Portulak garden - an unpretentious plant belonging to the Portulakov family. This plant has other names: dandur, buterlack, papilla, flea. This unique annual is used in folk medicine, and is also used to prepare various dishes. It is used for making mashed potatoes, salads and more.
There are several types of garden purslane:
- broadleaf
- green,
- golden yellow.
Plant history
Portulak gardening has been known since ancient times. Even in Egypt, thousands of years ago, it was used as food, drugs were prepared. In ancient Greece, purslane also served as a medicine, as evidenced by Hippocrates. This plant treated insomnia, wounds, intestinal diseases, used for snake bites. Some ancient scholars described this plant as a must-eat, and the local Arab doctor Avicenna considered it one of the most important medicines.
Gradually began to use purslane in France. Meat dishes, salads, mashed potatoes were cooked with him. All recipes passed to the French from the Romans, and to the east - from the Persians. Now the plant is grown in the Mediterranean countries, in the Caucasus, in India, in France. In Russia, it grows like a weed. Hybrid species are grown as a decorative decoration of the garden.
How is used
For food, young leaves and shoots of purslane are used. This plant has a slight sharpness and moderate acidity. More mature stems marinate. Pickled stalks of purslane with cucumbers are especially appreciated. In this case, do not use vinegar.
Purslane is perfect for making omelettes, salads from fresh vegetables, and is used as a seasoning for spicy sauces, stewed vegetables, and meat dishes. It can be boiled, fried, stewed, dried, added to soups.
Purslane is widely used in medicine to treat a variety of ailments. The healing properties of garden purslane are determined by its special chemical composition.
Chemical composition
In traditional medicine, the plant is not used, but its composition is well understood. Purslane grass contains the following substances:
- glycosides and organic acids;
- saponins and alkaloids;
- norepinephrine and carotene;
- nicotinic, ascorbic acid;
- phylloquinone;
- fixed oils;
- tocopherol;
- glucose;
- maltose;
- fructose;
- galactose;
- linoleic acid;
- palmitic acid;
- lemon acid;
- starch;
- succinic acid;
- cinnamic acid;
- cellulose, lignin.
The plant also contains proteins, micro and macro elements, such as zinc, potassium, copper, magnesium, iron, etc.
All the substances that make up the plant make it unusually useful for the body. The use of it during the summer period helps to strengthen health, increase immune defense for many months.
What is treated with annual
Before you start to eat or prepare medicines, you should find out what benefits and harm Purslane brings. In folk medicine, it is used as an antitoxic, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, analgesic, vasodilator. For information, all these healing properties have been known since ancient times to physicians of ancient Greece.
The substances that make up the plant can break down sugar in the body and lead to a decrease in sugar, which is useful for patients with diabetes mellitus. With proper use of grass, after a few days the general condition improves. Also, grass is used for age-related rise in sugar levels, when there is a risk of developing diabetes.
What else heals
Some elements that make up the plant cause vasoconstriction, which helps increase blood pressure and stop bleeding. This plant is recommended to be included in the diet for those who suffer from hypotension. With a one-time intake of funds from purslane, blood pressure normalizes. After completing the course of therapy, it is possible to achieve a stable remission.
With heart failure, the plant is used as a stimulant that has a positive effect on the functioning of the heart muscle. After taking folk remedies, the pulse quickens, it becomes more full.
The healing properties of Purslane help men fight impotence, male infertility. The plant helps to restore sexual function, activates sperm production and improves its quality. In the treatment of infertility with this plant in men, the number of sperm cells increases and their activity increases.
The plant is used in the treatment of sexually transmitted pathologies. With gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomonas colpitis, the grass helps to shorten the recovery period, and also supports the body during recovery from illness.
With a violation of the nervous system, namely with insomnia, depression, purslane is of great help. It acts on the central nervous system, helping to get rid of the anxiety that accompanies nervous insomnia. Dishes and folk remedies with purslane help to cheer you up, overcome depression.
The plant has a positive effect on the body in the fight against pathologies of the kidneys, urination, with psoriasis. Grass is used to treat ulcers, purulent wounds, headaches, vitamin deficiencies.
Who should not purslane
Purslane is not for everyone. This plant has a number of contraindications, which should not be forgotten. You can not use it in food and treat the plant with hypertension, arrhythmia, convulsive seizures. Also, the plant is banned in persons suffering from allergies to the constituent substances.
Purslane in folk medicine
There are many recipes for cooking purslane. For each ailment, a specific remedy is prepared.
In the treatment of kidney pathologies, juice is squeezed out of the plant, which is stored in the refrigerator. Take one spoon three times a day before meals. It is necessary to be treated with juice until the disease completely disappears. Usually this period is two weeks.
For the treatment of male impotence and infertility, infusion is made from dry raw materials of purslane. To prepare it, you will need a spoonful of raw materials, which is poured with a glass of boiling water. The remedy is infused for a couple of hours. After that, it is filtered. Take the drug once a day for two tablespoons, regardless of food intake. Treatment for male ailments lasts from three weeks.
For the treatment of sexually transmitted pathologies, use an infusion of dried raw materials. To cook it, you need to pour fifty grams of herbs with boiling water and insist for two hours. Then the drug is filtered, the mass is squeezed out. A couple of egg whites are added to the resulting infusion. After the product is heated, but does not boil. The finished product is drunk during the day, dividing the volume into several doses. The treatment for the disease lasts ten days. Together with purslane, there should be medications in therapy. The grass acts as an accelerator of the healing process and strengthens the immune system.
The plant helps with insect bites. Grass helps relieve swelling, pain. To do this, take fresh leaves of purslane, wash them with water, knead in their hands and apply to the places of bee stings, wasps. One procedure is enough to eliminate the symptoms. If necessary, leaves can be applied up to five times a day.
Traditional medicine recipes
Among the recipes from Purslane there are remedies that help cope with ulcerative colitis. To do this, a spoon of dry grass is poured into a glass of water and boiled for ten minutes. Then the remedy is infused for two hours. Before use, the broth is filtered. The drug is taken two tablespoons three times a day.
To treat syphilitic arthritis, lotions are made from decoctions of herbs and seeds. For its preparation, two grams of seeds or twenty grams of chopped grass is taken. The raw material is poured into a glass of water and boiled for five minutes. Then the remedy is infused for three hours. It is taken in a spoon up to four times a day.
For the treatment of pathologies of the liver and gall bladder, a decoction of seeds and grass is used. A single dosage of seeds is three grams, and herbs are two tablespoons. The raw material is poured with a glass of boiling water, and allowed to stand for five hours. The drug is taken two tablespoons up to three times a day.
With hemoptysis, it is useful to drink freshly squeezed juice. It is taken one dessert spoon three times a day.
You can use the juice to remove warts: they are lubricated with growths up to six times a day.
The infusion, prepared from the aerial parts of the plant, helps to cope with psoriasis. It is used in the form of lotions. Purslane mixed with burdock oil gives positive results.
Encephalitis Treatment
There is a recipe for Purslane garden products that help in the treatment of encephalitis. With this pathology, the remedy from the plant is used as an anti-inflammatory.
For therapy, decoctions of seeds or herbs are prepared. To make the drug, either two grams of seeds or twenty grams of herb is taken and poured with a glass of boiling water. Then the mixture is put on fire and allowed to boil for five minutes. In the prepared composition, the tissue is moistened, which is applied to the site of the tick bite. The lotion is left for eight hours.
Treatment of atherosclerosis and hypotension
Every gardener knows what a purslane looks like. During its flowering period, it is recommended to prepare a plant for the treatment of pathologies. Especially valuable is the hypotonic herb.
To prepare the drug, you need a tablespoon of grass and a glass of water. The mixture is boiled for ten minutes, then filtered. Take two spoons up to four times a day.
How to prepare a plant
Knowing the beneficial properties and contraindications of Purslane, it is possible to procure raw materials for use all year round. Usually in folk medicine, the aerial part of the plant is used. It is cut off at the time of flowering - it is during this period that the grass contains the most useful substances. Raw materials are dried by hanging in small bundles in a ventilated area. After complete drying, the workpieces are placed in storage in paper or fabric bags. For a year and a half, the plant retains its healing qualities.
In order to saturate the body with useful substances, to strengthen the immune system, it is recommended to prepare dishes with grass during the summer period.
Many people think that weeds like Portulaca garden weeds are of no use. But as you can see, this simple, common plant is very useful. It is rich in useful substances that help fight a variety of ailments.