Botanical characteristic. Cypress family. Evergreen shrub 1-3 m high, rarely a tree with a branched trunk up to 8-12 m high; the bark is gray-brown, flaky. The leaves are linear, long-pointed. Fruits are solitary, blue-black. Dioecious plant.
Blossoms in May, cones ripen by the autumn of next year (color table VIII – 1).
Spreading. It grows mainly in open places, often as an undergrowth in pine forests and mixed forests, along river banks, in swamps, along wooded mountain slopes of the European part of the USSR, in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Urals, the Caucasus.
Medicinal raw materials. Mature cones (juniper berries) are used, which are harvested in late autumn. The fruits are shaken on canvas, matting or any other bedding spread under the bush. After picking, the berries are sorted, cleaned of impurities and dried in the open air, in ventilated rooms or dryers at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C, with frequent stirring (drying in ovens is not recommended). Well-dried fruits are stored for 3 years, protected from rodents.
Chemical composition. Juniper berries contain up to 80% sugary substances, resins, wax, organic acids (acetic, ascorbic, malic, etc.), mineral salts and dyes, 0.5-2% essential oil, which includes pinene, cadinene, borneol and others. In the bark there are tannins (up to 8%), essential oil, in the leaves – a lot of ascorbic acid and phytoncides.
pharmacological properties. Juniper berries are used as a diuretic, improves digestion and increases the secretory functions of the bronchial glands. After ingestion, essential oil is released from the fruit, which irritates the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines. As a result, there is an increase in peristalsis and secretion, the sphincters relax, which contributes to the release of gases. At the same time, the essential oil acts anti-fermentation and antimicrobial. It is excreted from the body by the kidneys and bronchial glands, where it acts moderately irritating locally, as a result of which diuresis increases and the secretion of the bronchial glands increases.
In large quantities, the essential oil irritates the kidneys and reduces the secretion of the bronchial glands.
Application. In the form of infusion, decoction, powders, boluses, porridge, juniper berries are prescribed as a diuretic and choleretic agent, to improve digestion, as an antifermentative and expectorant. Used for all kinds of diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract. Given the irritant effect of berries, they should not be recommended for inflammatory diseases of the kidneys.
Doses: horses 25-50 g, cattle 50-100, small cattle and pigs 5-10, dogs 1-3, chickens 0.2-0.5 g.
Pig
Rp.: Fructus Juniperi 10.0
Pulveris radicis Althaeae et Aquae communis qs Mf electuarium
DS Inside for 2 doses with food (with kidney disease).