Dear Carvi L.
Celery family – Ariaceae, or Umbelliferae – Umbelliferae
What does it look like? Biennial plant 30-80 cm tall. The stem is straight, branched. Leaves: lower alternate, long-petioled, upper short-petioled, decreasing towards the top. The leaf is oblong, bi- or thrips-shaped, with lanceolate lobes. Inflorescence is a complex umbrella 4-8 cm in diameter with 8-16 equal, naked main branches. The flowers are small, the cups are almost invisible, the five-petal corolla is white or pinkish. Blooms in May – June. The seeds have a pleasant smell, cumin ripens in July-August.
Where does it grow? Throughout the territory of Ukraine, in particular scattered in the Carpathians, in Polissia, in the Forest-Steppe, except for the Donetsk Forest-Steppe. It grows in meadows and pastures, in sparse forests, forest clearings and forest edges, along roads.
What and when are collected? Umbrellas with ripe seeds (with dew), in July – August. The seeds are poisonous to birds.
When is it used? It is used in the form of tea for sluggish digestion, atony and pain in the intestines, flatulence (flatulence), to reduce the processes of putrefaction and fermentation in the intestines, to improve digestion and increase the tone of the gastrointestinal tract. Volatile cumin oil , which contains carvone and limonene, acting reflexively through the taste buds, promotes the release of digestive juices; in breastfeeding mothers, it increases the amount of milk (sour cream is boiled for 3 minutes with cumin – 1 tablespoon of cumin per 1 glass of sour cream). Flavonoids, resin, tannins, fatty oil, proteins promote expectoration, urination, and have a laxative effect1. Take 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds for 1 cup of boiling water, boil for 5 minutes and infuse for 10 minutes. They drink 1 glass twice a day on an empty stomach and after dinner, in sips.
For babies, it is used as a carminative, 5-6 times a day, 1 teaspoon (in enemas – without sugar, 200-500 ml of decoction).
For bloating, a decoction of a mixture of the following plants is considered a very good remedy: cumin seeds – 2 tablespoons, dill seeds – 1 tablespoon, yarrow leaves – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped oat straw – 3 tablespoons, yarrow rhizome – 1 tablespoon, some grated valerian root – 1 teaspoon. A tablespoon of this mixture, each with a top, is poured with glasses of raw water, boiled for 15 minutes and drunk 1 glass three times a day. In case of earwax, noise, twitching in the ear, a few drops of warm juice squeezed from a hot onion head, baked with cumin in the oven (into a hole hollowed out in the bulb, which is then covered with a hole cut from the same bulb ) are injected into it (twice a day) cube, pour 1 teaspoon of cumin). This tool improves hearing (action of phytoncides).