Name: Japanese Sophora – Japanese Sophora
Japanese sophora (Sophora japonica); Japanese acacia; Japanese sophora
Deciduous, up to 30 m tall, tree of the legume family. The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate, with 3-8 pairs of leaflets, on short hairy petioles; leaves are oblong-ovate, appressed hairy, dark green on top, glossy, bluish on the bottom. The flowers are bisexual, irregular, in apical clusters gathered in large panicles; butterfly-type corolla, bright yellow. The fruit is a bean, on a peduncle, unopened, reticulate, between the seeds with bands filled with yellowish-green sticky juice. Blooms in July-August. The fruits ripen in October and remain on the tree all winter.
Spread. Japanese Sophora comes from China and Japan. On the territory of Ukraine (mainly in the southern regions), it is cultivated as a decorative and phytoremedial plant.
Procurement and storage. Buds of flowers (Alabastra Sophorae japonicae) and fruits of sophora (Fructus Sophorae japonicae) are used for medical purposes. Buds are harvested in sunny weather at the end of budding, when the lower flowers in clusters begin to bloom. First, the inflorescences are plucked by hand or cut with secateurs or scissors, then the buds are squeezed from the inflorescences, dried for two hours in the sun, after which they are transferred under shelter or indoors for final drying. Artificial drying is carried out at a temperature of 40-50°. 20% of dry buds are obtained. Sophora fruits are collected slightly unripe in dry weather and dried in ventilated rooms or in dryers at a temperature of 25-30°. At the time of harvesting, the fruit should be light green, fleshy and juicy, and the seeds should be hardened and darken. The finished raw materials are stored in paper bags in dry, ventilated rooms. The validity period is 1 year. Pharmacies do not release raw materials.
Chemical composition . Buds and young fruits of sophora contain a significant amount of rutin. In addition to rutin, sophora fruits contain kaempferol-3-sophoroside, quercetin-3-rutinoside, genistein-4-sophorabioside and other flavonoids.
Pharmacological properties and use. The main active substance of sophora products is rutin, which has the ability (especially in combination with ascorbic acid) to seal the walls of blood vessels and reduce their fragility. Taking this into account, it is used for the prevention and treatment of hypo- and vitamin R deficiency, in diseases accompanied by increased vascular permeability (hemorrhagic diatheses, retinal hemorrhages, capillary toxicosis, radiation sickness, septic endocarditis, rheumatism, glomerulonephritis, hypertension, allergic diseases , thrombopenic purpura), for the prevention and treatment of capillary lesions when using anticoagulants, salicylates and arsenic products. For industrial production of rutin, buds of sophora and green mass of common buckwheat are used. In addition to routine, tincture of sophora fruits (Tinctura Sophorae japonicae) is also used in scientific medicine. In the form of irrigations, washes and wet bandages, it is used in purulent inflammatory processes (wounds, burns, trophic ulcers). In traditional medicine, tincture of fruits or buds is used internally for internal bleeding of various origins (for stopping or for preventive purposes), for angina, atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, rheumatism, hemorrhagic diathesis, capillarotoxicosis (poisoning with arsenic compounds, salicylates), sepsis, thrombophlebitis, diseases of the stomach and duodenum, ulcerative colitis, liver diseases, typhoid fever, hemorrhoids and helminth infestation. As an external remedy, these tinctures are used for burns and frostbite, skin tuberculosis, lupus, traumatic lesions, boils, carbuncles, sinusitis, paraproctitis, mastitis, trophic ulcers and psoriasis. A five- or ten-percent water solution of the tincture of the buds is used for hair loss (rubbed into the hairy part of the head), for barley on the eye (compresses are made), for toothache and inflammation of the gums (rinsed the mouth), for a runny nose (instilled in nose), with fungal skin diseases and eczema (baths are used).
Medicinal forms and applications.
Internally , rutin (Rutinum) is prescribed for adults at 0.02-0.05 g 2-3 times a day;
tincture of buds (made with 70% alcohol in a ratio of 1:5) 20-40 drops 3 times a day after meals;
fruit tincture (made with 56% alcohol from fresh fruit in a ratio of 1:1, from dry – 1:2) from 10 drops to 1 teaspoon 4-5 times a day.
Simultaneously with sophora products, it is recommended to prescribe ascorbic acid.
Externally – sterile dressings for wounds, tampons, lubrication, washing and irrigation with tincture of fruits or buds (prepared as in previous prescriptions).