Botanical characteristic. Magnolia family. Perennial climbing woody vine with a powerful rhizome. Stem branching, 10-15 m long and up to 2.5 cm thick with dark brown, wrinkled bark. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, slightly fleshy. The flowers are white or pink, fragrant, same-sex, collected in 2-5 pieces. on thin drooping pink-red peduncles. The fruits are red, spherical berries, collected in a dense brush. Blossoms in May-June, fruits ripen in August-September (Fig. 30).
Spreading. It grows in mixed forests, especially along the edges and along rivers and streams on sandy soil in the Far East. Introduced into culture in a number of regions of the European part of the USSR.
Medicinal raw materials. Apply berries and lemongrass seeds. Berries are harvested in baskets at full maturity (September), cut off with whole brushes. Then the fruits are sorted and dried on a grate in dryers at a temperature of 35 – 40 ° C, and then dried at a temperature not exceeding 60 ° C and cleaned of impurities. The fruits can be dried with whole brushes in well-ventilated areas, and in favorable weather outdoors, in the wind.
When collecting seeds, they are freed from fruit shells; dried in dryers or in ovens, scattering a thin layer on baking sheets.
Chemical composition. Schisandra berries contain a large amount of malic (8.4%), citric (11.36%) and tartaric acids (0.8%), tonic (schizandrin, schizandrol), sugar, tannins, essential oil, 350-580 mg% ascorbic acid, etc. Fatty (26.9%) and essential (1.6%) oils, schizandrin, schizandrol and glycerides of linolenic and oleic acids are found in the seeds.
pharmacological properties.It has been experimentally shown on animals that schisandrin and the entire amount of active principles of Schizandra are low toxic, have a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, enhance positive conditioned reflexes, stimulate respiration and the activity of the cardiovascular system, and increase blood pressure in hypotension. So, tincture and infusion when administered intravenously to laboratory animals at a dose of 0.2-0.5 mg/kg (in terms of dry raw materials) tone up the cardiovascular system, which is manifested by a moderate increase in blood pressure and an increase in the amplitude of heart contractions. At concentrations of 1:1000 – 1:2000, the vessels of the auricle of the rabbit expand. At a dose of 0.2-0.3 mg/kg, the reflex excitability of intact white mice and animals under the influence of narcotic drugs clearly increases. Besides,
Application. Lemongrass is prescribed for toning the functions of the central nervous system, the activity of the heart and respiration, with a general decline in strength due to infectious diseases and intoxication, to increase the working capacity and as a metabolic stimulant. Schisandra tincture is more often used, less often – fruit powder or tablets. They are prescribed to animals inside 2-3 times every day for several days in a row. Doses of tincture inside: horses 5-10 ml, dogs 0.5-1, cats, foxes, arctic foxes 0.2-0.3 ml.
Horses
Rp.: Tincturae Schizandrae 50.0
DS 1 teaspoon per 0.5 liter of water orally for cardiac weakness.