Belladonna officinalis - belladonna likarska (growing and cultivation)

Name: Belladonna officinalis – belladonna likarska (growing and cultivation)

Belladonna medicinal (Belladonna likarska) Atropa belladonna L.

Synonyms: sleepy dope, belladonna, rubella, durnik, mad berry, mad cherry (Ukrainian belladonna, belladonna).

Description. Perennial herb from the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The rhizome is capitate with a large root vertically entering the soil. The stem is erect, branched, pubescent, green, often with a purple tint, 1.52 m high. The leaves are alternate, ovate, pointed, entire, dark green, different in size. The flowers are large, solitary, rarely paired, sitting on short pedicels in the axils of the leaves. The fruit is black, shiny, large berry. The seeds are small. Weight of 1000 seeds within 1.0 g. Blooms from June to September.

All parts of the plant are poisonous.

Medicinal raw materials: leaves, grass and roots.

biological features. Belladonna is a thermophilic and moisture-loving plant with a long growing season. Its seedlings are very small and easily die from drought, weeds and pests. It grows slowly in the first year.

Habitat. Belladonna grows on mountain slopes, in beech forests, sometimes singly, in groups or small thickets between bushes, along forest edges and along forest roads, on fertile forest soils.

Spreading. It occurs wild in Central Asia, Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor; in the Soviet Union grows in the Crimea, the western regions of Ukraine, the Krasnodar Territory, in the Caucasus.

Composition of active substances. Belladonna contains in all its parts such basic alkaloids: atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine, also methyl pyrroline, methyl pyrrolidine, pyridine. “In addition, it contains mucus, starch, fat, wax, proteins, salts, sugars, various acids, glycosides, etc.

Application. For medicinal purposes, leaves, grass, less often roots and stems are used. They are used to make painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs recommended for gastrointestinal diseases, duodenal ulcers, cholecystitis, gallstone disease, renal colic, spasms of the intestines and urinary tract, as well as other diseases accompanied by spasms of the smooth muscles of the internal organs. From the leaves and roots of belladonna, the alkaloid hyoscyamine is obtained, from which, when chemically processed, atropine is obtained, which is widely used in the treatment of eye diseases, as a means of dilating the pupils. The extract prepared from belladonna is used in the form of ointments for joint diseases, neuralgia, convulsions, etc.

Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Fertile areas with moderately high humidity, protected from southeast winds drying up the soil and from strong northeast winds, should be allocated for belladonna to avoid freezing.

Good forerunners are bare fallow, then winter fallow, and row crops that have been fertilized. Belladonna should not be placed after potatoes, tomatoes and other crops from the nightshade family, as they share pests and diseases with belladonna.

Soil cultivation. Plowing on plowing is carried out to a depth of 2527 cm.

Application of fertilizers . Based on the data of the Ukrainian Experimental Station of Medicinal Plants VILRA, it was found that the yield of belladonna grows rapidly with the joint application of 30 g/ha of manure, 60 kg/ha of nitrogen, 60 kg/ha of phosphorus and 60 kg/ha of potassium. If belladonna follows a fertilized predecessor, the manure rate should be reduced to 20 t/ha, and in the non-chernozem zone increased to 40 g/ha.

Reproduction. The main methods of propagation of this crop are early spring and winter crops. The seeding rate for spring sowing is 8 kg/ha, the seeding depth is 13 cm with row spacing of 60 cm. Spring sowing is carried out with stratified, and winter sowing with unstratified (ordinary) seeds. The seeding rate for winter sowing increases to 910 kg/ha, the sowing depth is 0.51 cm.

Plantation care. To destroy the crust, the first loosening is carried out even before the emergence of seedlings. This is especially important for winter crops, since the soil is very compacted during the winter. In order to be able to carry out the first inter-row processing

before the emergence of shoots of belladonna, which are very small and weak, its seeds are mixed before sowing with the seeds of lighthouse plants (mustard, buckwheat, lettuce, etc.) in small quantities (60-100 g / ha). On spring crops, the first treatment of row spacing is carried out immediately after emergence. During the summer, row spacing is cultivated four or five times more and weeds are pulled out.

On plantations of the second and 30% of its years of life, at the first probability of entering the field, all dead parts of plants are removed. This is at the same time the fight against pests and diseases that overwinter on these residues.

Over the summer, two or three top dressings are carried out with organic fertilizers at the rate of 56 t / ha of slurry or 45 kg / ha of chicken manure and mineral fertilizers in the amount of 2530 kg / ha of nitrogen, 2530 kg / ha of phosphorus and 2530 kg / ha of potash according to the active substance.

Cleaning. The leaf crop from the plantation of the first year is harvested two or three times during the summer; under favorable conditions in autumn, the plants are once again harvested entirely, on the grass.

On transitional plantations, leaves are first harvested, then grass (for rejuvenation by pinching), then leaves again, and finally, grass again in autumn. According to the Ukrainian Experimental Station of Medicinal Plants, rejuvenation increases the yield of belladonna by 40%.

The yield of a dry leaf in the first year of culture is approximately within 34 centners / ha, in the second and subsequent years 810 centners / ha; grass yield 1518 kg/ha.

Drying. Leaves are delivered to the place of drying quickly. When transporting, they are folded in a layer in one sheet. When the leaves lose within 50% of moisture, they are dried. Plants harvested as a whole are dried in well-ventilated rooms (in attics and sheds) or under a canopy in the open air, on ropes, hanging them from the lower parts of the stems. This method is longer and can only be used in the summer. In late autumn, the raw materials are dried in fire dryers at a temperature of 40 ° C, and finally dried at a temperature of 5560 °.

Pack. After drying, the leaves are packed into bales of 50100 kg and strongly compacted under pressure.

Before packaging whole plants, their moisture content is adjusted to 20%, and then crushed on a straw cutter and packed in bales of 50,100 kg.

Storage. Raw belladonna should be stored in a dry, well-ventilated area away from other plants, as it is very poisonous.

After collecting belladonna, drying and other work, you will need to wash your hands thoroughly, and do not eat during work.

Growing seeds. To obtain seeds, special seed plots are laid with annual roots, or areas with good herbage are allocated on ordinary plantations.

Seed yield on 2-, three-year-old plantations varies within 1.06.0 centner/ha.

Quality requirement. In accordance with the State Pharmacopoeia X in the leaves of belladonna is allowed: moisture 13%; total ash 15; ash, insoluble in 10% hydrochloric acid, 3; yellowed, browned and blackened leaves 4; tops of shoots with flowers and fruits, as well as individual fruits and flowers 4; organic and mineral impurities 0.5 each, alkaloids not less than 0.35%.

For whole raw materials: crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 3 mm, not more than 4%; for cut raw materials: particles over 8 mm long, not more than 10%; particles passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 0.5 mm, not more than 8%.

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