Synonyms: pharmacy sage (Ukrainian shavliya zvichayna).
\rDescription . Perennial semi-shrub from the family of labiatae (Labiatae) 50×70 cm high. The root is woody, branched, densely fibrous, below with thin roots. The stems are tetrahedral, woody in the lower part, grayish in color, and pubescent on top, green. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, finely serrated, 58 cm long and 34 cm wide, with a finely meshed surface. Flowers on short stalks are collected in false whorls. It blooms in June-July with bluish-purple, rarely white or pink flowers in the second year of life. Seeds ripen in July August. The fruit consists of four nuts. The seeds are spherical. Weight of 1000 seeds 78 g.
\rMedicinal raw materials: leaves.
\rbiological features . The plant has a powerful fibrous root system that penetrates deep into the soil (it is not afraid of drought). Sage is very thermophilic. In snowless and severe winters, it sometimes freezes even in the Crimean region and the Krasnodar Territory (however, during a snowy winter it winters well in the more northern regions of Ukraine, where the upper part of the plants dies off in winter and grows back in spring).
\r\rHabitat . Grows on dry mountain slopes.
\rSpreading. In the wild, sage is found on the Mediterranean coast.
\rIt has been cultivated in culture in many countries of the world since ancient times. In the USSR, it is cultivated mainly in the south of Ukraine, in the Krasnodar Territory and in Moldova.
\rComposition of active substances. Sage leaves contain 12% essential oil, which includes pinene, cineole, tanacetone, etc. In addition, they contain starch, resin, gum, protein and tannins.
\rApplication. As an astringent, an infusion of dry sage leaves is used for rinsing in diseases of the oral cavity. Tea from sage leaves is recommended for prolonged bronchitis, also for bleeding from the gums, tonsillitis, etc. In a mixture with other medicinal plants, it is used in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, gallbladder, used as a diuretic and carminative. An aqueous tincture of sage leaves (20 g per liter of boiling water) promotes good digestion.
\rIn later years, it was found that aromatic sage baths are successfully used in the treatment of sciatica, chronic polyarthritis, sciatica, etc. Collection of sage leaves together with leaves of nettle, lilac, yarrow herb is recommended for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, as well as tuberculous lupus (Gubergrits, Solomchenko, 1966).
\rA mixture of sage leaves and Datura, like a smoke, relieves attacks of bronchial asthma.
\rAgrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Under sage, areas protected from cold northeast winds, well lit by the sun and remote from the roads (rough leaves of the plant are easily polluted by road dust) should be allocated. The soil must be sufficiently fertile, structural.
\rThe best predecessors are considered to be fallow, winter, going through fertilized fallow, and row crops, which traditionally go through fertilizer.
\rDue to the fact that sage plantations remain in the same place for up to five years, it is recommended to take them out to fields or place them in special crop rotations with the participation of perennial medicinal plants.
\rSoil cultivation. If the predecessor was a grain crop, after harvesting, the stubble is peeled to a depth of 810 cm. Autumn plowing is carried out to a depth of at least 2730 cm. In early spring, the field is harrowed, and before sowing it is cultivated to a depth of 10-12 cm, then it is harrowed again and rolled.
\rIn the Crimean region and in the Krasnodar Territory, where sage develops slowly in the first year of cultivation, it is recommended to use the cultivation of fallow with harrowing to inhibit the development of weeds.
\rApplication of fertilizers. Organic fertilizers in the form of manure or compost should be applied under autumn plowing, adding 23 c/ha of superphosphate. With a lack of manure, its number can be halved, but at the same time, mineral fertilizers of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (3040 kg / ha of active substance) can be applied.
\rDuring sowing, 2535 kg/ha of granular superphosphate are applied to the rows.
\rReproduction. The most rational way to propagate sage is early spring sowing in the ground (with row spacing of 60 cm). Seeding rate is 89 kg/ha, sowing depth is 23 cm on heavy soils up to 2 cm). Sow with vegetable or grain planters.
\rPlantation care . The first loosening of row spacing is carried out even before germination (therefore, buckwheat is sown simultaneously with sage as a beacon plant 0.5 kg / ha).
\rWhen two or three pairs of true leaves are found, a bouquet is carried out with a cutout of 2025 cm and a bouquet length of 1015 cm. If the seedlings are too thick, they break through, leaving 56 plants in each bouquet. During the first year of life, inter-row cultivation and weeding are repeated three times. Hilling is carried out in late autumn, and snow retention in winter.
\rIn early spring, on transitional plantations, to rejuvenate plants, woody stems are mowed or cut at a height of 810 cm from the ground plane. Good results are achieved when using the KIR-15 rotary mower-chopper tested in 1963 at the Crimean state farm Lekrasprom, working in conjunction with the MTZ-5-LS tractor, as well as the KIR-1.2 mower. They cut sage at the very plane of the soil, as a result of which the sage yield increases by 40%, and the content of essential oil in it increases significantly (Kondratenko et al., 1967).
\rIn order to increase the yield of sage, top dressing is carried out with local fertilizers in the form of slurry (46 t/ha) or chicken manure (35 q/ha). On the plantations of the first year, the first feeding is done during the bouquet, and the second one a month before the leaves are harvested. Plants of the second, 30% of it and subsequent years of culture are fed 20-30 days before harvesting the leaves. In the absence of local organic fertilizers, mineral fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potash) are applied at the rate of 2035 kg/ha of the active substance.
\rHarvest. Only the leaves are removed. In the first year of culture, the collection begins at the end of August in such a way that new leaves can appear by the end of autumn. Harvest by hand in three or four steps. For the first time, the collection is carried out during flowering, when the lower leaves reach a length of 8 cm; in the last, once the remaining leaves are removed along with the top of the stem at the end of summer.
\rCurrently, many farms have begun to carry out continuous mechanized harvesting with carriageless headers (cutting height 1315 cm from the ground). This results in great savings in labor costs.
\rGrowing seeds . Specially allocated areas in fields with highly fertile soils are sown with seeds obtained from selection and experimental stations. All work is carried out at a high agrotechnical level and in optimal periods.
\rAs a last resort allocate sites with a good, equal herbage on industrial plantations. During flowering, varietal weeding is carried out on them.
\rSeeds are harvested with a self-propelled grain harvester when the calyxes of most of the lower flowers dry out and the seeds turn brown. Seeds are dried and cleaned on winnowers-sorting. Store them in a dry room in bags of 1020 kg.
\rLeaves are dried indoors. It is best to dry in fire dryers. First, at a temperature of 30-40 ° C, the moisture content of the leaves is brought to 5060%, and then they are dried at a temperature of 5060 ° for 810 hours.
\rSage grass, harvested with the help of machines (with stems), is dried on open currents or in the field, in inclement weather, under sheds. The dried mass is threshed with a combine, and the crushed leaves are cleaned of stems and other impurities on metal sieves.
\rThe average yield of dry leaves in the first year of the crop is 36 q/ha; for the second and third years 612 c/ha. With high agricultural technology, crops are grown up to 2030 kg / ha.
\rPack . Before sale, the dry leaf is pressed and packed in bales of 50100 kg.
\rStorage. After drying, the leaves should be stored in a dry, clean, well-ventilated area.
\rquality requirements. In accordance with the State Pharmacopoeia X, the following is allowed in raw materials: moisture 14%; total ash 12, blackened and browned leaves 5; other parts of sage (stems no longer than 3 cm and inflorescences) 10; organic and mineral impurities, 0.5% each.
\rFor whole raw materials: crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 3 mm, 3%.
\rFor cut raw materials: particles longer than 10 mm 5%; particles passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 0.5 mm, 10%