An annual herbaceous plant up to 60 cm tall. Stems are straight, densely leafy, branching, glandular in the upper part. The leaves are alternate, the lower ones are petiolate, the upper ones are sessile, semi-amplex, obovate, oblong or lanceolate. Root taproot, branched. The flowers are small, external – reed, yellow or orange-reddish, internal – tubular, darker in color, collected in single baskets. Receptacle flat, bare. Fruits are crescent-shaped or hook-shaped achenes, winged, with a keel on the inside, light, tuberculate, with a spout. Blooms from June to October. The fruits ripen from August.
Medicinal raw materials are baskets (more effective orange-red) and grass without the lower parts of the stems.
Collecting baskets is done during flowering by hand. The collected raw materials are dried no later than 3-4 hours after collection, in order to avoid warming and spoilage. Drying is done in the shade in attics or in dryers. The shelf life of raw materials is 1 year.
Calendula flower baskets are soluble in water, their activity depends on the temperature environment, the optimum temperature is not higher than 40 degrees.
Marigold flowers contain essential oil, kalenulin (gelatinous substance), bitter substance, yellow coloring matter (carotene, lycopene), phytoncides, in addition, salicylic and malic acids, saponin, proteins, mucus.
Experimental studies have established that calendula products have a calming effect on the central nervous system, reduce reflex excitability, and when administered intravenously cause a decrease in blood pressure, increased heart activity, an increase in amplitude and a slowdown in heart contractions. Significantly pronounced bactericidal properties of calendula against a number of pathogens (especially staphylococci and streptococci).
In practical medicine, infusions and tincture of calendula are used to treat gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, liver and biliary tract, for heart diseases accompanied by rhythm disturbances, hypertension and menopause.
Calendula inflorescences are used as an antispasmodic, stimulant for beriberi C (scorbut) and against hysteria, with low blood pressure.
Calendula is part of the “KN” tablets (0.25 g of calendula flower powder and 0.1 g of nicotinic acid), which are used as a symptomatic remedy for advanced forms of cancer. Under the influence of tablets “KN” in patients with cancer, especially stomach cancer, there is a decrease in intoxication, the elimination of dyspeptic phenomena (belching, nausea, vomiting, a feeling of heaviness in the pancreas), an improvement in appetite and sleep.
Externally, calendula is used in the form of lotions, ointments, rinses, douches and plasters for the treatment of wounds as a means of preventing and reducing the formation of pus, and as an anti-inflammatory.
Doctors in a number of countries prescribe 20-25 drops of calendula tincture per appointment for all kinds of gastrointestinal diseases: gastritis, colitis, enterocolitis, note its ability to increase appetite. According to foreign authors, this product has powerful healing properties for stomach ulcers, long-term vomiting, spasms of the esophagus and spastic conditions of the stomach. It was used for inflammatory diseases of the liver and gallbladder (hepatitis, cholecystitis, and diseases of the spleen).
The combined product – 200 mg of calendula powder and 50 mg of nicotinic acid – is recommended for oral use as an additional remedy in the treatment of chronic debilitating diseases; with beriberi, dystrophies associated with poor digesting and absorbing functions of the digestive tract; with enteritis, chronic dysentery and nonspecific ulcerative colitis; with dystrophies associated with a large consumption of vitamins in the body, general septic processes and chronic suppuration; with fistulas, ulcers, purulent pyelonephritis, cystitis, paraproctitis, skin cancer, malignant and venereal diseases.
Calendula infusions are widely used (1 teaspoon per glass of water) in the treatment of inflammatory processes in the oral cavity (inflammation of the gums, ulcers of the mucous membrane, with thrush in babies, alveolar pyorrhea). To do this, it is recommended to take the infusion in your mouth and hold for a few minutes. A strong infusion of calendula (3 tablespoons of crushed flowers in a glass of boiling water, brew as tea and leave for 2 hours) is recommended for rinsing your mouth after brushing your teeth, after each meal and at night.
The gentle bitterness of the infusion causes salivation (saliva) and helps to cleanse the oral mucosa. The same infusion is used to rinse the nasopharynx with tonsillitis and chronic rhinitis. Tincture of calendula for gargling is combined with sulfa products and antibiotics.
Calendula is also used for dermophytosis (fungal skin diseases). In this case, it is recommended to take baths, make lotions (moisten gauze folded in 3-4 layers with infusion) on the area of the body affected by the fungus.
It has been established that tincture of calendula flowers inactivates influenza viruses, so it is advisable to use it as a prophylactic and therapeutic agent during an influenza epidemic. For these purposes, an infusion is prepared – 10 g of calendula per 200 ml of boiling water – filtered and undiluted, warm, rinse the mouth and nasopharynx.
In folk medicine, a decoction of inflorescences is drunk as a diuretic for diseases of the bladder (stones and sand in it), diseases of the stomach, intestines (ulcers, spasms), rickets, scrofula, as a means of delaying the pathological process in cancer, dizziness, cough, pain in the liver, to prevent miscarriages, after a bruise, with uterine bleeding, female diseases, fever, colds, from diseases caused by weight lifting; externally – as an adjuvant for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity, eye diseases (conjunctivitis, blepharitis), in gynecological practice (cervical erosion), for the rapid healing of wounds, with cracks in the anus, with trichomonas inflammation, skin cracks, warts , corns, barley, acne, etc.
It should be added that marigolds have a healing effect on wounds caused by frostbite.
Application
Tincture: 25%, 30 drops 3 times daily.
Infusion 1: 10 g per 200 ml, 2-3 tbsp. spoon 3 times every day for peptic ulcer disease, beriberi C (scurbut) and against hysteria.
Infusion 2: 20 g per 200 ml, 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times every day – use the same as infusion 1.
Tincture for lotions: 1 teaspoon in half a glass of water.
Tincture for enemas and douching: the same for a glass of water.
Mixture: flowers of calendula, lavender, elderberry, mallow, 10 g each; 6-8 g of the mixture per 200 ml of boiling water, leave for 15 minutes and add sweet maple syrup. Take 1/2 cup 3 times daily before meals.
Tablets or powder: 1/4-1/2 tablets 2-3 times daily 10 minutes before meals.
Ointment: 5 g of tincture and 10 g of petroleum jelly (mix).
And also give respect to the article Nagіdki likarski (krokіs)