Cucumber grass is an unusually nice plant belonging to the borage family. In the people it is also called borage, borago, borage or gimlet. Many lovers cultivate Borago in their gardens in order to obtain early greenery. The smell and taste of this herb are identical to cucumbers. From here came its name: cucumber grass. Borage is famous as an excellent honey plant, it is practiced in traditional medicine and culinary technologies. Useful properties and contraindications of cucumber grass will be discussed later.
Distribution area
The homeland of wild forms of borago is considered Southern Europe. But nowadays, instances of this plant are found in the north of the African continent, in the countries of the Mediterranean basin, South America, Asia Minor and Asia Minor. As a cultivated plant, it is cultivated throughout Europe and the United States. In Russia, wild borage species are found in certain areas of the European part, mainly in the south of the country, where it grows like an ordinary weed.
Biological features
Cucumber grass, the photo of which is in the article, refers to cross-pollinating, fairly cold-resistant and drought-resistant plants. But in the summer sultry season, its leaves coarsen and a peduncle begins to form. Prefers neutral or slightly acidic soils of light texture. The length of the growing season is 70-80 days. Borage usually grows up to 60-80 cm, on thick stems hollow inside. The stem at the top is well branched. Those leaves that are formed in the lower tier have an oval shape, a long petiole and a large size. On the upper tier, smaller, oblong-shaped leaves are formed, sessile, covered with hard pubescence of white color.
Borage inflorescences
The flowering stage stretches from mid-summer to August inclusive. And fruiting occurs from July to September. The inflorescence is represented by a panicle, in which single flowers of a gimlet on long legs are combined. The flowers are large, star-shaped, blue or blue, with anthers of violet color. In each single flower, up to 5-12 mg of nectar is accumulated. From the ovary of flowers, a fruit is formed - a nut of dark brown color.
Borage seeds
Borago seeds are quite large, easily crumbling nuts, retain germination for 2-3 years. The fruit has a length of up to 5 mm, the shape is made ribbed and unequal.
Varietal composition
This culture does not have generally accepted domestic or foreign regionalized varieties. Each locality uses its own varietal lines and populations.
Borage Agricultural Technology
Cultural forms of borago are sown in the springtime or before winter, before the advent of frost. In subsequent years, grass can propagate by self-sowing. When sowing, a scheme is used: the width between rows is 30 cm and in the row the sowing step between plants is 10 cm. Seeds are buried in the soil by 2 cm. On the tenth day seedlings emerge from the seeds.
Plant care
In the phase of the first true leaf, the plants should be thinned out, leaving between them 9-10 cm. For the vegetation of the row-spacing, three times to loosen and weed. And in the dry summer water several times. Soil moisture must be constantly maintained at 80% HB. Borage responds very well to top dressing with organic and mineral fertilizers. The first dressing should be carried out with urea during the thinning period of plants. To do this, 12 grams of urea are dissolved in a bucket of water and the plant is fed with this solution. The second top dressing can be carried out 25 days after the first. It is appropriate to apply a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1: 5 with water.
Cleaning
The collection of leaves is started when they are at a young age, even before the appearance of the peduncle. Leaves are not taken from plants left on seeds. When the seed boxes become brown, stems are cut off at the bottom of the inflorescences. With one square meter, you can get 20 grams of seeds and 600 grams of greenery. Borage is permissible to grow on the windowsill. Leaves from it are periodically cut and dried in the shade.
Chemical composition
The beneficial properties of cucumber grass are due to the rich content of useful chemical organic and inorganic components that can have a healing effect on human health. In the vegetative mass and seeds are available:
- essential oils;
- mucous membranes;
- substances from the tannin group;
- silicon;
- compounds from the group of saponins;
- resin compounds;
- vitamin C;
- zinc;
- potassium;
- carotene;
- Apple acid;
- calcium;
- choline;
- iron;
- citric acid and other equally valuable substances.
In the flowers discovered stocks of essential oil. The oil that is produced from the seeds is also very much appreciated. It consists of 20-27% of gamma-linolenic acid used in pharmacology. In addition, the composition of the oil includes alpha-linolenic acid, the presence of which reaches 10%. In its composition and properties, it is very similar to primrose oil. The presence of essential oil in borage varies in the range of 0.01-0.13%. Moreover, over time, this product accumulates by the plant, so there is more oil in old leaves than in young leaves. 23 volatile compounds were isolated in this oil, of which aldehydes are especially valuable, as well as nonadcan, tetracosan and heptacosan.
Useful qualities
The beneficial properties of borago (cucumber grass, a photo of which you have the opportunity to see in the article) have been studied since ancient times. The essential fatty acids present in the plant are of great importance. The human body needs them to preserve the vitality and health of the skin.
If these substances are lacking in the body, mood may suddenly fall, immunity is weakened, organ inflammation and weakening of the heart may develop. Essential fatty acids are responsible for the condition of nails, as well as hair. They are especially necessary for children.
Potassium, which is in the plant, favors the removal of water from the body, and with it toxic compounds. Freshly squeezed borago juice can be one third of potassium, and in dried leaves only 3 percent. Choline has a beneficial effect on the glands that produce sweat, due to which thermoregulation of the body occurs. Therefore, the plant is used for cough, colds and fever. Niacin has a calming effect on the body, removes anxiety and nervousness.
Westerners habitually eat young borago leaves, adding them to various dishes. Fresh flowers are placed in glasses with drinks or wine, and candied inflorescences are eaten for dessert. The formed leaves can be put out, used as part of pickles and pickles. Borage inflorescences are used in industry for the production of confectionery products and cognac.
When should you use borago?
Modern healers recommend the use of borage as an anti-inflammatory, expectorant, laxative and enveloping agent to treat fever, inflammation of the digestive tract, colds, constipation. As a diuretic, borage is practiced to treat edema, kidney disease, bladder, and urinary ducts. For this, his infusions are taken orally. Compresses using borago leaves have antirheumatic and analgesic effects in the treatment of joint and muscle pain, as well as gout. Seeds of borage boiled in grape wine are prescribed to increase the lactation of mothers.
Borago, or cucumber grass (photo, useful properties - in the article), also has a calming property, is widely used in homeopathy, for healing from depression, from neurasthenia and sleep disorders. Decoctions of its leaves are practiced to treat skin rashes, eczema and other skin diseases. Mineral salts of borage improve metabolism, so it is included in multicomponent diets.
Alternative medicine advises turning to cucumber grass for the following diseases:
- asthenia;
- rheumatic diseases;
- joint pain;
- insomnia;
- gout
- inflammation of the bladder and kidneys;
- colitis;
- gastritis;
- fever;
- constipation
- neurasthenia;
- swelling;
- colds;
- cardiac neurosis;
- skin diseases.
But before deciding to use medicines made from cucumber herbs, you should consult a doctor, as self-medication can only aggravate the situation. Therapy with alternative methods is effective only in combination with the main drug treatment and under the supervision of a specialist.
Contraindications
Cucumber herb has few contraindications. Its main problem is the slight presence of the alkaloid pyrrolisidine, known for its ability to cause liver cancer. Therefore, you can not eat borage for food or for treatment for more than 30 days in a row. It is also forbidden to take borage with a group of drugs related to anticoagulants. In a separate category of individuals, cucumber grass can cause convulsive phenomena, pain in the head, nausea or bloating. Usually all these ailments are mild. The hairs present on the stem and leaves are very stiff and can cause irritation of sensitive skin. Therefore, in the collection process, it is better to wear gloves.
The use of borage by pregnant or nursing mothers is highly undesirable. Despite the fact that since antiquity it has always been used as a means of improving lactation, this ban is associated with insufficient scientific information about the effect of this plant on the body of women at this time.
It is completely forbidden to use grass for people suffering from epileptic seizures, schizophrenic disorders, convulsions or taking the medicine “Phenothiazine”. It is better to take decoctions and infusions from borage as part of herbal preparations and consult a doctor before doing this. Some suggest that the gamma-linolenic acid present in the plant may favor the growth and expansion of cancer cells. However, this has not yet been proven by anyone.
Preparation of infusions and decoctions
Before preparing the juice from borage, first fresh leaves of the lower tier should be thoroughly washed with running water, scalded with boiling water, and then passed through a meat grinder.
Squeeze the resulting mass through two layers of gauze and get the borago cell juice. The squeezed juice is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 1 and subjected to boiling over low heat for 4 minutes. After this, it remains only to cool and strain the broth, and it is ready for use. Take the broth inside three times a day, immediately after a meal, 2 tablespoons. In some cases, with skin diseases, it can be practiced for external use.
Healing infusion is also prepared from borage. For this purpose, take 2 tablespoons of dried and chopped leaves or 1 tablespoon of dried flowers and pour them with boiling water in an amount of 200 ml. The mixture that has been infused for two hours is filtered and thrice a day used orally for 1 tbsp. spoon, for diseases of muscles and joints, as well as for gout or rheumatism.
To cure gastritis and inflammation of the kidneys, as well as the normalization of cardiac activity, you need to take 100 grams of borage infusion three times a day inside, in the preparation of which 1 tbsp. a spoonful of flowers was poured with boiling water in an amount of 200 ml and insisted for 6 hours.