Bearberry Common.

Bearberry

A perennial evergreen shrub of the heather family with creeping shoots 1-2 m long. The leaves are alternate, leathery, thick, dark green, oblong-obovate, shiny, rounded at the apex, without pinpoint glands. Blooms in May-June.

The flowers are whitish-pinkish, small, regular, drooping, on short stalks. The seeds ripen in July-August. The common bearberry is distributed in the European part of the USSR (with the exception of Moldova, Crimea, the Lower Don and Volga), in Western and Eastern Siberia and in the Far East.

It grows in clearings, burnt areas, in deciduous and dry pine forests, most often on sandy, well-drained soils, forming clumps or thickets. The roots are suitable for tanning leather and dyeing it dark green. The decoction of the aerial part, depending on the mordant, gives various shades of red, purple, blue, orange, brown, green, gray and black.

The leaves are used to dye fur, leather and woolen fabrics dark gray and gray-yellow. Dry leaves are sometimes added to tobacco, and fruits are added to flour when baking bread. The leaves serve as medicinal raw materials.

They are collected before the plant blooms or in the fall, after the fruits ripen. When the bearberry fades, rapid growth of young shoots is observed. During this period, the leaves contain little arbutin, the main active ingredient; when dried, they turn brown, and the raw material becomes unsuitable for use.

Conditioned leaves and shoots are dried in the air, under a canopy or in the attic. Store in bags or closed wooden containers in a ventilated area for 5 years. The leaves contain organic acids (formic, quinic and malic), essential oil, triterpenoids (ursolic acid and uvaol), vitamin C, phenols and their derivatives (arbutin, hydroquinone, etc.), phenolcarboxylic acids (protocatechuic and gallic), coumarins, catechins , tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins (cyanidin and delphinidin).

Plant preparations have antiseptic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and choleretic effects. Bearberry is a well-known diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent in the treatment of diseases of the bladder, urinary tract and urolithiasis.

Its antimicrobial properties are associated with arbutin and methylarbutin. These substances, under the influence of enzymes, split off hydroquinone, which has an antiseptic effect. However, with long-term use of large doses of bearberry, increased irritation of the mucous membrane of the urinary system and exacerbation of inflammatory phenomena may be observed.

Bearberry infusion is used as a diuretic for cardiovascular failure, pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes, and as an astringent for indigestion and chronic constipation. Decoction and powder are prescribed for ulcers, purulent wounds and diathesis (in the form of baths). The tincture is used for diseases of the nervous system, alcoholism, as a painkiller for articular rheumatism and gout.