ALOE TREVOVIDNE
(CENTENNIAL) –
Aloe arborescens Mill.
Liliaccae family
What does it look like? A perennial indoor plant up to 150 cm tall. There are several types. Its trunk is short, the leaves are fleshy, oblong-sword-shaped, collected at the top in the form of a rosette. The edges of the leaves are serrated, the teeth are elongated into soft spines. A tall flower-bearing arrow is crowned with a long bunch of orange or yellow flowers with a six-toothed bract. Blooms in the winter months, but not every year.
Where does it grow? The homeland of aloe is the semi-desert arid regions of South and East Africa, where this plant reaches significant sizes, and its leaves are up to 60 cm long. We grow it in pots and as an annual crop on the Black Sea coast.
In aloe leaves kept for 12 days in dark and cold conditions (plus 6-plus 8°), in the process of the plant’s struggle for life, biological changes occur in metabolism and a decrease in vital processes, which causes the emergence of so-called biogenic stimulators in them, which can stimulate vital processes in other tissues that have already begun to die. This property of aloe is used in tissue therapy, using injections for eye diseases, chronic arthritis, bronchial asthma, stomach and duodenal ulcers; external emulsion (from a mixture of aloe juice with castor and eucalyptus oil and an emulsifier in the ratio 78:11:0.1:11) — for lupus and for the purpose of prevention and treatment of the skin with radiation sickness.
What and when are collected? Juicy leaves in autumn.
When is it used? As a laxative and choleretic and to stimulate appetite and improve digestion. Sabur was once part of the “elixir of longevity.” In doses of 0.03-0.2, dry aloe extract acts after 8-10 hours as a strong laxative, affecting the function of the large intestine, but it causes blood flow to the pelvic organs and is therefore contraindicated in hemorrhoids, cystitis, during pregnancy and menstruation, also with acute diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, heart diseases in the stage of decompensation and pulmonary tuberculosis with hemoptysis.
The juice squeezed out under the press is thickened to a state of solidification (the so-called sabur) or preserved with alcohol (80 parts of juice, 20 parts of 95% alcohol, 0.5% chloretone) from plants that have been kept in difficult living conditions.
Fresh or canned juice is taken 1 teaspoon twice a day 30 minutes before meals as a choleretic agent, it can be used for diseases of the liver and gall bladder and to stimulate appetite and improve digestion, as well as for chronic and atonic constipation, obesity and similar diseases gastrointestinal tract, such as gastritis with insufficient acidity, gastroenteritis and enterocolitis. The juice contains anthraglycosides (mixtures of them – aloins – increase the secretion of bile), resins; it is rich in enzymes, vitamins and has a bactericidal effect on various groups of bacteria, including the tubercle bacillus; contributes to the regulation of menstruation. There are no contraindications for the use of aloe juice.
In a mixture with a solution of ferric chloride, aloe juice is used to treat anemia. In the case of cancer (in folk medicine with infusion of celandine – see Common celandine) it is recommended to chew a piece of raw aloe leaf (10 g) three times a day. Swallow what remains after sucking out the juice. A mixture of 750 g of aloe juice, 1750 g of red grape wine and 1250 g of pure honey is infused for 7 days in a closed dark glass jar. Take 1 teaspoon for the first 7 days, and 1 tablespoon three times a day for the next five weeks, two hours before meals — for pulmonary tuberculosis, stomach ulcers, asthma, hypertension, gout, sciatica, flu, angina, chronic sinusitis, eczema, malignant tumors, leukopenia, radiation sickness, weakness, initial cataract.
For pulmonary tuberculosis, take 1 tablespoon of a mixture of rendered lard, butter, pure honey, aloe juice, and cocoa powder in a ratio of 1000: 1000: 1000: 150: 100 per glass of hot milk and drink 1 glass twice a day. Externally, crushed aloe leaves or its fresh juice are used for compresses for burns, scalds, frostbite, trophic ulcers, eczema, clogged areas and wounds – purulent and those that do not heal well. Aloe juice is also dripped into the nose for a runny nose; with the initial cataract, the eyes are instilled with diluted juice in a ratio of 1:10 on boiled water. Calluses are treated with fresh leaves, applying pulp of the leaf to them for several days.
The healing and scarring of wounds and trophic ulcers, in addition to the juice of aloe tree, buds of black poplar, white birch, leaves of spherical eucalyptus, resin of coniferous trees (pine and spruce), cold mint, are facilitated by phytoncides contained in onions and garlic, as well as Kalanchoe pinnate and propolis.
Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Persoon (synonymous – Bryophyllum calycinum Salisb) is a perennial herbaceous plant from the Crassulaceae family.
Its root is short, strongly branched, the stem is erect, strong, fleshy. The lower leaves are simple or ovate, large, ridged-toothed; the upper ones are complex, triple or pinnate with 3-5 oblong-ovate leaves. All leaves are fleshy, juicy. Young plants develop at the ends of the teeth (Kalanchoe Daigremont is a viviparous plant). It grows in the wild, common in the tropics of the Old and New World – in Africa, Central and South America, Asia. We grow it on windowsills in pots.
It is prepared like this. After washing the plant in running water, the leaves and the herbaceous part of the stem, keeping them in a dark, cool place for 7 days, pass them through a meat grinder sterilized by boiling, squeeze through a dense cloth, leave for a day at a temperature of 4-10° and filter through cotton wool and blotting paper. For preservation, chloroform is added to make a 0.5% solution.
The following microelements of aluminum, iron, magnesium, silicon, manganese, copper were found in Kalanchoe juice; polysaccharides, vitamin P, catechins, tannins and others.
Kalanchoe ointment is made (with strict asepsis) according to the composition: Kalanchoe juice – 40 ml, furazolidone – 0.25 g, novocaine – 0.25 g, anhydrous lanolin – 60 g.
It is used as an anti-inflammatory wound-healing agent for suppuration of surgical wounds, for quick cleansing of wounds from purulent-necrotic tissues and acceleration of maturation of granulations (trophic ulcers). The course of treatment is 10-15 days. Applications are used to treat cracked nipples and erosions of the cervix (ointment), chronic tonsillitis (irrigation), stage II-III periodontosis and inflammatory phenomena in the periodontium, to stop pathological secretions and gum pockets. Applications are applied every 5-6 hours. There are good results in chronic recurrent aphthous stomatitis. The juice is also instilled into the conjunctival sac in oculistic practice and into the nose with a runny nose.
Propolis is a somewhat sticky, resinous, dark brown substance with a pleasant smell and bitter taste, which is easily soluble in 70% alcohol, very slightly in water. The composition of propolis includes plant resins, wax, volatile oils, pollen, secretion of bee salivary glands and trace elements – iron, copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt. Bees use it for sealing holes and cracks in the hive and for internal lubrication of the seals. The effect of propolis is antimicrobial, anti-toxic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, which stimulates the body’s defenses against infections. Propolis is harvested in the summer, after the main honey collection. It is non-poisonous, harmless to the human body. Apply propolis in this way.
In the form of an extract. 100 g of purified propolis is rubbed into a powder, 100 ml of distilled water is added and boiled for several hours in a water bath. Warm filtered through several layers of gauze. The cloudy, dark yellow extract is used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchoadenitis. Take 20 drops three times a day, one hour before meals, for 4-10 months.
In the form of oil. 150 g of pure powdered propolis is added to 1 kg of butter melted in an enamel vessel at a temperature of 80°, mixed well with a metal spoon, then the warm mixture is filtered through cheesecloth and stored in a dark, dry, cold place. Take 1 teaspoon three times a day, 1 hour before meals, for 4-10 months with pulmonary tuberculosis. 4-7 kg of propolis oil is needed per course.
In the form of an alcohol solution. Add 500 ml of 96% alcohol to 100 g of powdered propolis and shake for 30 minutes, repeating this procedure repeatedly for 2-5 days. Then filter through cheesecloth and drink 20-40 drops three times a day or 1 teaspoon 1-1.5 hours before meals, with warm milk as an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever that stimulates the body’s defenses, and also as a virucidal a remedy for the flu (it has the properties of a biogenic stimulator).
Externally. For tuberculosis of the skin, chronic eczema, chronic dermatitis, aphthae and erosions in the mouth. At a concentration of 0.25%, it causes twelve-minute anesthesia.
In the form of an ointment. Vaseline or lanolin is added to clean, powdered propolis in an enameled vessel and heated in a water bath to 45°. Then it is well mixed, filtered through a double layer of gauze and used for the treatment of corns, neoplasms, and in tampons – erosion of the cervix, endocervicitis, colpitis and conditions after diathermocoagulation. This is how the ointment is prepared against baldness. Melt 100 g of fat in a water bath, add 10 g of powdered propolis, heat, mix well with a spatula and rub the cold mixture into the scalp.
In the form of inhalations. 60 g of propolis and 40 g of wax are placed in an enamel vessel, which is mixed in a water bath. With chronic bronchitis, inhalations are made for two months for 10 minutes in the morning and in the evening (phytoncidal effect).
And also pay attention to the article Kalanchoe peristoe