One- or two-year herbaceous plant of the poppy family. The stem is bare, branched, 20-50 cm tall; the whole plant is gray. Stem leaves are densely pubescent, the rest are bare. The basal leaves are lanceolate, triangular or ovate, the upper leaves are ovate, notched-bladed. All leaves are more or less prickly, leathery blue-green. The flowers are regular, have 4 petals, are 3-4 cm long, lemon-, golden-, or orange-yellow, sometimes coffee-red with a yellowish base. The fruit is a pod-shaped box with two nests. Blooms in May – July.
Distribution . It grows in the littoral zone along the shores of the Black Sea in the Crimea (from Yevpatoria to Kerch), on pebbles and slopes. Previously, the yellow poppy was also common along the coast of the Sea of Azov. Introduced into culture.
Procurement and storage . Collect the aerial part during the flowering of the plant (Herba Glaucii flavi), cutting with a sickle or a knife, avoiding uprooting the plant, especially in sandy places. They are dried, spread out in a thin layer, in a room with good ventilation or in the sun, when the raw material is still sufficiently wet. At night, the grass is hidden indoors. Artificial drying is carried out at a temperature of 55-70°. 20% of dry raw materials are obtained. Store in dry, ventilated rooms without access to direct sunlight. The plant is a raw material for the production of glaucine alkaloid. Pharmacies do not release raw materials.
Chemical composition . Cattle grass contains alkaloids glaucine, magnoflorine, protopine, aurotensin, glauflorine, sanguinarine, coridine, chelidonine, chelerythrine, cheleryrubin, and others, as well as bitterness (glaukopicrin), mucilage, resins, fumaric and dioxymaleic acids, and mineral salts. The content of the main compound glaucine varies depending on the quality of the raw material from 0.1% to 2.3%, in cultivated plants it is about 1.7%. Glaucine is found only in above-ground organs, the dominant alkaloid of the roots is protopine. The roots also contain alkaloids chelerythrine, alocryptopine, sanguinarine and others.
Pharmacological properties and use. В народній медицині використовували траву мачку як сечогінний засіб при літіазах, а також як відхаркувальний, заспокійливий і протидіабетний засіб. Зовнішньо застосовували для загоювання гнійних ран. Фармакологічні дослідження показали, що глауцин, виділений з трави Мачка жовтого, виявляє виразну гіпотензивну, спазмолітичну та протикашлеву, а також незначну знеболювальну дію. Протикашлева його дія подібна до дії кодеїну, але глауцин менш токсичний, не тамує дихання, не закріплює й не спричинює наркотичних станів, тому особливо придатний у педіатрії. В клінічних умовах глауцин показує добру дію при лікуванні бронхіту, фарингіту й крупозної пневмонії, при абсцесі легень та при інших хворобах органів дихання. Насіння Мачка жовтого містить до 35% жирної олії, яка придатна в їжу і для виробництва мила.
Medicinal forms and applications . Internally – glaucin hydrochloride (Glaucini hydrochloridum): for adults 50 mg 2-3 times a day after meals, for children – 10-30 mg.
In Bulgaria, glauvent, glauterpin, and broncholithin products are produced from the yellow sedge herb, and in Poland, tusiglaucin. Preparations from the yellow horsetail are contraindicated in case of low blood pressure.