Name: wild strawberry
Rosaceae – Rosaceae.
Common name: intestinal grass.
Parts used: most often leaves and fresh ripe fruits, sometimes rhizomes.
Pharmacy name: strawberry leaves – Fragariae folium (formerly: Folia Fragariae), strawberry fruits – Fragariae fructus (formerly: Fructus Fragariae), strawberry root – Fragariae radix (formerly: Radix Fragariae).
Botanical description.Perennial plant 5-20 cm tall, forming long creeping shoots (whiskers) that stretch along the soil plane and take root at the nodes. Leaves with long petioles, trifoliate, light green above, whitish-grayish-green below, pubescent. White flowers on erect peduncles have 5 petals and 5 sepals with a subcup. The receptacle after flowering becomes red, fleshy, juicy, forming a false fruit, known to everyone as the “berry” of the strawberry. Real fruits (small shiny nuts) with a hard shell are immersed in bases in this false fruit. Blooms from May to June. Among the forest gifts, strawberries are the most valuable; they grow along the slopes of embankments and on the sides of forest roads, in clearings and clearings, from plains to. forest border in the mountains. It occurs often, but only occasionally in the form of dense thickets.
Collection and preparation. Anyone who wants to harvest leaves should do it at the beginning of summer, preferably during flowering. But for those who are less interested in their healing effect, and would like to use strawberry leaves as homemade tea, it is necessary to collect them very young, when they still have little tannins. Mixed with l/i, woodruff herbs make a wonderful tasty tea, which was recommended by Kneipp. The rhizomes are dug up in spring or autumn and dried in the air. But the most healing in this plant is fresh fruits, which also have tonic properties.
active substances. The leaves contain tannins, some essential oil, vitamin C and flavonoids. The content of tannins in young leaves is non-cardinal, later it increases. The main active substances of rhizomes are tannins, the content of which reaches 10%. As for ripe fruits, here it is first of all necessary to mention vitamin C. In 100 g of ripe berries, there are approximately 60 mg of it (this is a very high content of vitamin C). Refreshing fruit acids, valuable minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt, phosphorus, and other vitamins are the active ingredients of strawberries.
Healing action and application. Rhizomes and leaves are valuable for their tannins. Their decoction (tea) is used to rinse the throat and mouth with inflammation of the mucous membranes, and is also used for disorders of the stomach and intestines, especially for diarrhea. The decoction is also successfully used for jaundice. Sebastian Kneipp recommended strawberry tea as a health drink for weakened people.
- Strawberry tea: 2 teaspoons topped with strawberry leaves pour 1/4 liter of boiling water, let it brew for 15 minutes, then strain. Drink a cup of tea three times every day or, if necessary, gargle or gargle with tepid tea.
Tea from rhizomes is brewed twice as weakly (1 teaspoon per 1/4 liter of water). The use of fresh strawberries to improve the functioning of the liver and gallbladder was already known in antiquity. Modern science has confirmed this. The days of taking wild strawberries are days of health for an overloaded liver: eat 125 g of berries three times every day for at least one week during the fruiting of strawberries – these will be healing days!
Use in homeopathy. The fresh fruit is the starting material for the homeopathic remedy Fragaria, which, although rarely, is used to treat urticaria-type rashes, digestive disorders and circulatory disorders. D 1 and D 1 are the most effective dilutions of this remedy, which is enough to take 5-8 drops twice every day.
Application in folk medicine.Fresh strawberries are in high esteem among the people. I must say that traditional medicine does not attach any healing value to the numerous garden forms of strawberries. Naturally, wild berries are more fragrant, richer in vitamins and minerals, however, garden strawberries, especially some of their forms, are not without value. Nevertheless, traditional medicine rejects it. She recommends fresh wild strawberries for diseases of the heart, liver and gallbladder, for nervous exhaustion, anemia and weakness, for gout and rheumatism, for acne and chronic constipation. They also have anthelmintic properties. Strawberry leaf tea is known to purify the blood, promote hematopoiesis and soothe the nerves. In addition, it has a reputation (largely due to information from old herbalists) as a remedy for hemorrhoids, ailments of the spleen and liver, female diseases and dropsy. With its help, they try to achieve success even with asthma and chronic bronchitis. Tea from rhizomes is recommended for diarrhea and jaundice. However, do not attach too much importance to the advice of traditional medicine.
Side effects. Some people develop an allergic reaction to garden strawberries and develop a severely itchy rash after eating the fruit. These people should also avoid wild strawberries, but tea from the leaves is not contraindicated for them.