Common flax is an annual plant from the flax family (Linaceae). Other names: sowing flax, long flax, monets
Description:
Widespread annual herbaceous cultivated plant up to 100 cm high. Stems densely leafy, leaves sessile, flowers in paniculate inflorescences, blue, large, fruit – box containing within 10 seeds; seeds are flat-compressed, shiny. Flax blooms in June-July. Cultivated as a spring crop.
Harvesting, description of raw materials:
Flax seeds are obtained by threshing the tops of flax with fruits. They are cleaned by sifting on winnowers.
Contains active substances:
The seeds of common flax contain mucus (in the cells of the epidermis) and a fatty oil obtained by pressing the seeds. Drying fatty oil. It consists of glycerides of isolinoleic, linolenic and linoleic acids. The unsaturated acids of linseed oil are essential for the metabolism of lipids in the body. These and related polyunsaturated acids are now conventionally grouped together under the name “vitamin F”. Ethyl esters of linseed oil fatty acids in the form of linetol product have the same effect as the acids themselves, but they have better organoleptic properties and are better tolerated, especially with long-term use.
Medicinal use:
Assign linetol for the treatment of atherosclerosis (various localization) and its prevention. The drug is non-toxic and can be used for a long time. Seeds as a whole are used in pharmacy practice to produce mucus, which is used as a mild laxative and as an enveloping agent. Flaxseed powder or flaxseed cake is used for poultices. Fatty oil is used to prepare calcium liniment, used for burns, and to make green soap. In folk medicine, boiled flax seed and drink a decoction, eat boiled seeds for stomach ulcers, gastritis, kidney disease ; strained broth is drunk with milk for pulmonary tuberculosis, used for diarrhea, semen is eaten for leukemia; the seed is hovered and applied to boils, with sore throats. Crushed flax seeds are steamed and applied to tumors for all kinds of poultices; seeds are used for slimy drinking, frostbitten places are lubricated with flax oil; seeds are also used for coughs, colic, shortness of breath.