Popular names: wolfberry, dog berries, wolf tree, bodlak, buckthorn, rotten tree.
Botanical characteristic. The buckthorn family. Shrub or tree 2 to 7 m high, with smooth, alternate branches. The bark is dark brown, covered with whitish transversely elongated lenticels. The leaves are shiny, alternate, oval, whole-cut on petioles. The flowers are small, greenish-white, clustered in leaf axils. The fruit is at first red, and then black, spherical berry with 2-3 seeds, bittersweet taste. Blooms in May – June. Fruits in September.
Spreading. It occurs in the forest zone of the European part of the USSR, in Siberia, reaching Altai and the river. Yenisei, in the Caucasus and Kazakhstan, in the forest regions of the Middle and Southern Urals. It grows along the edges of the forest and glades, among shrubs, in floodplains and in wet meadows, along the banks of reservoirs.
Medicinal raw materials. Buckthorn bark is used. It is harvested in the spring before the leaves appear during the sap flow. Longitudinal incisions are made in the bark to wood 30-60 cm long, which are connected to each other by transverse incisions, and pieces of the bark are torn off. Ring cuts should not be made, as this leads to the death of the plant. Dry the bark in the open air or under a canopy, protecting it from dampness, in attics, in sheds. After drying, the raw materials are sorted, removing impurities from it. The freshly harvested bark contains a highly irritating glycoside that can cause vomiting. However, it is unstable and collapses when dried. Therefore, the bark is used as a laxative only after a year or an hour of heating at a temperature of 100 ° C. Dry bark can be stored for 5 years.
Chemical composition. The bark contains up to 8% anthraglycosides and their derivatives, including frangulin, chrysophanoic acid, as well as alkaloids, tannins, sugars, malic acid, etc.
pharmacological properties. Buckthorn bark has a gentle laxative effect, which is due to the presence of anthraglycosides and their derivatives in the bark. In the intestines, under the influence of digestive enzymes and bacterial processes, they are hydrolyzed, releasing aglycones. The latter act irritatingly on interoreceptors and reflexively increase peristalsis, secretion and make it difficult to absorb fluid from the intestine. All this contributes to the faster movement of food masses through the intestines, which causes a laxative effect. Anthraglycosides are hydrolyzed slowly, and therefore the laxative effect is manifested only in the large intestine.
Application. It is prescribed in the form of a decoction, bolus or extract as a gentle laxative for constipation, intestinal atony. Doses inside: horses 100-250 g, cattle 200-400, sheep 25-50, pigs 5-15, dogs 5-10, cats 1-5 g.
Buckthorn extract liquid dark brown color, bitter taste. Assign as a laxative in doses: horses 200-300 g, small cattle 40-100 g, pigs 10-30, dogs 5-15 g.
Pig
Rp.: Pulveris corticis Frangulae 10.0
Pulveris radicis Althaeae et Aquae distillatae qs Mf electuarium
DS By mouth as a laxative.
dog
Rp.: Decocti corticis Frangulae 10.0—200.0
DS Inside 1/2 cup as a laxative