Buckthorn alder (brittle buckthorn) – Frangula alnus Miller . The Ukrainian name is buckthorn lamka, popular names are buckthorn, wolf berries, dog tree, dog cherry, dog, parost.
Buckthorn family – Rhamnaceae.
The bark is used for medicinal purposes.
It occurs almost throughout Ukraine – in large quantities in Polissya and in the northern part of the Forest-Steppe, much less frequently in the south of the Forest-Steppe and very rarely in the steppe regions (only along river valleys). It grows in moist forests and among shrubs, along the banks of rivers, marshes, oxbow lakes, lakes, in wet meadows. In some places it forms an undergrowth in forests on tens and hundreds of hectares, but traditionally grows in groups and small thickets.
Stocks of raw materials are large. Annually blanks can be produced in Transcarpathian, Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy regions, in the north of Poltava, Khmelnytsky and Kharkov regions.
The average annual harvesting of buckthorn bark in the republic for three years (1974-1976) amounted to 706.9 tons.
Buckthorn brittle – shrub or small tree up to 5-7 m high. The leaves are alternate, with 6-8 pairs of lateral veins. Flowers in bunches of 2-6 in the leaf axils on long peduncles, small, narrowly ringed, yellowish outside, yellow inside. The fruits are spherical, first red, later black, berry-like drupes with 2-3 seeds. Blooms in June – August. The fruits ripen in August – September.
It is not allowed to harvest the bark of other plants growing together with the buckthorn brittle, which can be distinguished by the color and pattern of the bark, the shape of the leaves. The bark is harvested in the spring during the movement of juices (April-May), traditionally before the leaves appear. On felled young trunks and branches, circular cuts are made with knives at a distance of 10-15 cm, which are connected by longitudinal cuts, after which the bark is easily removed. It is impossible to harvest bark covered with lichens and mosses.
Harvested raw materials are dried in attics under an iron roof or under sheds with good ventilation, laying out a thin layer (5-7 cm) on paper or cloth and stirring occasionally. Drying ends when the bark stops bending, but breaks with a bang. The yield of dry raw materials is 40%.
According to the GF – X Art. 183 the raw material consists of tubular or grooved pieces of bark of various lengths, 0.5-2 mm thick, wrinkled on the outside, dull, gray-brown in color, with transversely elongated whitish, lenticels, inside – smooth, brownish-red, without spots, on a break evenly fine-fibered. The smell is weak, peculiar. The taste is bitter, unpleasant. Humidity is not higher than 15%. In raw materials, no more than: pieces of bark thicker than 2 mm – 3%, pieces of bark with wood residues – 2, pieces of bark with lichens and mosses – 1, bark of other trees and mineral impurities – 0.5% each.
The total ash content should not exceed 5%, ash insoluble in 10% hydrochloric acid, 0.6%. Extractive substances extracted by a mixture of alcohol and water (3:7) must be at least 20%.
Dry bark, pressing, packed in bales or bales of 50 kg. Store in a packaged form in dry, well-ventilated areas on racks or pallets. Storage period up to 5 years. Raw materials are not subject to re-control.
The bark contains anthrachipones (3-8%), alkaloids, and traces of tannins. Used in the form of a decoction, dry and liquid extracts, ramnil product as a laxative. The bark is used after storage for at least one year in a dry place or heating for an hour at a temperature of 100 °.
Included in many laxative gastric and anti-hemorrhoid collections.