Donnik

Sweet clover (burkun, chrestovik) is a herbaceous biennial plant of the legume family. It grows on the territory of Central Asia, Russia, Europe, South America, Ukraine, in the steppes of the Caucasus. It is a hardy plant that tolerates drought well. In the wild, it is found in ravines, on forest edges, roadsides, wastelands, meadows.

The name “sweet clover” comes from the Greek words “lotus” – fodder grass and “chalk” – honey. The plant has a pronounced coumarin odor. It is a good honey plant and a valuable fodder crop.

Currently, there are 22 species of sweet clover. Among which the medicinal burkun provides the greatest value for human health. It is used in the food and medical industries.

It is interesting that the sweet clover improves the structure of the soil, is used for flavoring tobacco, aromatizing soap. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on the human body: it has anticonvulsant properties, lowers blood pressure, eliminates respiratory diseases. The grass is indicated for use by people suffering from neurasthenia, insomnia, migraine, hypertension, angina, cardiospasm.

Botanical description and harvesting

Sweet clover is a herbaceous shrub reaching 1,5 m in height. The stem at the base is woody, dense and branched. Leaves trifoliate, petiolate, sessile, oblong-obovate or elliptical configuration. The flowers are yellow, small, form axillary racemes.

The fruits are bare oval-shaped beans, short, with an awl-shaped point at the top, brown in color. Flowering period – June-August, fruiting – July-October.

Medicinal raw materials are lateral shoots, plant tops with leaves and flower brushes. Grass is harvested in dry weather. It is important to wait until the dew has come off the plant, otherwise it will quickly darken, deteriorate due to moisture.

Raw materials are dried in a well-ventilated area or in the shade under a canopy. The grass is laid out on a fabric or paper base in a thin layer, up to 5 cm in thickness. In the process of drying, parts of the plant are periodically turned over. Harvested dry grass emits a strong aromatic coumarin smell, reminiscent of fresh hay and has a salty-bitter taste.

Composition and Properties

The benefits of sweet clover are due to the presence of coumarin and its derivatives in fresh grass (up to 0,9%), which give the plant not only a pleasant aroma, but also increase the number of leukocytes, interfere with blood clotting, and have a calming effect on the human nervous system. Due to these properties, the stems and flowers are used to thin the blood.

The chemical composition of the herb sweet clover officinalis:

• melilotin;
• glycoside melilotoside;
• flavonoids;
• polysaccharides (in the form of mucus);
• coumaric and melilotic acids;
• fatty substances;
• saponins;
• proteins;
• purine derivatives;
• essential oils;
• nitrogenous bases;
• tannins;
• phenolic triterpene compounds;
• molybdenum, selenium;
• ascorbic acid, tocopherol, carotene.

Fatty acids are concentrated in the seeds of the plant (linolenic, arachidic, behenic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, lignoceric, palmitic).

Pharmacological properties of Burkun:

• anti-inflammatory;
• antiseptic;
• expectorant;
• emollients;
• carminative;
• anticonvulsants;
• hypotensive;
• anticoagulants;
• wound healing;
• soothing;
• diaphoretics.

Coumarin, which is part of the plant, has a narcotic effect, depresses the central nervous system, and is poisonous in large doses. Therefore, drugs based on the chrestovik should not be used on their own without a doctor’s prescription.

Sweet clover grass exhibits cardiotropic, anti-ischemic and anti-hypoxic activity.

Effect on the body:

1. Improves blood circulation in the myocardium, abdominal organs and brain.
2. Raises blood pressure.
3. Helps increase the strength of contractions of the heart muscle.
4. It alleviates the condition of patients suffering from neurological disorders, diseases of the upper respiratory tract and heart.
5. Stimulates the phagocytic activity of leukocytes.

In folk medicine, medicinal herbs are taken orally for painful menstruation, joint swelling, headaches, and inflammation of the mammary glands. Nursing women are advised to drink a decoction of sweet clover as a milk extractor. It is applied externally for the treatment of boils, rheumatism, purulent wounds, ulcers. Herbal baths are taken to relieve inflammation of the ovaries.

Indications:

• constipation;
• insomnia;
• hypertension;
• angina pectoris;
• rheumatism;
• bronchitis;
• thrombosis of coronary vessels;
• increased nervous irritability;
• atherosclerosis;
• diseases of the female reproductive system, blood;
• flatulence;
• diffuse toxic goiter;
• leukopenia;
• convulsions;
• abscesses;
• dystonia;
• headache.

Sweet clover is primarily a medicinal plant that should be used strictly according to the doctor’s prescription. Grass should not be taken by pregnant women, people with kidney disease, hemorrhagic vasculitis, individual intolerance and suffering from reduced blood clotting.

In case of an overdose, dizziness, vomiting and nausea, weakness in the body, drowsiness occur.

Application in folk medicine

With amenorrhea

Mix sweet clover, centaury and coltsfoot flowers in equal amounts, pour 15 g of the resulting collection into 200 ml of boiling water, strain after 2 hours. Take 50 ml 6 times a day for a month.

With inflammation of the ovaries

Mix common oregano, sweet clover, coltsfoot flowers, centaury in equal proportions. Enter a tablespoon of the collection in 200 ml of hot water, brought to 80 degrees, leave for 3 hours, strain.

The method of use is the same as in the first case. To achieve an effective result throughout the entire period of treatment, abstinence from sexual activity is recommended.

RџSЂRё RіRёRїRμSЂS,RѕRЅRёRё

To lower blood pressure, 5 g of dry sweet clover grass is brewed in 200 ml of warm water, left for 2 hours, filtered. Take 3 times a day, 100 ml.

With cracks in the anus, herpes. How to prepare the infusion: pour 15 g of herbs into 300 ml of boiling water. After 2 hours, strain the drink, take as in case of hypertension.

For headaches

Fill one third of a half-liter jar with dry sweet clover grass, pour vodka to the top. Leave the tincture for 14 days, shake occasionally. Strain after 2 weeks. Rub the temples with the resulting remedy for headaches.

With arthrosis, sprains, rheumatism, abscesses, inflammations, sweet clover flowers are crushed to a state of homogeneous mass, mixed with petroleum jelly. Apply the ointment to damaged areas as needed.

Nutritional application

Leaves and dry flowers of sweet clover are used as a seasoning for fish dishes, compotes, soups, salads, and young roots are eaten raw, fried or boiled. Herb powder is added to soft drinks, wine, tinctures, liqueurs as a fragrance.

To avoid overdose, the daily intake of dried burkun leaves is 5 g, and fresh – 20 g.

Recipe number 1 “Health salad”

Ingredients:

• green onion – 25 g;
• sweet clover leaves – 20 g;
• hard-boiled egg – 1 pc;
• fresh cucumbers – 50 g;
• sour cream – 25 ml;
• vegetable oil;
• salt.

Cooking principle: cut cucumbers, onions, eggs and sweet clover leaves, pour sour cream and vegetable oil, salt. Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Serve salad to the table immediately after preparation, otherwise it will drain.

Recipe number 2 “Drink spring mood”

Ingredients:

• dry flowers and leaves of sweet clover – 10 g;
• hot boiled water – 1 l;
• cranberry juice – 50 ml;
• honey – 100 ml.

Cooking method: sweet clover grass is added to hot water, which is boiled for 5 minutes, cooled to 50 degrees. The infusion is filtered, cooled, honey and cranberry juice are added. When serving, garnish with mint, add pieces of ice.

Recipe number 3 “Okroshka with sweet clover”

Ingredients:

• boiled potatoes – 50 g;
• bread kvass – 500 ml;
• bottom – 20 g;
• sour cream – 25 ml;
• boiled beef – 70 g;
• fresh cucumbers – 50 g;
• onion – 25 g;
• boiled egg – 1 pc;
• mustard, salt, sugar.

Cooking technology: clover leaves and onion grind with salt, mustard. Potatoes, cucumbers, egg and meat cut into cubes. Mix the ingredients, season with sour cream, add salt, sugar, pour kvass.

Donnion honey

This is a natural dietary product that has an antiseptic and immunomodulatory effect. Sweet clover honey owes its useful properties to a melliferous plant that absorbs biologically active substances, vitamins and microelements. A natural sugar substitute is recommended for lactating women to maintain lactation, enrich milk with nutrients. In addition, it exhibits antispasmodic effects, fights constipation, flatulence, and relieves pain during menstruation.

Honey has absorbable properties, so it is useful for mastitis, lactostasis, cysts (mammary gland diseases) and joint tumors, arthritis, arthrosis. A sugary product from sweet clover, normalizes the activity of the immune system, improves the condition of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases, improves peripheral circulation. It has a general strengthening effect, performs the function of natural energy.

Sweet clover honey is a product of a pale yellow or slightly greenish tint, quickly candied. A gentle vanilla note is felt in the aroma and taste.

Application:

1. To stimulate the immune system, it is recommended to eat sweet clover honey daily, 25 g for adults and 10 g for children. After using the product, monitor the reaction of the baby. If itching, redness, irritability occurs, stop taking it.

Remember, due to the abundance of pollen, honey is the strongest allergen and can cause an allergic reaction, so when introducing the product into the diet of children, be vigilant, do not exceed strictly prescribed doses. Don’t risk your baby’s health.

2. To maintain the body in hypothyroid conditions, it is recommended to eat 15-30 ml of honey per day.
3. For the treatment of trachitis, pneumonia, bronchitis and laryngitis, a core is cut out of a large black radish. 15 ml of sweet clover honey is placed in the resulting recess. The root crop is left for 1,5 days. During this time, it secretes juice, which, mixed with honey, forms a healing elixir. Means to use 15 ml 3 times a day 15 minutes before a meal.
4. To improve the condition of the skin (cleansing, eliminating high fat content, getting rid of boils, acne and blackheads), a nutrient mixture is prepared for external use. Mask ingredients: fresh cucumbers (200 g) and honey (5 ml). The green vegetable is rubbed on a grater, mixed with a bee substrate, applied to the cleansed dermis for 15 minutes, washed off with water. The product moisturizes, nourishes and disinfects problem skin. To care for dry dermis, an additional component is introduced into the composition – cream (15 ml).

Sweet clover honey is used with caution in the presence of allergies to legumes, bee products, overweight and diabetes. When diagnosing cardiovascular pathologies, it is recommended to consult a doctor before taking it, since coumarin is part of honey flowers. This compound stimulates the work of the pulsating organ, contributes to an increase in arterial systolic pressure.

In other cases, the product is not only harmless, but, on the contrary, useful. However, this applies only to natural sweet clover honey. When choosing a product, pay attention to its color and texture. It should visually resemble melted butter, be almost homogeneous, candied with almost indistinguishable grains. The natural bee product emits a subtle vanilla aroma. A strong smell indicates that you have a fake in front of you.

How to grow sweet clover

Seeds of sweet clover require an ambient temperature of 2-4 degrees above zero to germinate. A year after planting, the plant blooms. This period lasts from June to August. By the end of summer comes the time of fruiting. The collected seeds are scarified before spring sowing.

The root system of sweet clover is highly developed, so it is demanding on soil conditions. Acidic soil is detrimental to the plant. Sweet clover is a drought-resistant grass that does not require constant watering; on the contrary, excessive moisture leads to decay of the root system.

As top dressing, fertilizers containing potassium and phosphorus are used.

Seeds have a compacted shell, the integrity of which is deliberately violated before planting in the ground. Thus, the chances of their germination increase. Seeds are sown in early spring in prepared soil in rows, leaving a distance of 3 cm between them. On average, 1 seeds should be per 200 meter.

Within a year after planting, the root system of the plant develops intensively. And the top is covered with beautiful greenery, which dies off in autumn. Only the root neck overwinters with the so-called renewal buds. Remember, the plant should not be in a lowland, because in case of accumulation of melt water due to the abundance of moisture, it will die.

The sweet clover is harvested using a pruner. For medicinal purposes, only lateral shoots with the top of the plant are cut off, crushing thick coarse branches. Dry raw materials under a canopy in a well-ventilated place. The grass is laid out on the surface or collected in bunches, which are hung in the form of garlands. When small stems, flowers, leaves, fruits dry up, they are ground, passed through a sieve. Store in a closed container.

Conclusion

Sweet clover is a medicinal herbaceous plant with an upright branched stem. The shrub can be seen along the ravines, in the meadow and fields, at the edge of the forest. Sweet clover contains coumarin, which normalizes blood circulation in the abdominal cavity, increases the number of leukocytes in the blood, and increases blood pressure. Preparations based on burkun have antiseptic, wound healing, analgesic, anticonvulsant, expectorant and laxative effects. They are indicated in the treatment of hemorrhoids, thrombophlebitis, lymphostasis, varicose veins (inside) and bruises, sprains, hemorrhages (outwardly).

Ointments are prepared from the plant, special pillows that relieve inflammation from the joints. Sweet clover honey and tea, used to combat colds and coughs, decoction and infusion – increase lactation, relieve swelling, pain during menstruation. In addition, the leaves, roots and flowers of Burkun have found application in the food industry. They are added to salads, boiled, fried, baked and served as a side dish for fish and vegetable dishes. A safe daily dose of the fresh ground part of the plant is 20 g, dried – 5 g. In case of exceeding the maximum permissible norms, adverse reactions from the body are possible: dizziness, rashes, nausea, vomiting.