Galega medicinal – A perennial herbaceous plant from the legume family. Other names: goat’s rue medicinal, goat’s rue pharmaceutical
Description:
Perennial herbaceous plant from the legume family, up to 90 cm high, with a tap root. The stems are straight, branched, densely leafy with pinnate leaves, up to 20 cm long, consisting of 11-21 oblong or linear-lanceolate leaflets. The flowers are blue or light purple, irregular, of a typical butterfly structure, collected in dense racemes up to 25 cm long, emerging from the leaf axils. The fruits are multi-seeded beans, up to 5 cm long. It blooms in June-August, the beans ripen in August-September. It grows in meadows, forest edges, in bushes, on the banks of rivers and streams.
Workpiece:
For medicinal purposes, the aerial part of the plant is used. The grass is harvested in the flowering phase, dried in the air and in the shade. To obtain seeds, ripe fruits are harvested, dried, threshed with sticks in a bag, and bean leaves and other debris are screened on sieves.
Medicinal use:
In folk medicine, Galega officinalis (goat’s rue) is used as a diuretic and antihelminthic. Clinical observations have confirmed that the use of goat’s rue products enhances the secretion of the mammary glands, so they are given to women who are breastfeeding for milk formation. However, their use should be supervised by a doctor because goat’s rue may cause some increase in blood pressure or intestinal dysfunction.
Preparation of a decoction from Galega officinalis:
Decoctions of grass (1:10) or seeds (1:20) take 1 tbsp. spoon 3-4 times every day or 1/3-1/2 cup 3~4 times every day before meals for diabetes and other diseases