Name: Origanum vulgaris – materina zvichayna (harvesting and storage)
Origanum ordinary – Origanum vulgare L. The Ukrainian name is mother zvichayna, popular names are darling, darling, wind color, matting, winch.
Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family.
The herb is used for medicinal purposes.
It occurs almost throughout Ukraine, except for the southern steppe regions and the highlands of the Carpathians. A common plant on forest edges and clearings, in sparse forests, among shrubs, on the slopes of gullies and river valleys formerly occupied by forests, roadsides, old cemeteries, sometimes in gardens with sodden soil. Grows in single bushes and groups, rarely forms small thickets. Most common in the forest-steppe and in the south of the forest regions. According to Ukoopsoyuz, harvesting of grass of this plant is carried out mainly in Kyiv, Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and other regions. The average annual harvest of oregano herb in the republic for three years (1974-1976) amounted to 13.5 tons.
Stocks of raw materials are large, tens of tons of grass can be harvested annually.
Oregano is a perennial herbaceous plant with a short, obliquely growing, branched rhizome. There are traditionally several stems, 30-60 cm high, oppositely branched, tetrahedral, pubescent. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, oblong-ovate, entire or finely toothed, 1-4 cm long, dark green above, lighter below, softly pubescent with short hairs. The flowers are small, irregular, in the axils of contiguous bracts form spikelets collected in a corymbose panicle. Fruits are round-ovoid, dry, four-rooted, within 1 mm long, in a calyx. The plant blooms in July-August. The fruits ripen in September-October.
In raw materials, the admixture of the common odorous, growing in the same places and a little reminiscent of oregano, is not allowed. The distinctive features of these plants are shown in table 20.
Grass is harvested in the flowering phase, cutting off the tops of plants 20-30 cm long with knives or sickles.
Dry in attics under an iron roof or under sheds with good ventilation, spreading a thin layer (5-7 cm) on paper or cloth and stirring occasionally. Then the grass is threshed and coarse stems are separated on sieves. The yield of dry raw materials is 25%.
According to OST 4322, the raw material consists of a mixture of leaves (dark green above, pale green below) and pale purple flowers (3-5 mm long) with an admixture of crushed thin stems. The smell is fragrant. The taste is bitter, spicy, slightly tart. Humidity is not higher than 12%. Not more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: partially darkened leaves and flowers – 7, broken parts – 5, crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 2 mm) – 5, organic impurities – 1, mineral – 0.5.
Grass, pressing, packed in bales of 100 kg. Store in dry, well-ventilated areas on racks or storage boxes. Storage period up to 2 years.
The herb contains within 1% of the essential oil, the main component of which is thymol, tannins. Used in infusions for intestinal atony, as an expectorant. Included in breast, diaphoretic, carminative and gargle collection. Essential oil is used for toothache.