usitatissimum L. Ukrainian name – wild flax.
Flax family – Linaceae.
Seeds (flaxseed) are used for medicinal purposes.
Flax seeds are harvested when harvesting plants bred specifically for seeds and when harvesting fiber flax cultivated for fiber.
According to GF-IX-437, the seeds are oval-flattened; at one end they are pointed, at the other they are widely rounded, up to 2 mm thick, 2-3 cm wide, 4-6 cm long. The seed coat is smooth, shiny, brownish. The seeds are sweet and slimy in taste. Seeds should glide easily in the hand, have no unpleasant odor, and be free of weed seeds. Humidity is not higher than 12%, ash content is not more than 6%.
Seeds contain drying fatty oil (30-48%), also mucus (5-12%), mostly in the shell, protein (18-33%), carbohydrates (12-26%), organic acids, enzymes, vitamin A.
Flax seed mucus has an enveloping, anti-inflammatory and mild laxative effect and is used orally for inflammatory lesions of the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract.