Henbane black – hyoscyamus niger l.
Popular names: blekota horn, mad grass, stupefaction, chicken blindness, blekotnitsa.
Botanical characteristic. Solanaceae family. Biennial herbaceous plant 30-100 cm high, with an unpleasant odor. The root is branched, taproot, soft, sometimes almost spongy with a thickened root collar. Stem erect, hollow inside, branched or simple, densely covered with soft sticky hairs. The leaves are large, alternate, oblong-ovate, notched-pinnatifid. The flowers are of medium size, almost sessile, dirty yellow with more or less visible dark purple veins. Blooms in June-July, the seeds ripen in August-September (Fig. 8).
Spreading. In the wild, henbane is found within rivers, on fallow lands, wastelands, garbage places, near housing, along roads. Widely distributed throughout almost the entire Soviet Union, with the exception of the taiga (northern) part of Siberia. Introduced into the culture in specialized state farms of the Novosibirsk and Voronezh regions, in Ukraine and in the Krasnodar Territory.
Medicinal raw materials. Leaves and leafy stems (grass) are used. Rosette leaves in the first year of life are harvested twice during the summer – in July – August, when they contain the most alkaloids, stem leaves in the second year of culture are at the beginning of flowering, and the tops of stems and branches are at the end of flowering. You can not take leaves affected by powdery mildew, also wet, light brown. Collected leaves and grass are immediately placed in dryers at a temperature of 30-40 ° C. It can be dried in attics under an iron roof with good ventilation, spreading the raw materials in a thin layer on cardboard, paper or canvas, periodically turning over. Henbane leaves are packed in bags and stored for 2 years in a well-ventilated area under lock and key (list A). The plant is poisonous!
Along with bleached black, Czech henbane is used, which differs from black henbane in a low stem (20-25 cm), notched-toothed leaves and pale yellow flowers with purple veins. It grows in Ukraine and the Volga region, also in the Baltic states, in the vicinity of the city of Kustanai, in the Far East.
Chemical composition. The whole plant contains the alkaloids hyoscyamine (atropine) and scopolamine (in their leaves up to 0.1%, in the stems 0.02, in the roots 0.15-0.18%), as well as glycosides (hyoscipicrin, hyoscerin, hyosciresin, etc. ), protein substances, sugar, gum, fatty oil, essential oil, etc.
pharmacological properties. Plants containing atropine group alkaloids as biologically active substances include belladonna, dope, and henbane. Alkaloids of this group have a pronounced anticholinergic effect: they block M-cholinergic structures and thereby make cells insensitive to the influence of the mediator acetylcholine. In this regard, the secretion of the salivary glands stops, the tone relaxes and spasms of smooth muscles are removed, which leads to a weakening of peristalsis, the cessation of pain, the pupil dilates and the heart rate accelerates. In addition, atropine and hyoscyamine have a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, while scopolamine, on the contrary, has a calming effect.
If there are few of these plants in the feed of animals, they act as an antispasmodic and moderate secretion agent, there is a weakening of the secretory activity not only of the glands of the gastrointestinal tract, but also of the bronchial, sweat glands. In large quantities, they are poisonous and can cause poisoning with phenomena of excitation of the central nervous system. Therefore, only a veterinarian prescribes plants of this group to animals.
Application. Belena and its products are used as sedatives, analgesics and anticonvulsants. As a remedy, henbane has been known since ancient times. Currently included in the pharmacopoeias of many countries. It is recommended in small doses in powders or as a dry extract for the treatment of diseases of the digestive and respiratory organs as a sedative, in the form of an aqueous infusion (1:40 or 1:50) to reduce the secretion of the glands of the gastrointestinal tract in inflammatory and ulcerative processes. mucous membranes, to relieve spasms of smooth muscles and bronchial muscles.
Doses of leaves inside approximately: cattle and horses 10-30 g, sheep and goats 5-15, pigs 2-10, dogs 0.2-1 g. Henbane oil in combination with chloroform and methyl salicylate is prescribed externally as an anesthetic for rubbing with myositis, etc.
dog
Rp.: Olei Hyoscyami 30.0 Chloroformii 20.0 Methyli salicylatis 5.0 MDS For rubbing in myositis.