Name: Datura ordinary – Datura zvichayny (harvesting and storage)
Common Datura -Datura stramonium L. The Ukrainian name is Datura zvichayny, popular names are Durzele, Duropyan, demon-tree, mad potion, poison, poison, German, dendira, thorns, kinglets, cocklebur, wonderfay, paki, etc.
Solanaceae family – Solanaceae.
Leaves are used for medicinal purposes.
It occurs throughout Ukraine, mainly in the forest-steppe regions, not often in the north of Polissya and in the southern Steppe. It grows in weedy places in yards, under fences and walls of buildings, sometimes on the streets and outskirts of vegetable gardens, orchards, fields. Forms small groups, sometimes – rare thickets, especially in places of manure removal. Industrial blanks are possible in Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Vinnitsa, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv regions.
Stocks of raw materials are large, tens of tons of leaves can be harvested annually. In connection with the improvement of the sanitary condition of settlements and the decrease in the area of various wastelands, the reserves are rapidly declining.
Datura ordinary – an annual plant with a white spindle-shaped root. Stem erect, 40-150 cm high, glabrous, forked-branched. The leaves are alternate, pairwise contiguous, long-petiolate, ovate or oblong-ovate, notched-lobed or serrated, with pointed lobes and teeth, cuneate at the base, up to 25 cm long. They are dark green on the upper side, slightly lighter on the lower side, when young finely hairy in age, later sparse hairs remain only along the veins. Quite large (up to 10 cm long) flowers are in the forks of stems and branches. Calyx tubular, pentagonal, half as long as corolla, five-toothed. Corolla white, fragrant, joint-petal, funnel-shaped. The fruit is an oval, covered with thorns, opening with four wings, a multi-seeded box. Seeds kidney-shaped, flattened, black, opaque, with mesh surface. Blooms in June – September. The fruits ripen in September-October. The whole plant is poisonous.
Leaves are harvested from the beginning of flowering to autumn frosts (June – October), breaking off with hands. Leaves collected with dew or after rain turn black quickly.
Dry raw materials in attics under an iron roof or under sheds with good ventilation, spreading a thin layer (2-3 cm) on paper or cloth and stirring frequently. It is better to dry in dryers at a temperature within 40 °. Drying is completed when the midrib becomes brittle. The yield of dry raw materials is 12-14%.
According to GOST 7526/55, the raw material consists of leaves 10-15 long, 5-20 cm wide, green above, light green below. The smell is specific, unpleasant. The taste is bitter-sweet. Humidity is not higher than 14%. In raw materials, no more than 3% of browned and blackened leaves, 3% of crushed parts, 2% of other parts of dope are allowed. Organic and mineral impurities can be no more than 0.5%.
The total ash content should not exceed 20%, including 4% insoluble in 40% hydrochloric acid.
Packed leaves, pressing, in bales of 25-40 kg. Stored in a group of potent raw materials in dry, well-ventilated rooms packed on pallets or racks. They are easily damp and lose quality. Storage period up to 2 years. Raw materials are not subject to re-control.
The leaves contain hyoscyamine and other alkaloids of the tropane group. It is used as an anesthetic and sedative, for diseases of the respiratory tract, and for the manufacture of anti-asthmatic preparations (asthmatin, asthmatol).