(melissa likarska) Mellissa officinalis L.
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Synonyms: lemon balm, lemon mint, lemongrass, mother liquor, citronmelissa (Ukrainian lemon balm, lemon mint).
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Description. A perennial herbaceous plant from the labiate family (Labiatae) 4080 cm high, with a strongly branched underground rhizome, from which tetrahedral, erect, branched, pubescent stems extend. The leaves are light green, oval, opposite, crenate, short-haired on the underside, up to 6 m long and up to 3 cm wide. The flowers are whorled, bisexual, located in the axils of the upper leaves. Calyx two-lipped, non-falling, with five teeth, of which three short ones are directed upwards, and two long ones are directed downwards. Corolla falling, white, and sometimes pinkish or yellowish, two-lipped. Blooms in July August. The fruit consists of four one-seeded brown nuts. The weight of 1000 seeds is 0.50.7 g.
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The leaves, like the entire aerial part of the plant, have a pleasant strong lemon peel aroma and a slightly astringent bitter-spicy taste.
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Medicinal raw materials: grass leaves and apical shoots.
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biological features. Melissa is a heat and light-loving plant, which takes up to 110 days to develop, and 130-140 days to ripen seeds. Thanks to a powerful root system, lemon balm is not afraid of drought. Cloudy weather adversely affects its growth and the accumulation of essential oil.
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Growing lemon balm in one place for five years showed that it develops well against a high agrotechnical background, reaching a height of 110-115 cm and giving more than 100 stems on one bush.
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Habitat. It grows along the edges of forests and between shrubs.
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Spreading. It is found in North Africa, Western Asia, and also in the states of Southern Europe, France, Italy, etc. In the USSR, it grows in the Crimea, Transcaucasia and the Central Asian republics, in the North Caucasus, in the regions of the Lower Volga and in the forest zone of the Azerbaijan SSR. Rarely found in the wild in Ukraine.
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In ancient times, lemon balm was cultivated by the Romans, Greeks, and Arabs. Somewhat later, it was cultivated in Italy, then in England and other European countries, also in the USA.
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In the Soviet Union, lemon balm is cultivated mainly in orchards, kitchen gardens, parks, botanical gardens, experimental stations and apiaries. It is also successfully grown in the more northern regions of the country, for example, in the Kaluga region. With sufficient snow cover, it satisfactorily tolerates winter in the Moscow region. Under the conditions of CAS, lemon balm was cultivated from 1915 to 1934, and later at the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and in the Central Republican Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
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Composition of active substances . Melissa leaves contain citral, geraniol, citronellal, cyronellol, linaol, myrcene, bitter tannins, etc.
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The content of essential oil in the leaves and inflorescences of the plant in our conditions is approximately 0.060.08%, and in the forms derived by the author, 0.120.14%. Melissa contains the maximum amount of essential oil at the beginning of flowering. In the grass, in addition, there is vitamin C, in the leaves within 5% of condensed tannins, coffee, oleanolic and ursolic acids, and in the seeds up to 20% of fatty oil.
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Application. Melissa has quite a wide range of uses. An aqueous infusion of its leaves stimulates the appetite and improves digestion. Melissa is used as a good carminative, diuretic, laxative for stomach neurosis and vomiting in pregnant women. Alcohol tincture of lemon balm is recommended as an external remedy for rheumatism (Russian, 1944).
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Three times during the day, an infusion of dry lemon balm leaves (1020 g per 200 g of boiling water) helps to stop pain in the heart and relieves shortness of breath. Melissa essential oil at a dose of 2 g improves respiration, reduces the pulse rate and lowers blood pressure (Tomilin, 1959).
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In folk medicine , the plant is often used as a sedative, analgesic, anticonvulsant and heart remedy. From fresh flowers and leaves of lemon balm, tea is prepared, which is used hot as a diaphoretic, improves metabolism, with delayed menstruation and dizziness; when cold, it is a refreshing drink. Lemon balm was especially popular with Russian settlers in the Lenkoran region of Azerbaijan (Kotukov, 1957).
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According to a number of researchers, lemon balm is an excellent honey plant, producing abundant nectar and honey yield (up to 160 kg/ha), which has a pleasant aroma and delicate taste. The strong lemon scent of lemon balm attracts and soothes the bees. However, it will be necessary to note that some practicing beekeepers sometimes mix lemon balm with lemon catnip (Nepetacataria L. f. var citroidora B a lb.), although there are significant differences between them (Glukhov, 1955; Guselnikov, 1948).
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In the alcoholic beverage industry, lemon balm is used in the manufacture of higher grades of liqueurs. It is also used in the canning industry when pickling cucumbers and, especially, tomatoes, giving them a pleasant aroma, strength and elasticity (Kotukov, 1957).
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Agrotechnics of cultivation. Site selection. Melissa grows well in somewhat elevated areas, well lit and protected from cold northern winds. Light, loamy, loose soils are most favorable for it. Due to the fact that lemon balm is a perennial plant, it is recommended to cultivate it in open areas, where it can grow for eight years. Fertilized fallow and row crops following fertilizers are considered the best predecessors.
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Soil cultivation is carried out according to the system of autumn plowing to a depth of 2730 cm. In early spring, the soil is harrowed, and soon afterwards it is plowed to a depth of 1215 cm and carefully cut by harrowing.
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Application of fertilizers. Organic and mineral fertilizers are applied jointly for autumn plowing at the rate of 1520 t/ha of compost, 23 centners/ha of superphosphate, 1.52.0 centners/ha of ammonium sulfate and 0.81.0 centners/ha of potassium salt.
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Reproduction. Melissa can be propagated in various ways: directly by sowing into the ground, growing seedlings, dividing bushes into parts, layering stems and green cuttings by young cuttings.
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With a seed germination rate of 60% (traditionally lemon balm seeds have a reduced germination rate), the seeding rate is 810 kg/ha at a placement depth of 12 cm. Sowing will need to be mulched with compost. When two or three pairs of leaves are found on shoots, a breakthrough is made at a distance of 30 cm in rows with row spacing of 60 cm.
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Melissa also reproduces well by dividing into parts of 2- or three-year-old bushes and layering of stems. The latter method is particularly useful on first-year plantations, where there are traditionally many trailing stems. However, transplantation is recommended, probably early, so that the plants can take root well before the end of summer and not freeze out in winter. Propagation by young cuttings gives good results.
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Plantation care consists in loosening row spacing and weeding rows as needed. In the second year of culture, loosening is carried out very early. During the growing season, local organic and mineral fertilizers are applied. With 2-3 top dressings during the summer, the last one should consist only of phosphorus and potash fertilizers.
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Harvest. Melissa is cut at a height of 10 cm from the soil plane. On large areas, the crop is harvested using ordinary mowers, on small areas with sickles or scythes. As raw materials, leaves are harvested along with the apical herbaceous parts of the stems.
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The average yield of dry grass from 2 mowings, depending on its age and agricultural conditions, varies within 1030 c/ha.
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Growing seeds. To obtain seeds, it is necessary to mark the most developed bushes with large leaves during flowering. According to the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, plants grown from the seeds of such bushes give the highest yields and a greater yield of essential oil.
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Due to the fact that lemon balm seeds do not ripen at the same time, they should be harvested selectively, in several stages as they ripen (from the second half of August to mid-September). Cut stems are tied into small bundles and hung on hangers to dry. Seeds are dried in open sheds or under a canopy, threshed on conventional threshers, seeds are passed through clover graters and cleaned on winnowers with frequent sieves. Small batches are traditionally threshed by hand in bags with sticks.
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Dry lemon balm grass, used in the alcoholic beverage industry, is sometimes imported from abroad at a rather high price. Consequently, the breeding of the most productive varieties, winter-hardy, with a high content of expensive essential oil is of great practical interest.
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As a result of the group selection method for a set of traits (plant power, leaf size) and subsequent chemical testing for oil content, we managed to select three forms that gave a 40% higher yield and contained one and a half to two times more essential oil than the original population. . Plants selected for winter hardiness under unfavorable wintering conditions subsequently grew successfully for a number of years. Subsequently, they not only did not suffer in the winter, but also turned out to be very powerful, the height is over 100 cm and the number of stems is approximately 172 in each bush.
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The given brief data indicate the prospects of breeding work with lemon balm.
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Drying. Melissa is recommended to dry in the shade in the air, in attics, in a well-ventilated area, preferably under an iron roof, or in a dryer.
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Pack . Raw materials are packed by pressing into bales wrapped in sacking in the early morning (after the leaves have slightly sloughed off overnight).
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Storage. Melissa should be stored separately from other aromatic plants in well-ventilated areas.
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quality requirements. Lemon balm herb must be well dried, freshly harvested, have a pleasant smell of lemon peel and a somewhat astringent bitter-spicy taste.