officinalis Hill). The Ukrainian name is the first flower of spring, the first flower of the lіkarsky , popular names are rams, keys, seals, zhovtukha, first-born; letushki, godinnitsa, early maturing, mikolajchiki, etc.
Primulaceae family – Primulaceae.
For medicinal purposes, rhizomes with roots, leaves and flowers are used.
It occurs in forest and forest-steppe regions, more often on the Right Bank, also in the Crimea. Not available in the Steppe. Grows in forests, especially sparse, thickets of shrubs, forest edges and clearings, sometimes in post-forest meadows. In some places it forms sparse thickets on dozens of hectares, especially in sparse oak forests. Industrial blanks are produced in Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Vinnitsa, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions.
Stocks of raw materials are quite large. Several tons of rhizomes with roots and leaves can be harvested annually.
Spring primrose is a perennial herbaceous plant. Rhizomes are short, thick, vertical, many-headed, with numerous slightly branched roots. The leaves are collected in a basal rosette. They are elongated-ovate or ovoid, obtuse, narrowed into a winged petiole, wrinkled, greyish-thin below. Stems without leaves, with flowers at the top, drooping to one side. Flowers with tubular, velvety, five-toothed calyx and light yellow corolla. The fruit is an ovoid capsule. Seeds brown, numerous. The fruits ripen in September.
It is allowed to harvest raw materials of high primrose – Primula clatior H i 11., found in the Carpathians and the Carpathians, less often in the western Forest-steppe in forests and thickets of shrubs. The plant is distinguished by an elevated stem (up to 40 cm) and a wide, flat limb of the corolla. The flowers of this species are not deviated to one side.
Inexperienced pickers, instead of spring primrose leaves, can harvest a little reminiscent of their basal leaves of a medicinal drop cap from the labial family.
Harvest rhizomes with roots in the fall after the death of the aerial parts (September-October). They dig them with shovels, shake off the ground, cut off the aerial parts with a knife and quickly wash them in cold water.
Then they are dried in the open air and dried in attics under an iron roof, under sheds with good ventilation or in dryers at a temperature of 40-50 °, spreading a thin layer (up to 5-7 cm) on paper, fabric or nets. The yield of dry raw materials is 28-30%.
The raw material consists of short, tuberculate, light brown, often multi-headed rhizomes and numerous thin, whitish-brown cylindrical roots 10-12 cm long, which extend in all directions. The smell is fragrant, violet. The taste is bitter. Humidity is not higher than 12%.
They pack, pressing, into bags go bales weighing 40-50 kg. Store in a packaged form in dry, well-ventilated areas. Storage period up to 2 years.
The leaves were harvested at the beginning of flowering, tearing them off with their hands or cutting them off with knives and sickles.
Dry immediately in attics under an iron roof, under sheds with good ventilation, or in dryers at 70-80°, spreading a thin layer (3-5 cm) on paper, cloth or nets and stirring frequently. The yield of dry raw materials is 22-23%.
According to GOST 3166-76E, the raw material consists of rolled gray-green leaves, darker above than below. Their length is 3.5-10 cm, width is 5-8 cm, the length of winged petioles is up to 14 cm. The smell is peculiar, honey. The taste is sweetish at first, then bitter, slightly pungent. Humidity is not higher than 13%. No more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: leaves that have turned yellow and brown on both sides – 2, crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm) – 3, flower arrows – 8, organic and mineral impurities – 0.5 each.
The total ash content must not exceed 12%. The content of vitamin C is not less than 2%.
Dry leaves are packed, pressed, in bags weighing 40-50 kg. Store in dry, well-ventilated areas. Storage period 2 years.
Flowers (corollas without cups) are harvested at the beginning of flowering (April), plucked by hand and put in a loose layer in small baskets. Dry under canopies with good ventilation, spreading a thin layer (1-2 cm) on paper or cloth. The yield of dry raw materials is 16-17%.
According to MRTU-42 No. 3042-62, the raw material consists of funnel-shaped yellow corollas within 2 cm in length, with a five-part limb. The smell is weak. The taste is sweet with a slimy feel. Humidity is not higher than 12%. In the raw materials, no more than 2% of whisks with cups, 2% of crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 2 mm), 2% of organic and 0.5% of mineral impurities are allowed.
Flowers are packed in cans of 5 or 10 kg, which are sealed, put in 4 pieces and in boxes and stored on shelves in dry, well-ventilated areas.
Rhizomes with roots contain saponins, glycoside primulaverine. There is a lot of vitamin C in the leaves, in the corollas of flowers – saponins, flavonoids, vitamin C. Rhizomes with roots are used as an expectorant, leaves – as a C-vitamin product. Flowers are exported. Apply water infusion.