Name: Actinidia colomycta – Actinidia colomycta
Actinidia kolomikta (Actinidia kolomikta); actinidia colomycta
A dioecious plant of the Actinidia family. A twisted liana bush up to 10 m long, climbs trees or creeps along the ground. The shoots are red-brown. The leaves are alternate, whole, oval, with a heart-shaped base, sometimes elongated to a point, twice thinly serrated. The flowers are regular, 5-petalled, white or pink, fragrant: male — in 2-5-flowered corymbose inflorescences, sometimes solitary; female – single. The fruit is a berry, green in color, elliptical in shape, with juicy, aromatic pulp, up to 2 cm long and 1 cm in diameter. Blooms in July.
Spread. It grows wild in the Far East on the territory of the former USSR. In Ukraine, it is grown as an ornamental and fruit-bearing plant.
Procurement and storage. Fruits are used. Since ripe fruits spoil quickly, they are harvested unripe for temporary storage and transportation. Berries are well stored frozen and dried.
Chemical composition. The fruits of Actinidia kolomikta contain a lot of ascorbic acid (813-1400 mg %), sugars (4.2-9.8%), organic acids, tannins, pectin and coloring substances, etc. Flavonoids, lactones, traces of saponins were found in the leaves; in the roots – alkaloids (0.03%). Flavonoids (catechins) are also found in wood and shoots.
Using. Berries of Actinidia colomicta are used as anti-scurvy, anthelmintic, hemostatic (in particular, in case of uterine bleeding) and pain reliever, in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchial asthma, whooping cough and dental caries. It is useful to use the berries of Actinidia kolomikta in case of weakening and exhaustion of the body due to the transfer of infectious diseases and operations, in case of physical and mental fatigue, acute and chronic diseases of the stomach and intestines. Berries of Actinidia colomicta are used fresh and processed into jam, jam, marmalade, lozenge, etc.