The roots of this plant were used in Western Europe as early as the Middle Ages for dyeing fabrics (usually for royal use) in various shades of noble red. Folk healers sometimes used madder as a medicinal plant. However, at the end of the 19th century, the red dye alizarin, obtained synthetically, completely replaced madder, and it remained only a folk remedy. The roots of the plant are still used in folk medicine in the Caucasus and in the states of Central Asia.
People’s experience was listened to. The therapeutic properties of the roots of the plant were tested experimentally. It turned out that they are quite promising for the treatment of urolithiasis. This is how madder dye entered scientific medicine — in the form of an extract from the roots.
It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a long horizontal red-brown rhizome. Stems (there are usually several of them) are slender or climbing, which is facilitated by large spines bent back, they wrap around bushes and trees up to a height of 2 m. The shape of the stem is four-sided. The leaves are ring-shaped, collected in 4-6, oblong or lanceolate, short-petioled, pointed at the top. The bottom and edges are rough. The flowers are small, regular, with a simple yellowish corolla, collected in axillary branched panicles. They bloom in June-August. The fruit is berry-like, black, spherical, with two stones, juicy.
The homeland of madder is the Mediterranean and Central Asia. In Russia, a subspecies grows – Georgian madder (Rubia tinctorum var. iberica), most common in the Krasnodar Territory and Dagestan, in the foothills and plains – among bushes, along river banks, in vineyards (as a weed). Outside Russia, the plant grows in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. Marena has been introduced into culture, there are special plantations of this medicinal plant. In Ukraine, madder is grown as a medicinal plant in the south, sometimes it goes wild.
The roots of the dyeing madder contain up to 6% anthraglycosides (the main one is ruberythric acid, the aglycon of which is alizarin). In addition to this acid, the composition of the roots includes other anthraglycosides, which also have biologically active properties, organic acids, pectin substances, sugars (up to 15%), calcium and potassium salts.
The main feature of galena products is the ability to dissolve and remove from the body urinary concretions (stones), which are formed by phosphates, oxalates and urates (salts of phosphoric, oxalic and uric acids). At the same time, plant products exhibit diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic, astringent and antispasmodic properties. The use of various medicinal forms from the roots of madder is indicated for gallstones, urolithiasis, pyelitis, nocturnal urinary incontinence, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, jaundice (hepatitis), constipation, polyarthritis and gout. The finished product “Cystenal” is available in pharmacies. It is also known about the use of madder as an auxiliary agent in the treatment of the bone form of tuberculosis.
In folk medicine, an infusion of the rhizomes is used to treat inflammation of the spleen, with delayed menstruation, and as a diuretic and laxative. The rhizome powder mixed with honey is recommended for jaundice (hepatitis) and memory loss.
Madderwort preparations are contraindicated in acute and chronic glomerulonephritis, urolithiasis with impaired kidney function, gastric ulcer, their overdose can cause pain and exacerbation of chronic inflammatory urological diseases. It is usually recommended to take plant products after 40-60 minutes. after eating
Decoction of rhizomes. 1 teaspoon of crushed raw materials per 400 ml of boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes, filter and cool. Take 1/2 cup 3 times a day after 40 minutes. after eating
Powder of rhizomes . Crushed rhizomes are taken 1-5 g three times a day, drinking a small amount of water.