Thigh saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga) used for medicinal and culinary purposes: young leaves and stems - raw and dried, roots - dried. Leaves and stems are harvested in May before flowering and dried in the shade in the fresh air.
The rhizome is harvested either in spring or in late autumn, after the green part of the plant wilts. The roots are dug up, cleaned of the earth, washed, cut into pieces and dried in the shade.
Seeds are harvested as they ripen in August or early September. The umbrellas are cut, tied and hung in the shade over the spread fabric. Not fallen seeds are threshed and cleaned of impurities.
Beneficial features
Femoral roots have the richest chemical composition. They contain vitamins C, carotene, sugars, carbohydrates, essential oil, spondin, tannins, resin, gum, saponin, flavonoids, pectins, potassium, calcium, etc.
The fact that the medicinal properties of the beetle have long been known to people can be judged by its mention in all herbalists of the 16th century as a remedy used to treat plague and cholera during epidemics of these diseases.
Modern folk medicine uses femur preparations for colds, inflammatory diseases of the throat and respiratory tract, gastritis, flatulence, indigestion, nervous diseases, kidney and urinary tract diseases, urolithiasis, whooping cough, constipation, edema, asthma, rheumatism, gout and even oncology.
The saxifrage thigh is included in the pharmacopoeia of such European countries as Germany, Norway, Switzerland. In the State Pharmacopoeia of Russia, it is used for respiratory diseases and chronic laryngitis.
Application recipes
For diseases of the upper respiratory tract and pain in the stomach 1 tbsp. a spoonful of chopped thigh roots should be poured with 1 glass of boiling water, boiled in a water bath for half an hour, leave for 10 minutes, cool, strain, take 3-4 times a day, 1/4 cup half an hour before meals.
As a choleretic agent 1 tbsp. pour a spoonful of chopped root with 2 cups of boiling water, cook over low heat for half an hour, leave for 1 hour, drain. Take 2 tbsp. tablespoons 3-4 times daily before meals.
To strengthen immunity, 5 tbsp. spoons of a mixture of leaves and flowers of saxifrage pour 1 cup boiling water, boil in a water bath for 15 minutes, leave for 1 hour, strain, take 1/4 tbsp. spoons 4-6 times a day before meals.
And to prepare an alcoholic tincture, pour 20 grams of crushed dry roots with 100 ml of 70% alcohol, leave for 14 days in a dark place. Take 30 drops 3 times daily before meals with water.
The people have long called the root of the femur "tooth root" due to the fact that a piece of the root, placed on a sore tooth, soothes the pain.
The decoction of thighs, added to the bath, perfectly refreshes and aromas the skin of the body. No wonder our ancestors washed the body with a decoction of thigh roots, believing that this protects against infectious diseases.
Read also the article Thigh saxifrage in cooking
"Ural gardener", No. 48, 2019
