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Useful properties and application of sunflower broomrape
Botanical characteristics of broomrape
Bunny is a perennial, rarely annual parasitic plant of the broomrape family. The species difference of broomrape is, firstly, modified leaves, which are more like scales, and secondly, the color of all parts of the parasitic plant: due to the presence of an exceptionally small dose of chlorophyll in plant tissues, the plant has a yellowish, light brown, bluish or pink color.
The root of the plant is short, fleshy sucker fibers that are not fixed in the soil, but are firmly attached to the host plant. Broomrape stems at the base are club-shaped or tuberous thickened, simple, erect, fleshy, sometimes branching. Flowers – funnel-shaped, bell-shaped or tubular, two-lipped, collected in inflorescences – racemose or spike-shaped, usually bluish-lilac. The fruit is a bivalve, less often a tricuspid capsule. Seeds are small and numerous.
The natural distribution area of this grass is the southern regions of the European part of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Moldova, Belarus and the Caucasus. The broomrape parasitizes mainly on the roots of herbaceous plants (most often flowering plants).
Useful properties of broomrape
Useful properties of broomrape in the treatment of various diseases were appreciated by folk healers. Medicinal raw materials are all parts of the plant, the collection of which is carried out during the flowering period. For drying medicinal raw materials, large dry rooms are used, in which good ventilation is provided.
The chemical composition of broomrape contains alkaloids (nicotine), sterols, mannitol and tannins. In the chemical composition of broomrape grass – higher fatty acids, alkaloids. Also found in the plant are choline (a nitrogen-containing compound), carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenols, and carbohydrates.
Healing infusions and decoctions of broomrape are used as a wound healing, antispasmodic, antiseptic, sedative, analgesic, tonic and tonic.
broomrape application
Broomrape has found its wide application in folk medicine (both domestic and eastern). Healing infusions and decoctions due to their unique chemical composition are successfully used for such diseases as neurosis, intestinal colic, flatulence, toothache, diarrhea, enterocolitis, colitis, impotence, loss of strength, edema. Outwardly, a decoction of broomrape is used to rinse the mouth.
The crushed plant has a wound healing effect, so it is used to treat wounds of various etiologies. In Eastern medicine, broomrape is used as an effective aphrodisiac (increasing libido).
Decoction of broomrape
Recipe number 1. 1 teaspoon of dry roots (crushed) of a medicinal plant is poured into 200 ml of hot water and placed in a boiling water bath for 5-6 minutes, after which the broth is infused for 60 minutes. The resulting product is filtered into a clean dish and the nominal volume is adjusted with purified water to the original volume (up to 200 ml). Take this medicine 1/3 cup 3 times a day to treat allergies.
Recipe number 2. 2 teaspoons of crushed roots are poured into 200 ml of hot water, after which they are placed in a boiling water bath. The composition is insisted for 60 minutes, after which it is cooled and filtered into a clean bowl. The resulting infusion is used as an external agent (for rinsing the mouth).
Recipe number 3. 2 tablespoons of dry grass (chopped) pour 400 ml of boiling water and insist on a boiling water bath for 3-4 minutes, after which, removing from heat, insist for another 60 minutes. Then the composition is filtered into a clean container and taken 100 ml 3 times a day for migraine.
Infusion of broomrape
Recipe number 1. 1 teaspoon of grass is poured into 200 ml of boiling water and infused for 30 minutes, after which it is filtered into a clean bowl. Take the resulting remedy inside 15 ml 3 times a day in case of sleep disturbance.
Recipe number 2. 2 tablespoons of dry grass pour 200 ml of boiling water and insist for two hours, after which the resulting infusion is filtered and taken 1/3 cup 3 times a day for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Recipe number 3. 1 teaspoon of the crushed roots of the plant is poured into 200 ml of boiling water and infused for 60 minutes, after which it is filtered into a clean bowl. Take this medicine 15 ml 4-5 times a day as a diuretic.
Recipe number 4. 2 teaspoons of broomrape flowers are poured into 200 ml of boiling water and infused for 60 minutes, then filtered into a clean bowl. Take the resulting infusion of 30 ml 3-4 times a day for cystitis.
Sunflower broomrape
Sunflower broomrape is a parasitic plant of the broomrape family. The stem of the plant is simple, fleshy, thickened at the base and not branched, it reaches a height of 65 cm. The leaves are reduced scales of a pinkish-purple hue (due to the lack of a sufficient amount of chlorophyll in the plant tissues). The flowers are large, purple in color, collected in spikelets. The fruit is a bivalve capsule with numerous small and light seeds.
Due to their lightness, sunflower broomrape seeds are easily carried by wind, insects and rain. After hitting the soil, the seeds retain their ability to germinate for 5-10 years. The natural distribution area of this species is almost the entire territory of Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc. Sunflower zamaniha parasitizes on such crops as sunflower, tomatoes and tobacco.
Contraindications to the use of broomrape
Since the chemical composition of broomrape is still poorly understood, medicinal infusions and decoctions from this plant should be used with extreme caution. Taking broomrape is contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women, children, as well as for individual intolerance, nervous overexcitation, high blood pressure, acute kidney disease, urolithiasis.