Convallaria majalis L. The Ukrainian name is konvalіya zvichayna, popular names are maevka, lily-flower, dondyurag; lily of the valley, forest tongue, meadow grass, etc.
Liliaceae family – Liliaceae.
Herbs, leaves and flowers are used for medicinal purposes.
It occurs almost throughout Ukraine (with the exception of the wormwood Steppe and the high Carpathians). In Polissya and in the Forest-Steppe, this is a traditional plant, in the steppe regions it is rather rare (only in river valleys and gullies). Grows in deciduous, mixed, rarely coniferous forests, thickets of shrubs. Sometimes it forms thickets on tens and even hundreds of hectares, especially in floodplain forests. Industrial blanks are possible in Transcarpathian, Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv and other regions.
Stocks of raw materials are large. Hundreds of tons of leaves, tens of tons of grass, several centners of flowers can be harvested annually, but with the replacement of natural forests with artificial plantations, the number of plants is declining.
May lily of the valley is a perennial herbaceous plant with a creeping branched rhizome and thin roots at the nodes. From the tops and lateral branches of the rhizomes shoots depart, consisting of 3-6 vaginal leaves and 2 (not often three) larger ordinary leaves. The flowers are fragrant, placed at the top of a leafless stem-arrow. Perianth white, spherical-campanulate with six wide teeth. The fruits are globular red berries. Blossoms in May, fruits ripen in September. The plant is poisonous.
Inexperienced collectors can collect other plants similar to it in leaves instead of lily of the valley, often growing in forests with it, especially species of purchased and round-leaved wintergreen. A number of external features makes it possible to distinguish between these plant species.
Grass and flowers are harvested during flowering (May), when later they still have a white color. Grass and leaves are cut with knives or sickles, inflorescences – with knives or pruners under flowers, put in baskets or bags, poured on tarpaulins and quickly sent to the place of drying or acceptance (fresh raw materials).
Dry immediately in attics under an iron roof or under sheds with good ventilation, spreading a thin layer (grass and leaves 2-3 cm, flowers 1 cm) on cloth or paper, and often mixed. The yield of dry grass and leaves is 20%, flowers 13-14%.
According to the GF – VIII Art. 322, GOST 8684-58 raw material (leaf) consists of yellowish-green leaves with lighter petioles. The smell is weak, peculiar. The taste is bitter. Humidity is not higher than 14%.
In the raw materials, no more than 3% of crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm), 1% of organic impurities (parts of other plants) and 0.5% of mineral impurities are allowed. Packed in bags of 20 kg or bales of 50 kg. Storage period up to 2 years.
According to GF-X Art. 322, GOST 8684-58 raw material (grass) consists of leaves and peduncles with flowers (not less than 5%). The smell is weak, peculiar. The taste is bitter. Humidity is not higher than 14%. Not more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: parts with a changed color – 5, crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm) – 3, organic impurities (parts of other plants) – 1, mineral – 0.5.
Packed, pressing, in bags or bales weighing 50 kg. Storage period up to 2 years. The biological activity of grass and leaves is monitored annually.
According to GF-X Art. 322, GOST 8684-58, raw material (flowers) consists of light green peduncles and campanulate yellow-white flowers. The smell is almost absent. The taste is bitter. Humidity is not higher than 12%. Not more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: inflorescences with browned flowers – 5, peduncles longer than 3 cm below the last flower – 3, peduncles without flowers – 1, organic impurities (parts of other plants) – 0.5, mineral – 0.3 .
Raw materials are packed in plywood boxes lined with thick white paper, weighing 10-20 kg. Storage period up to one year.
Lily of the valley raw materials are stored in a group of potent raw materials in a packaged form in dry, well-ventilated rooms on racks or pedestals. The biological activity of raw materials is checked after 6 months.
Fresh grass is accepted, according to the standard, with a humidity within 80% without the presence of surface moisture.
All parts of the plant contain cardiac glycosides, of which convallatoxin is the main one. Tincture, dry extract, purified novogalenic products (corglicon, convallatoxin) are used for acute and chronic heart failure and neuroses. Included in a number of complex products