Kalgan, or erect cinquefoil: medicinal properties

Erect cinquefoil, or galangal (Potentilla erecta (L.) Raeusch.),from the Rosaceae family -perennial herb up to 15-40 cm high with thin, ascending, forked-branched stems at the top. The leaves are trifoliate, with two large stipules, alternate: basal - petiolate, upper - sessile; the stems and leaves are covered with hairs. Flowers solitary, yellow, with regular perianth, with orange-red spots at the base, axillary, on long pedicels. The calyx is double, with a subduction. The corolla consists of 4 separate petals, unlike other cinquefoil, which have 5 petals. It is for these four petals that it is easy to find it in nature, and that is why it is customary to harvest its roots somewhat at the wrong time - not at the end of the season, but during flowering. The fruit is an ovoid, slightly wrinkled achene of dark olive or brown color. The fruit consists of 5-12 hemicarps. Blooms from May to August. The fruits ripen in August-September.

In the wild, the plant is found in the forest zone of the European part of the country, in Western Siberia, in the Caucasus. It often grows in damp and dry places, between shrubs, in meadows, in young plantings, in pastures, sometimes in swampy areas, sparse coniferous and coniferous-small-leaved forests. Collecting wild roots is very laborious - they are quite small and are located in the sod layer. Therefore, it makes sense to plant this plant on a site.

Growing

Kalgan looks good as a group on the eastern or western slope of a rocky hill. Flowering continues almost all summer, so it is decorative for a long time. The dissected leaves and numerous small yellow flowers create the effect of lightness and airiness.

The plant prefers loose, fertile soil with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction of the environment. On heavy clay soils, the roots are gnarled and shallow, and the aboveground part is not so lush.

To grow this plant with seeds for a long time. Planting material is easiest to bring from natural habitats. It is best to dig up plants during flowering when they are easy to spot. After planting on the site, they are watered and shaded for a while. This contributes to better survival rate. Care is the most common and includes only loosening, weeding and, if necessary, watering. Later, when digging up raw materials, the upper part of the root with renewal buds can be planted in the vacant place and after 2-3 years the plants are again suitable for obtaining medicinal raw materials and further division.

Rhizomes are harvested in the fall. Dig it with a shovel, free it from clods of earth, cut off the thin roots and branches of the stems, place them in baskets and wash them. They are laid out in the street for drying and withering, and then dried in the attic or in a dryer at a temperature not higher than + 60 ° C, stirring occasionally. Raw materials retain their medicinal properties for 4 or even more years.

Chemical components

The main substances that determine the pharmacological activity of Potentilla are condensed tannides, triterpene saponins, in particular, the glycoside tormentillin and tormentol ether, and flavonoids. The content of tannins in the rhizomes of Potentilla is greater than in the bark of oak and reaches 20-30, and in some cases - 35%, and therefore the plant in Russia was used for tanning leather and dyeing fabrics.

Medicinal properties

The rhizomes of the plant have an astringent, bactericidal, anti-inflammatory and hemostatic effect. The local anti-inflammatory effect is associated with tannins, which can create a biofilm that protects tissues from chemical, bacterial and mechanical effects that accompany inflammation. At the same time, capillary permeability decreases and blood vessels are narrowed.These features of action are well manifested on inflamed, reddened mucous membranes with pharyngitis, stomatitis, gingivitis, as well as with gastritis and enteritis. The general anti-inflammatory effect is related to the effect of flavonoids. A number of authors note a moderate analgesic effect of Potentilla preparations.

Potentilla decoctions are prescribed orally for enteritis, enterocolitis, dyspepsia, dysentery, ulcerative colitis with bleeding from the intestine, for gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer, as a choleretic agent for cholecystitis, cholecystocholangitis, acute and chronic hepatitis, including cirrhosis in the edematous-ascitic stage.

Potentilla decoctions are very effective for poisoning and intestinal infections. It has been and is being used even for dysentery. Due to its antimicrobial, astringent and hemostatic action, it can be very effective.

Broths are used for hypermenorrhea and uterine bleeding of various origins as a hemostatic agent inside; with colpitis, vaginitis, erosion of the cervix, the broth is used for douching.

Cinquefoil is used for rinsing with inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity (stomatitis, gingivitis), bleeding gums, with angina and chronic tonsillitis. In the form of an application, Potentilla decoction is used for hemorrhoids, burns, eczema, neurodermatitis, cracks in the skin and mucous membranes, and for sweating of the legs.

Outwardly, phytotherapists use a decoction of the roots for burns and weeping eczema.

Recipes for use

For cooking decoction 1 tablespoon of cinquefoil rhizomes is poured with a glass of water at room temperature, brought to a boil, boiled in a water bath for 10-15 minutes, cooled, filtered, taken 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day 1-1.5 hours before meals with diseases of the stomach and intestines.

Alcohol tincture Galangal is prepared with 70% alcohol, insisting for 2 weeks in the dark in a ratio of 1:10 and taking 30-40 drops 4-5 times a day, diluting with water for problems of the gastrointestinal tract.

Tincture on vodka, the roots of Potentilla resembles cognac in color and is quite pleasant to the taste. And at the same time, it retains all its useful properties. As a drink, 10-20 g of roots are infused in 0.5 liters of vodka. After 2-3 weeks, the tincture is filtered and used in a liqueur glass before meals as a tonic and tonic. By the way, in Russian villages it was believed that this tincture is very useful for men, but, of course, in a very moderate dose.