ame – mother-mother, pіdbіl zvichayny, folk names – pіdbіy, bіlpukh, bіlі leaflets, machinenik, rannik, etc.
Compositae family – Asteraceae (Compositae).
For therapeutic purposes, leaves and inflorescences (baskets) are used.
It occurs almost throughout Ukraine, mainly in Polissya, in the Carpathians (with the exception of high-mountain regions), Transcarpathia, the Carpathians and in the north of the Forest-Steppe. It grows on clay, sandy, limestone soils and outcrops, along the banks of rivers, ponds, as well as a weed in fields and vegetable gardens (in the Carpathians also in cutting areas). It is advisable to produce industrial blanks in the Transcarpathian, Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Khmelnitsky, Vinnitsa regions. The average annual harvesting of coltsfoot leaves in the republic for three years (1974-1976) amounted to 78.3 tons.
Stocks of raw materials are very large (hundreds of tons of leaves and several tons of inflorescences can be harvested annually). With an increase in the culture of agriculture and a general improvement in land use, they will gradually decrease.
Coltsfoot is a perennial herbaceous plant. In early spring, stems grow 10-25 cm high with single inflorescences-baskets at the top. The flowers are golden yellow, marginal – reed in several rows, median – tubular, equipped with a tuft of simple hairs. After flowering, large basal (rosaceous) leaves develop. The fruits are seeds. The plant blooms from the second half of March to early May.
Inexperienced collectors, instead of coltsfoot leaves, may mistakenly collect leaves of burdock and other plants from the Asteraceae family, which differ in a number of external signs.
coltsfoot and similar species
Instead of flowers, or rather inflorescences, coltsfoot sometimes collect inflorescences of medicinal dandelion (the Ukrainian name is kulbaba likarska) – Taraxacum officinale Wigg.
Young leaves not damaged by rust are harvested, when they are still covered from below with a thick felt cover of white hairs, in May – June, plucking or cutting with a petiole.
They are dried in attics under an iron roof or under sheds with good ventilation, spreading a thin layer (2-3 cm) on paper or cloth. The yield of dry raw materials is 16-18%.
According to GOST 13382-67, the raw material consists of leaf blades 8-15 cm long and 10 cm wide, with a petiole up to 5 cm, green above, white felt below. The smell is absent, the taste is bitter with a feeling of sliminess. Humidity is not higher than 13%. Not more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: browned leaves – 5, leaves with rust spots – 3, crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 3 mm) – 2, organic impurities (parts of other plants) – 2, mineral impurities – 2 .
Ash content should not exceed 20%.
Dry leaves are packed, pressed, in bales weighing 50 kg, in bags of 20 kg. Storage period up to 3 years. Re-control is not performed.
Inflorescences are harvested at the beginning of flowering (April-first half of May), cutting off or cutting them off with peduncles no more than 0.5 cm long.
Dry the same way as the leaves.
According to OST NKVT 6622-212, the raw material consists of whole inflorescences-baskets with a diameter of 1-1.5 cm, with a remnant of a peduncle up to 0.5 cm long. Reed and tubular flowers are yellow, the leaves of the involucre are green, purple at the edges and in the middle. The smell is absent, the taste is bitter with a feeling of sliminess. Humidity is not higher than 15%. Not more than (percent) is allowed in the raw material: 4 baskets with peduncles from 0.5 to 2 cm long, 3 broken baskets, 2 crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 2 mm) 2, organic impurities (parts of other plants) – 0.5, mineral impurities – 1.
Packed in plywood boxes lined with thick paper, weighing 25 kg.
Store coltsfoot raw materials in dry, well-ventilated areas on undercarriages. Storage period 3 years.
Leaves and inflorescences contain bitter glycoside tussilyagin, saponins, tannins and mucous substances, phytosterol, inulin. They are used as an expectorant and emollient in infusions, chest and diaphoretic preparations for respiratory diseases, bronchitis, spastic cough.