For recreational, therapeutic purposes, people use celandine year-round. It is suitable not only for patients. Even a completely healthy person can use this plant to treat various abrasions, scratches. Celandine helps to increase immunity, relieve nervous tension. You won’t need to run to the pharmacy if you yourself stock up on this wonderful medicine. Herbal preparations, juice and tinctures will help. We will tell in more detail in the article how to prepare celandine, dry it and store it so that the home-made medicine has the most beneficial effect.
How to recognize celandine?
Before stocking up celandine, you need to know "in person" this plant. Get to know him better. Recognizing celandine among the variety of herbs is not difficult, it has many distinctive features. What are the most basic?
Celandine belongs to the poppy family. The height of this perennial reaches one meter. The stem is branched, straight, hollow inside, has a dark red color. The ribbed surface is covered with short hairs. When the stem is cut or fractured, juice that has a bright yellow color is released on it. He is the main distinguishing feature of celandine, thanks to which the plant can not be confused with any other.
Before you prepare celandine for the winter, you first need to learn how to recognize it. The leaves of the plant are very characteristic: on top they have a light green color, and below - a bluish color. The structure is deep peristemal, petiolate, with ovoid round lobes. The lower the leaves are to the ground, the longer their petiole is, while the upper ones densely sit on the stem.
Celandine flowers - yellow-golden inflorescences with several flowers, there can be from four to eight. Inflorescence is an umbrella; flowers sit on elongated pedicels. Being interested in how to prepare celandine, it should be borne in mind that the flowering period lasts from May to July. If the flowers are cut, the second wave of flowering can last until the end of August. After flowering, fruits appear in the form of a single-nest capsule. Fruits are formed from July to September inclusive. Celandine has an unpleasant, repulsive smell and taste.
You can meet the plant throughout the European territory of Russia, in the Caucasus, in the North. Celandine does not have high requirements for soil and weather conditions. A favorite place of growth are summer cottages, gardens. It also grows in ravines, in swamps, in the forest, on the plains, in the mountains. Celandine contains many medicinal components that help against many diseases.
The power of celandine
Knowing how to prepare celandine, you can provide yourself with medicine for the whole year. The spectrum of therapeutic effects in celandine is very wide, all due to the presence of alkaloids, there are about twenty of them in the plant. These chemicals affect the body in different ways. Most of them in the root - up to 4%, in the grass only up to 2%. Young plants contain less alkaloids than adults, so they affect the body more gently. The most powerful alkaloids are the following:
- chelidonin;
- methoxychelidonin;
- homochelidonin;
- cheleritrin;
- sanguinarine;
- oxyzelidonin;
- protopine;
- oxisanguinarine;
- skaretin;
- allocryptonin;
- spartein;
- berberine;
- helidamine;
- copytin;
- Helirubin;
- chelotin;
- defillin.
The action of chelidonin is similar to papaverine, which is able to lower blood pressure, and morphine, which can slow down the pulse and inhibit the action of the central nervous system. In large doses, this alkaloid can completely paralyze the nervous system.
Homochelidonin is a powerful anesthetic that has an analgesic effect. An overdose is extremely dangerous, this alkaloid is a strong convulsive poison.
In horticulture, celandine grass is used as a phytoncidal agent that defeats aphids, scale insects, tinnitsa, and other pests. To spray the plants, a solution is prepared from the dry grass of the celandine: one kilogram of dry raw material is poured with a bucket of water and insisted for two days.
Alkaloid sanguinarine in large doses is dangerous, it can provoke seizures. In small ones, it acts like strychnine - enhances the secretion of saliva, intestinal motility, stimulates digestion.
Protopin is able to reduce the excitability of the nervous system, also tones smooth muscles in the internal organs, relieves spasms.
In addition to alkaloids, celandine contains many useful substances that have a medicinal effect. These are carotene, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, bitterness, saponins, organic acids. Plant juice helps restore metabolism. You can use it for different purposes all year round. How to prepare celandine juice for the winter, we will describe below.
It is worth saying that the Russian peasants widely used the broth of celandine in the economy as well. So that milk does not sour, clay housewives were scalded with decoction of the grass of the hostess. Juice was used for dyeing wool.
How to prepare celandine for medicine?
For the future, not only grass and celandine roots are harvested, but also juice. It can be preserved and stored in the refrigerator.
So when to harvest celandine grass? The best time is sunny dry days when the plant is blooming, optimally from May to August. To cut grass, you need to arm yourself with a sickle. Having found the thickets of celandine, carefully look if there are any diseased plants; they will not be suitable for drying. Do not take limp bushes with pale leaves. They lost useful substances. You need to collect plants with bright green leaves without any damage. Remember that during treatment you need to squeeze out the maximum of nutrients.
How to prepare celandine for medicine? Cut the stem to about ten centimeters from the ground. You can break off the plant with your hands, but you need to be very careful - the juice should not get on the skin and clothes. It is dangerous to get juice on the mucous membrane of the eye. Be careful. It is better to protect the eyes with glasses and hands with gloves.
Drying
Since everyone can prepare celandine for treatment, we advise you to consider the rules of not only the proper collection of grass, but also drying. After the plants are cut, immediately send them to dry in the attic. You can do this in the barn, the main condition is good ventilation and heat. The grass needs to be spread out in a thin layer, periodically it must be ted up, this will not allow decay to begin. If brown spots are noticed on some plants, it is better to throw them away so that the rot does not spread to others.
Answering the question of how to properly prepare celandine for the winter, it is worth saying that drying will be more effective if the grass is hung. You can do this in the open air, but the canopy should be required. It is impossible for the sun to fall on the grass, it destroys chlorophyll and negatively affects the medicinal composition. You can use special dryers, ovens, where the temperature during drying reaches 60 degrees. How to determine the readiness of raw materials? Dry stems should not bend, but break immediately.
Storage
How to prepare celandine for the winter, now it’s clear, but how to properly preserve medicinal raw materials? Dried grass should be stored in paper or linen bags, preferably in a dark place in limbo. This storage method is ideal. The plant will be aired from all sides. If this is not possible, well-dried raw materials can be stacked in wooden crates, bags or boxes. It is necessary to lay grass in them freely, without stuffing tightly. Store well without access to light. If all these requirements are met, then celandine can save its medicinal properties for three years.
In some cases, celandine is harvested along with the root. From it you can also make useful tinctures for alcohol, decoctions, infusions. With this option of harvesting, the plant must be dug up with the root, cleaned from the ground, and rinsed well. Once the water has evaporated, the plants bind together in a few pieces and are sent to drying in a similar way. How to harvest and store celandine with the root? After final drying of the plant, the roots must be wrapped in a canvas rag or in thick paper. Hang raw materials in a dry, dark place for storage. In this form, celandine retains its useful properties for about five years.
How to properly prepare celandine juice?
Celandine juice is used to treat many diseases, it is itself a medicine, and is also added to various formulations in various proportions. If there is an allergic reaction to iodine, then celandine juice will be a great alternative. He is considered a strong antiseptic, perfectly disinfects wounds, while not pinching the skin, like iodine. Perfect for use in children.
Celandine fresh juice saves throughout the summer period. But you can prepare it for the future, for the winter. How to prepare celandine juice for storage, we will understand in more detail.
For these purposes, young, healthy plants are needed. They must be dug along with the roots, which are thoroughly washed and cleaned. Cut the whole plant (including leaves, roots, stems, flowers) into small pieces and pass everything through a meat grinder. It will turn out a dark green mass, which will need to be squeezed out well through cheesecloth, folded in several layers. The resulting liquid must be poured into dark bottles and put in a cold place, but not in the refrigerator. Five days later, the fermentation process will begin. It will be necessary to open the covers and release the gases. So repeat several times until the fermentation processes stop.
Figuring out how to prepare celandine in the form of juice, it should be noted that it is necessary to store the finished raw materials in tightly sealed bottles in a cool place. The juice does not lose its healing qualities for three years.
Ointment for corns, warts
An ointment from corns and warts based on celandine should be in every home medicine cabinet. Indeed, no one is safe from these skin troubles. This remedy can help out even with such serious diseases as psoriasis, diathesis, eczema. Suitable ointment for cosmetic purposes. It allows you to get rid of pigmentation on the skin, freckles.
So, to prepare a wonderful ointment you will need celandine juice and petroleum jelly. Mix the components, adhering to a 1/4 ratio. How to prepare and preserve celandine juice was described above. Instead of juice, you can also use dry grass, before crushing it into a fine powder. In the same proportions, mix with petroleum jelly. The ointment can be stored in the refrigerator for two years.
Celandine infusion
Knowing how to properly harvest celandine, you can provide yourself with medicine for the whole year. Infusion can be prepared not only from a fresh plant, but also from dried herbs, roots. Such an infusion is used both for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes. It perfectly improves immunity, restores strength, supports the body in stressful situations and with nervous tensions. In its composition, the infusion contains a storehouse of useful substances.
Preparation of infusion:
- To dig a celandine bush together with the root, to clear from the earth, to rinse.
- Cut the whole plant into small pieces. Put in a half-liter jar up to half the volume.
- Pour boiling water over the raw materials, close the lid and wrap with a towel.
- Leave to cool completely.
From dried raw materials, the infusion is prepared in the same way, only the volume of the can is filled by 1/4. The infusion is stored in the refrigerator for no more than three days. Adults take as follows: 1 tablespoon is diluted in half a glass of water and drunk three times a day half an hour before meals. Children under seven years old will have to dilute one teaspoon in a third glass of water and also drink three times a day.
For general recovery and for preventive purposes, such an infusion is taken for a week, then a break of five days is needed and again a reception for a week. Taking breaks, the infusion can be taken for a month, after which you need a break for two months.
If the infusion will be used for treatment, then the scheme should be discussed with the doctor. Usually, a two-week intake is prescribed, then a two-week break, followed by a repeat of the course.
Bath fees
Harmless celandine-based bathtubs allow you to improve your health and well-being. Water treatments themselves are a calming and relaxing exercise, and with the addition of tonic herbs, a double effect occurs. It is best to use herbal preparations for such purposes. Various properties of plants enhance the benefit, complement the therapeutic effect. Fees for such purposes must be prepared in advance and stored separately. For the healing bath, only the aboveground part of the plant is used, the root is not needed here. At the same time, the harvesting of herbs such as chamomile, St. John's wort, succession, sage, valerian. As soon as all plants pass the drying stage, they are crushed and mixed, including celandine. Everything is taken in equal parts. How to prepare celandine for treatment is described in detail above.
The mixture must be distributed in storage bags in two glasses. In winter, you just need to get a bag, make grass - and the healing bath is ready.
The infusion for the bath is prepared as follows: 2 cups of the mixture are poured with boiling water (4 l), covered with a lid and infused for 40 minutes. The mixture must be filtered and added to the bath, where the water temperature should be + 37 ° C. It is recommended to take vegetable baths twice a week for 20 minutes.
World recognition
Everyone who knows how to properly prepare celandine for the future will be able to secure a cure for the whole year. But what about this wonderful plant in other countries? Each country has its own prevailing views on the treatment of this herb. For example, in Bulgaria, celandine is used as an antispasmodic and painkiller for diseases of the gall bladder, liver, colitis, gastritis, and jaundice. In Poland, the plant is valued for its analgesic, anti-inflammatory effect, and is used as an anthelmintic. The juice of the plant is recommended by doctors for hepatic colic, gastrointestinal diseases, hemorrhoids, and painful menstruation. Austrian scientists emphasize that extracting from a plant enhances the functions of the bile ducts, gall bladder, and has a calming, anticonvulsant property. The French use celandine as an effective laxative and diuretic, and the juice of a young plant as an aphrodisiac.
Russian medicine is actively using ointment based on grass powder in the treatment of lupus, skin tuberculosis and even cancer. Tinctures from the roots are used for dysbiosis, constipation, cholelithiasis. Intravenous administration of celandine-based drugs slows the pulse, lowers blood pressure, and external use allows you to heal ulcers, scars on the skin, and treat psoriasis and eczema.
One Russian clinic conducted a study using celandine juice to treat intestinal polyps. The results exceeded all forecasts: many patients managed to avoid further surgery. Celandine in Russia is called Russian ginseng, for its miraculous properties and the ability to relieve many ailments.
Celandine orange juice makes healing all parts of the plant - root, stems, leaves, flowers. From them it is possible to make decoctions, tinctures, infusions, both a fresh plant and a dried, harvested for future use are used.
The juice of the plant helps to calm the nerves, heals wounds, burns, relieves skin diseases, treats internal organs - the stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines, joints, blood vessels, genitals. The celandine helps to cope with hypertension, regulates the work of the heart, conquers bouts of asthma, shortness of breath. Raises immunity, restores strength.
Biologically active substances contained in the plant have a wide spectrum of action. This allows the use of celandine for the prevention of many ailments. Especially effective and effective are medicinal infusions, wellness baths to stimulate metabolism.
Celandine restores the health of the body in general, affects all organs and systems. Its healing properties affect the cause of the disease and allow it to be eliminated.
Important warning! Treatment with celandine should be carried out only in the correct dosages under the supervision of a doctor, since its toxic substances in the wrong proportions can lead to poisoning. The first aid in this case will be gastric lavage and the use of a large amount of liquid.