Small centaury (Centaurium erythraea); umbrella centaury, centuria; small goldsmith
Two-year herbaceous glabrous plant of the tyrlichaceae family. The stem is straight, four-sided, 15-30 cm tall, forked in the upper part. The leaves are opposite, entire; the lower ones are collected by a surface rosette, elongated obovate, obtuse, with five veins, up to 5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, stems – semi-stem-wrapping, oblong or linear-lanceolate. The flowers are regular bisexual, collected in the upper part of the stem by a shield-shaped panicle; corolla is pink, with a thin cylindrical tube and a five-part bend. The fruit is a box. Blooms in July – August.
Spread. It grows on dry meadows, forest glades, forest edges and steppe slopes throughout Ukraine.
Procurement and storage . For the manufacture of medicines, grass (Herba Centaurii) is used, which is collected at the beginning of the flowering of the plant. Stems cut below the surface rosette of leaves are dried in a ventilated room or outdoors in the shade. 25-26% of dry raw material is obtained. The shelf life is 2 years. Raw materials are sold by pharmacies.
Chemical composition. St. John’s wort contains 0.6-1% alkaloids (mainly gentianine), bitter glycosides (erytaurine, erythrocentaurine, and others), flavonoids (apiin, luteolin, cosmozein, apigenin, scutellarein, rutin, astragalin, quercimerythrin, kaempferol, quercetin, chrysoeriol and others), triterpenoids (mainly oleanolic acid), phytosterols and essential oil. Fresh grass contains ascorbic acid and carotenoids, but they are almost completely destroyed when dried.
Pharmacological properties and use. Goldenseal stimulates the secretion of the glands of the digestive tract, increases bile secretion, strengthens the peristalsis of the intestines and the contraction of the muscles of the uterus, exhibits anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, weak laxative and anthelmintic effects. In scientific medicine, goldenseal is used as a bitter to stimulate appetite, improve digestion, and increase peristalsis of the intestines. The infusion of the primrose herb shows therapeutic activity in hypacid gastritis, some dyspepsia, flatulence, diseases of the liver, gall bladder and kidneys, and worms. In obstetrics and gynecological practice, yarrow products are prescribed to accelerate the contraction of the uterus in the postpartum period, to stop uterine bleeding after abortion, and in inflammatory diseases of the female genital organs. Herb tincture on Provencal oil is used, for the treatment of leg ulcers (Ulcus cruris). Goldenseal is used as a folk remedy for reduced appetite, indigestion, especially for increased acidity of gastric juice, heartburn, flatulence, gastric bleeding, and for diseases of the liver, biliary tract, and kidneys, for hemorrhoids, tuberculosis of the lungs and peripheral lymph nodes, diabetes, and skin diseases. , against alcoholism, to restore strength after illnesses with a long, severe febrile state and with the flu. St. John’s wort is part of appetizing teas, stomachic teas and bitter tincture, for the preparation of which take 60 parts of St. John’s wort grass, 60 parts of leaves of the three-leaved mulberry, 30 parts of the rhizome of the cane ayru, 30 parts of bitter wormwood grass, 15 parts of mandarin peel and 40 % alcohol in such an amount, to make 1 liter of tincture. The products of the goldenrod have little to no side effects, but an overdose causes indigestion.
Medicinal forms and applications.
Internally – 10-20 drops of bitter herb tincture (Tinctura amara) 7-3 times a day 15-20 minutes before meals to increase appetite and improve digestion;
herbal infusion (10 g of raw material per 200 mm of boiling water) is drunk warm in half or a third of a glass 2-3 times a day 30 minutes before the Ida to stimulate appetite and improve digestion with reduced function of the gastrointestinal tract;
herbal infusion (1 tablespoon of raw material per 1 liter of boiling water) half a glass three times a day half an hour before meals for hyperacid gastritis accompanied by heartburn;
an infusion of a mixture of 3 tablespoons of St. John’s wort and 3 tablespoons of St. John’s wort in 5 glasses of boiling water is drunk half a glass 4-5 times a day with chronic hyperacid gastritis accompanied by intestinal dysfunction;
an infusion of one tablespoon of a mixture of the herb of the small goldenseal (25 g), celandine (25 g), rue (25 g) and the roots of the dandelion (25 g) in 1 glass of boiling water is drunk half a glass 3-4 times a day as choleretic agent;
herbal infusion (20 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) for a third of a glass three times a day to accelerate the contraction of the uterus in the postpartum period, to stop uterine bleeding after abortion, in case of inflammatory diseases of the female genital organs;
two tablespoons of a mixture of the grass of the small golden marigold (20 g), sage (20 g), nettle dicotyledon (40 g) and plantain large (40 g) pour 500 ml of boiling water, infuse for 2 hours and drink half a glass three times a day at postpartum inflammatory diseases (endometritis, metroendometritis, sepsis);
a decoction of 1 tablespoon of a mixture of 4 parts of the small goldenseal and 1 part of common wormwood in 1 glass of boiling water is used 1 tablespoon three times a day for alcoholism;
in case of flu, 4 tablespoons of a mixture (equally) of the grass of the small golden mullein, the leaves of the three-leaved mullein and the flowers of the medicinal chamomile are poured with 3 cups of boiling water, infused for 10 minutes and drunk during the day, and in the evening they drink 100 g of vodka heated with 1 spoon of honey.
Externally – tincture of grass on Provencal oil in a ratio of 1:10 (infuse for 20 days) for lubrication of leg ulcers 1-2 times a day.