Name: Calamus vulgaris – Zvichayna flatbread (growing and cultivation)
Calamus vulgaris (common calamus) Acorus calamus L.
\r
Synonyms: marsh calamus, odorous calamus, ir, yavar, plushnik, tatarnik, yarnik, hot root (Ukrainian аїр, yavir, sycamore, flat cake, Tatar zilla, irnik, flat cake, flat cake).
\r
Description . A perennial herbaceous marsh plant from the aroid family (Agaceae), with a thick, creeping, spongy, branched, warty, roundish rhizome. The stem is trihedral, straight, up to 100 cm high. The leaves are 2-row, narrow, long, xiphoid, extending from the rhizomes. The flower arrow is triangular, with a groove on the inside, sits at the top of the stem. Flowers bisexual, greenish-yellow. Blooms in May June. The fruit is a small red berry. Seeds in our conditions do not ripen.
\r
Medicinal raw material: rhizome.
\r
biological features . Calamus vulgaris successfully propagates in our country vegetatively by rhizomes, which quickly take root in conditions of high humidity.
\r
Habitat. It grows in low wetlands, along the banks of rivers, lakes, where it forms continuous thickets on silty soils.
\r
Spreading. Calamus is native to China and India. It was first brought to Europe from Constantinople in the form of rhizomes in the middle of the 16th century. Then, through the botanical gardens, calamus spread throughout Europe, the Far East, Eastern and Western Siberia. It grows almost throughout the European part of the USSR.
\r
Calamus is harvested mainly in Ukraine and Belarus.
\r
Composition of active substances . Dry calamus rhizomes contain 1.5-4.5% essential oil, raw within 1%. The composition of the oil includes asarone, terpins, pinene, borneol, eugenol, calomone, camphene, camphor, calamen, cariaphyllene, bitter glycoside acorin, alkoid, calamine, tannins, vitamin C, etc. Calamus leaves also contain tannins and essential oil .
\r
Application. Scientific medicine uses calamus mainly in complex tinctures as a bitter-spicy remedy to stimulate appetite and improve digestion, also in infusions, powders, decoctions as a carminative, gastric, disinfectant and expectorant. Calamus is an integral part of Vikalin and Vikaira tablets used in the treatment of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease;
\r
The cut rhizome is part of the appetizing, gastric teas (fees), also in the mixture for children’s baths in the treatment of rickets and scrofula.
\r
Preparations from the rhizomes of calamus are widely used in folk medicine. For example, they take powder from rhizomes inside (on the tip of a knife) against scurvy, for the healing of festering wounds, ulcers, and heartburn. A decoction of calamus rhizomes mixed with burdock rhizomes and hop cones is used for hair loss.
\r
As a bactericidal agent, cut calamus rhizomes are chewed for prophylactic purposes during epidemics of influenza, cholera, and typhoid.
\r
Fragrant calamus leaves are widely used in everyday life, especially in Ukraine, where they cover adobe floors. Bunches of leaves decorate the walls of the premises, they contribute to the destruction of fleas and other parasitic insects. Rhizomes are used for aromatic baths and washings.
\r
In the alcoholic beverage industry, calamus is used in the manufacture of bitter vodkas, liqueurs, and fruit essences. It is also used in the fishing industry: it contributes to the compaction of fish during its processing and gives it a pleasant aroma and a slight bitter taste (Pryano-aromatic plants of the USSR, 1963).
\r
Calamus rhizomes are processed in large quantities to obtain essential oil, which is used in the alcoholic beverage, fishing industry, etc.
\r
The rhizomes of the plant are also used in veterinary medicine to improve digestion in animals.
\r
Collection. Calamus rhizomes are harvested mainly in late autumn at the beginning of winter, when the water level in rivers and swamps drops. At this time, the rhizomes are most easily removed from the silt. Dig them up with forks or shovels. The collected rhizomes are freed from roots and stems, washed thoroughly, then cut into pieces 1520 cm long (the thickest, in addition, are also cut in half). According to OST 4292, raw materials are prepared both in unrefined and bark-free form. In the later case, the bark is cut off with knives immediately after drying, i.e. before drying.
\r
Drying . The rhizomes are laid out on rows, panels, sieves and dried in attics under an iron roof, in well-ventilated rooms or in a special dryer with artificial heating at a temperature not exceeding 2530 ° C (a higher temperature contributes to the volatilization of the essential oil).
\r
The pack is produced in bales of 100 kg.
\r
Storage . To prevent the rhizomes from becoming damp and moldy, they must be stored in exceptionally dry, well-ventilated areas. It should not be allowed and very high temperature to avoid loss of essential oil.
\r
quality requirements . In accordance with the State Pharmacopoeia X, raw materials should consist of pieces of rhizomes of different lengths (up to 30 cm), 0.51.5 cm thick, yellowish-brown on the outside, sometimes with a grayish-green tint, whitish-pink at the break, with spicy-bitter taste and strong aroma. Allowed: moisture 14%; total ash 6; rhizomes that turned brown at the break, 5; pieces of rhizomes, poorly cleaned of roots and residues, 5; organic impurities 1, mineral 2%.
\r
For whole raw materials: pieces of rhizomes shorter than 2 cm 2%. For cut raw materials: particles longer than 8 mm 10%, particles passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 0.5 mm, 5%. For powder: moisture 10%; particles that do not pass through a sieve with a hole diameter of 0.315 mm, 5%.
\r
The content of essential oil in whole raw materials is not less than 2%, in cut raw materials is not less than 1.5, in powder is not less than 1.5%.