St. John’s wort (St. John’s wort) Hypericum perforatum L.
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Synonyms: St. John’s wort perforated (Ukr.
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Description. Perennial herbaceous plant from the St. John’s wort family (Guttiferae), 3080 cm high. Rhizome thin, branched; several straight, smooth, branched stems grow from it every year. The leaves are oblong-oval, ovate, obtuse, entire, 0.73.5 cm long, up to 1.4 cm wide, with many translucent black essential oil glands. The flowers are golden yellow or light orange, oblong-oval with a five-membered calyx and corolla, collected in a thyroid panicle inflorescence. The fruit is a three-celled multi-seeded capsule. Seeds are small, dark brown. Weight of 1000 seeds 0.12 0.14 g. Blooms in June-August. Seeds ripen in July August.
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Medicinal raw material: herb.
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biological features . In the first year, only single plants bloom, and in the second and subsequent years, the plant blooms profusely and bears fruit. Shoots of St. John’s wort are small, the initial growth is very slow.
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Habitat . It grows in meadows and hills, in deciduous and pine forests, on sandy and mountain slopes, clearings, clearings, fallows, near roads, on the outskirts of fields, among shrubs, etc.
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Distribution . In the USSR, it is found almost everywhere, with the exception of the most northern and northeastern regions. It is most common in Ukraine, Belarus and other regions of the European part of the USSR, also in the southeastern mountainous part of Central Asia and the Caucasus.
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Composition of active substances . St. John’s wort grass contains red and yellow coloring resinous substances, tannins, carotene, vitamins C and PP, protein substances (hyptalobin), anthocyanin, choline, antibiotic imanin, essential oil, etc. St. John’s wort essential oil includes cineol, cadinene, myrcene, orimandren St. John’s wort is rich in phytoncides.
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Application . St. John’s wort is very popular in folk medicine. Its herb is part of the most various therapeutic mixtures that are used for external and internal use as an anti-inflammatory and disinfectant.
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A decoction of St. John’s wort is used for respiratory diseases, wounds, rheumatism, diarrhea, liver diseases, colitis, burns of the second and 30% degree. The tincture is used to strengthen the gums and eliminate bad breath, and St. John’s wort oil, obtained by boiling its herb in wood oil, is used in the treatment of wounds as an anti-inflammatory agent.
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In a mixture with other medicinal plants, St. John’s wort is recommended in the treatment of the liver and gallbladder, catarrh of the stomach, with chronic inflammation of the kidneys as a diuretic.
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At the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, under the leadership of Academician V. G. Drobotko (in 1946-1954), a new antibacterial product, imanin, was obtained from St. John’s wort and introduced into production, which turned out to be highly effective in the treatment of severe burns and purulent wounds. Imanin dries the wound surface and stimulates tissue regeneration. This antibiotic successfully replaces imported rotania.
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Recently, a new product, Novoimanin, has been obtained, which is similar in action to Imanin, but compares favorably with its good solubility in water.
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Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Due to the fact that St. John’s wort can grow in the same place for five or more years, its plantations can be placed on open areas or in certain fields of specialized crop rotations. Since St. John’s wort crops are easily drowned out by weeds due to weak and slowly developing seedlings, it is advisable to allocate areas clear of weeds for its plantations. The best predecessors are well-fertilized row crops and grains that are in clean fallows.
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Soil cultivation is mainly carried out, as well as for other tilled crops. Before sowing, the field is harrowed in several tracks, and if necessary, it is cultivated with subsequent harrowing to achieve a fine cloddy structure. To create optimal conditions for seedlings, just before sowing, the field is rolled with a kotka.
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Application of fertilizers. According to VILR (1960), it was found that the yield of St. John’s wort grass increases by 20-30% when mineral and organic fertilizers are applied for the main plowing. Based on experiments carried out on soddy-podzolic soils, VILR recommends applying 3040 t/ha of manure or manure-peat compost for the main plowing (if there is a lack of manure, its rate is reduced to 1520 t/ha, but mineral fertilizers are added at 30 kg/ha of nitrogen , phosphorus and potassium). The same amount of mineral fertilizers is applied in early spring as top dressing in the second and subsequent years on transitional plantations.
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Reproduction . St. John’s wort is propagated by direct sowing of seeds into the ground before winter with a row spacing of 45 cm with a grain seeder without incorporation at a seeding rate of 34 kg/ha. In this case, in early spring, shoots are found two weeks earlier and develop better compared to spring sowing shoots. If sown in the spring, the seeds are stratified in advance by mixing them with sand and keeping them in the cold for 2-3 months.
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Plantation care . To create optimal conditions, immediately after the emergence of shoots of St. John’s wort, weeding and loosening of row spacings are done. This treatment is repeated during the summer three to four times in the first year of culture. On the second and in subsequent
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Storage should be carried out in a dry, well-ventilated area. Leaves and flowers should not be crushed. Raw materials are best stored in wooden boxes lined with paper.
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quality requirements . In accordance with the requirements of the State Pharmacopoeia X, the following is allowed in raw materials: extractives extracted with 40% alcohol, not less than 25%; moisture 13; total ash 8; ash, insoluble in 10% hydrochloric acid, 1%; impurity organic and mineral on 1%.
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For whole raw materials of crushed particles passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 2 mm, 10%; stems and side branches 50. For cut raw materials with particles longer than 8 mm10%; particles passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 0.315 mm 10.