Traditional medicine has long attached great importance to dandelion, which was considered the source of the elixir of life. The name of this plant has Greek roots and means "soothe." It was in this direction that it was used by the ancient healers. In addition, dandelion has rare tonic properties. This plant was also used in cooking. Hot and cold dishes were prepared from it. Dandelion was also used to make a drink whose taste resembled coffee. Currently, gardeners in many countries grow this plant as a cultivar, paying the most serious attention to it.
The healing properties of dandelion allow it to be used in traditional medicine recipes. This perennial herb is a member of the family Asteraceae. All parts of dandelion contain a thick milky juice, which has a bitter taste. The fruits of the plant are an achene with a feather, which is located on a stalk reaching a height of twenty to thirty centimeters. Dandelion root is unbranched and long. The plant blooms from the last days of May to August.
The raw materials used in the manufacture of medicines are the roots, as well as the aboveground part. Harvesting a medicinal plant is made in different periods. The roots are dug up in the fall after withering leaves or in the spring before flowering. The aerial part is cut off at the end of May. It is suitable as a medicinal raw material only at the beginning of flowering.
The beneficial properties of dandelion root are determined by the list of beneficial substances contained in it. This part of the plant contains taraxacin and triterpene compounds, taraxasterol and sterols, flavonoids and inulin, fatty oil and rubber, carotene and proteins, organic acids and sucrose. Resins and copper, selenium and zinc accumulate in it. The aerial part of the healing plant is used as a source of saponins and protein, vitamins A and C, as well as B2 and nicotinic acid. The leaves are rich in phosphorus and incorporate calcium, iron and manganese.
The beneficial properties of dandelion root, as well as its leaves, have long been used in alternative medicine. The plant is capable of exerting a choleretic and anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic and diuretic, antipyretic and expectorant effect. It is used as an anthelmintic and laxative, as well as anti-sclerotic and anti-allergic drugs. The use of dandelion helps to stimulate appetite, improve the condition of the skin and normalize overall health.
The beneficial properties of dandelion root, which are used to eliminate inflammatory processes, enhance perspiration and reduce temperature, are manifested due to triterpene compounds, as well as resinous and mucous substances that make up its composition. The bitterness contained in the healing plant increases appetite and improves digestion. This is due to their choleretic ability, as well as the possibility of increasing the secretion of gastric juice.
The beneficial properties of dandelion root, the use of which promotes expectoration of sputum, are also due to the presence of bitterness in its composition. Beta and stigmasterol, which are glycerides of fatty unsaturated acids, produce an anti-sclerotic effect, removing harmful cholesterol from the body and cleansing the blood of toxins.
As a prophylaxis of various diseases, as well as for medicinal purposes, tincture of dandelions, as well as decoctions, teas and powders, are used. In early spring, it is recommended to use juice from the leaves of a medicinal plant.