and endogenous toxins and the elimination of excess carbohydrates, which is very important for patients with obesity and diabetes.
Rowan potion recipes
In medicine, mountain ash is used as a diuretic, hemostatic and, mainly, multivitamin.
For more efficient use of P-active compounds of mountain ash, it is usually used together with rose hips, vitamin C of which increases the "efficiency" of flavonoids. For cooking vitamin teas rowan fruits are mixed with rose hips in a 1: 1 ratio. Then 1 tablespoon of the mixture is poured with 2 cups of boiling water, boiled for 10 minutes and after 4 hours of infusion in a cool place, filter and take half a glass 3 times a day.
And in folk medicine fresh rowan juice taken with low acidity of gastric juice, 1 teaspoon before meals.
To improve appetite, preference is given to bitter fruits, because it is the bitterness that stimulates digestion. Cook rowan tincture on vodka: 100 g of fruit is poured with one liter of vodka. Insist in a dark place for two weeks and take a tablespoon before meals.
For diseases of the kidneys, gallbladder, salt diathesis and renal colic in folk medicine, it is recommended to use napar of rowan fruits... For this, 30-40 g of fruits are poured into 1 liter of boiled water and insisted during the night. In the morning it is heated for 10-15 minutes over low heat, then cooled, filtered and taken 2-3 glasses 3-4 times a day.
Can be used berries mashed with sugar, 3-5 times a day, 1 tablespoon. To prepare this dosage form, 1 kg of fruit is rubbed with 1.5 kg of sugar.
Rowan and its preparations are contraindicated in case of increased acidity of gastric juice. In addition, the complex of substances contained in mountain ash slightly increases blood clotting. This is very useful in case of a tendency to bleeding, but if you have a predisposition to thrombosis, you should not get carried away with mountain ash.
A mass of rowan berries applied to warts or papillomas helps to get rid of them quite quickly. The fruits are used as an aid and for neoplasms.
The fruits, crushed into gruel and attached to the hemorrhoids, quickly improve the condition of the patients.
In folk medicine, the juice of fresh leaves is used for dysentery.
In atherosclerosis, bark is also used, which is prepared as follows: in early spring, cut the bark from branches no thicker than a finger, dry it in the air.For cooking decoction of mountain ash bark take 5 tablespoons of crushed raw materials, pour 0.5 liters of boiling water and boil in a sealed container over low heat for 2 hours. After that, the broth is filtered. Take 25-30 g three times a day before meals in a warm form. The course of treatment is 1.5-2 months.
