Plant materials are a real storehouse of resources that a person uses for various purposes. Consider what it happens and what useful it gives people.
Natural resources and plant materials
Natural resources are the basis for the development of national economic activity. They can be as sources of funds:
By their origin, they can be divided into the following groups:
- biological;
- land;
- water;
- mineral.
Russia is very rich in forest resources. As much as 45% of the territory is forest. This is 771.1 million hectares, or 81.5 billion cubic meters. In addition, the country has a lot of land renewable resources, which number 1.7 billion hectares. At the same time, farmland covers an area of 222 million hectares. These include 132 million hectares of arable land and 90 million hectares of land related to pastures and hayfields. Most of the agricultural land is in the forest-steppe, mixed forests and southern taiga. Here 90% of arable land is located, and plowing reaches 80% in some regions.
But natural resources are one thing, and vegetable raw materials are something else. The latter includes objects of labor that are mined and produced by human labor. For example, trees growing in a forest are natural resources. But felled - this is wood related to industrial raw materials.
Vegetable raw materials are:
- cotton;
- corn;
- wood;
- linen;
- medicinal herbs.
Let us dwell on each of these species separately.
Cotton
This fiber is obtained from cotton bolls, a perennial long (up to two meters) plant with large flowers. 90% of it consists of cellulose, 6% is water, and the remaining 4% is mineral, fatty and waxy impurities. Cotton is a strong, heat-resistant, vegetable raw material with medium hygroscopicity and low deformation.
At the same time, it is soft, flexible, with excellent absorbency, easily dyed material. Among its shortcomings, the property is noted to turn yellow over time, and it is also easy to wrinkle and sit down.
In Russia, the most suitable region for growing cotton is the Astrakhan region. Here, 11 thousand hectares of arable land have been allocated for it.
Linen
The most common types of plant materials are ordinary flax and spinning flax . The plant is one and perennial, having blue flowers and an almost bare stem.
Russia is the first in the world in the cultivation of this plant. The main areas where it grows are Central and Northwest. Flax is actively used in the pharmaceutical and textile industries.
The advantages of linen fabric include strength, breathability, wear, lightness, absorbing and cooling ability, resistance to high temperatures during washing and ironing.
But he also has disadvantages. This is a quick ability to wrinkle and iron poorly.
Many experts recommend sleeping on a bed of linen. It is comfortable with him at any temperature, and he is able to smooth out the adverse environmental background in the house.
Outerwear protects the human body from radiation from the sun.
Corn
This is another plant material that is widely distributed in Russia. Among the cultures distinguish:
- barley;
- wheat
- rye;
- corn;
- oats;
- rice
- buckwheat;
- millet;
- individual legumes.
The most common in Russia is wheat, which collects half of the total Russian production. Winter wheat is grown only in the European part, and spring wheat in the southern regions.
Barley is considered the second by volume of production. This culture grows almost everywhere. She is the most northern. In Russia, it is most valued as a fodder crop. In the world for the cultivation of barley, our country ranks fifth.
Rye is used both as food and as a feed crop. She needs less heat compared to wheat. But in terms of nutritional qualities, it is inferior to the latter. It is grown in the Volga, Central, Volgovyat and Ural districts.
Oats are used in the same way as rye. The cultivation and storage of plant materials is mainly carried out in the European part of the country.
The most productive crop is rice. He loves water and heat very much, therefore he is grown in the lower Volga, Kuban and Primorsky Territory.
The same heat and water-loving is corn. In the southern regions, it is grown for grain, and in the northern regions for the preparation of silage.
Buckwheat is a low-yielding crop. It is grown in forest and forest-steppe zones.
Wood
Wood is a very valuable industrial raw material that is used in various fields of technology, in construction, energy, mining, railway transport and others. Due to the fact that the processing of plant materials is easy, by its decorative properties it is especially widely used in the furniture industry and carpentry. In addition, wood is widely exported abroad.
Medicinal herbs
Those plants that contain active pharmacological substances, and also have a therapeutic effect, are called medicinal. In total, there are up to five hundred thousand species of plants in the world, only about five percent of all are medicinal. Russia can be proud of all the diversity of species on its territory. Every year, more than two hundred herbs are gathered here for medical purposes.
In addition, there is a large supply of unexplored plants. In this invaluable service is provided by the centuries-old experience of traditional medicine.
Medicinal plant - raw material for producing pure active substances on an industrial scale. They are obtained in the form in which they are used as feedstock for therapeutically useful substances.
Medicinal plant materials are used for the manufacture of galenic preparations and juices. They are produced from plants, from which it is impossible to obtain substances in pure form, when in the complex they give the most effective result.
Raw materials are used for collecting medicinal tea. Its main advantage is that it acts comprehensively. Such tea is drunk as an additional means to the main treatment. Often, its use becomes even more effective than medications even in chronic diseases.
Adding medicinal plants to food improves its quality, enriches with vitamins and other beneficial substances, due to which physiological processes are activated. In addition, medicinal plants are sold well for commercial purposes.
Chemical compounds that are obtained from medicinal plants often become a model for the production of drugs. But their main purpose is to take medicinal herbs. From the population you can often hear responses about the effectiveness of folk recipes based on herbs, which helped to get rid of a variety of ailments. But the medical industry is preparing about a third of the drugs from them. Almost 80% of the drugs used for cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases are made on the basis of this plant material. And even with these numbers, the need for plants is still increasing.
They are studied by many research institutes, medical and pharmaceutical educational and other institutions. Known research conducted and abroad. Russian scientists have studied a lot of medicinal plants. Atlases, distribution maps, and reference books are based on their works. A detailed analysis of plant materials made it possible to organize their collection. It also contributed to the distribution and use of it in all regions of the country.
Home Green Pharmacy
It is advisable to have a set of medicinal herbs at home for different occasions, so that they can not only protect the body, but also cure it if diseases occur. For example, oak bark is an excellent prevention of gastrointestinal system disorders. And chamomile, calendula or immortelle herb will improve digestion. With cystitis and inflammation, an excellent remedy is lingonberry leaf, grass of violets, bearberry, knotweed and licorice roots. Rose hips, raspberry leaves, marjoram, coltsfoot, linden and calendula flowers and so on will cure the common cold. From stress and with insomnia, valerian roots, as well as motherwort grass and hop cones, will help.
Storage
It is very important to properly store herbs. After all, otherwise, whatever the rich green pharmacy, the plants will simply lose their healing qualities and become useless. Each species must be stored separately. The place chosen for storage should be dark, dry, clean. Odorous plants are kept away from odorless, and poisonous - from non-toxic. A good storage container is a glass jar. But it is even better to keep them in special rag bags so that they breathe. Each bag should be signed, where, in addition to the name, the year of collection must be indicated.
Duration is determined by the expiration date. If all storage conditions are met, then:
- fruits are stored for 3 years;
- roots and bark - 5 years;
- flowers, leaves, buds and herbs - 2 years.
Collection
The best weather to collect is dry and clear. The roots of medicinal plants are dug up in the fall, when the upper part withers, and this can also be done in early spring. But the time of gathering herbs and flowers is a flowering period. Seeds will be suitable for ripening.
There are, however, exceptions to the rules. Then they are described in the characteristics of plants. Most herbs are dried in the shade with enough air. Dried herbs break easily, but retain their color.
Conclusion
In the article, we examined what plant materials can be. Each of the species is very important for human life. But at the household level, the most important role is played by herbal raw materials and the intake of medicinal herbs.
From the population it is important to understand not only how to take herbs, but how and when to collect, and also to store. Medicinal plants stored at home will more than once help household members with various problems.