Burnet medicinal.

Burnet officinalis

A perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family, up to 1 m high. The rhizome is thick, woody, horizontal, with thin roots. The stem is erect, ribbed, hollow inside, branched in the upper part.

The basal leaves are long-petiolate, odd-pinnate, with numerous leaflets. The leaves are dark green above, bluish below. Blooms in June - August.

The flowers are dark red, small, collected in oval-cylindrical heads on long peduncles. The fruit is a single-seeded, tetrahedral, brown nut. Ripens in August - September.

Burnet is common in Western and Eastern Siberia, the Urals, the Far East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the mountains of Eastern Kazakhstan.

In culture it is propagated by seeds and cuttings of rhizomes. Prefers sunny places and loose soil rich in humus.

The plant is responsive to fertilizing with organic and mineral fertilizers. In early spring, after the snow melts, complex mineral fertilizers are scattered at the rate of 30-40 g per 1 m2 and lightly sprinkled with soil, since the root system of the burnet is located in the surface layer of soil. The same amount of fertilizer is applied before sowing the seeds.

They are sown in holes or rows at a distance of 15-20 cm, watered and sprinkled with a mixture of earth, sand, peat in equal proportions. During the growing season, the soil around the plants is kept loose and free of weeds.

The medicinal raw materials are rhizomes and roots, sometimes grass.

They are harvested during the fruiting period. The plant is easy to find in the grass by its dark red inflorescences. Dig it out with a shovel with a strong blade or hard wooden sticks.

The raw materials are shaken off the ground, the stem is cut off, washed in cold water (preferably in a basket or fine mesh), dried on a mat and cut into pieces up to 20 cm long. Dried in the open air and dried in the sun, attic, veranda, in a dryer or oven at a temperature of 40-50°C.

It is not recommended to dry on iron trays and racks, as the raw material darkens and loses its medicinal properties. Drying continues until the roots begin to break. Outside, the color of the rhizomes should be dark brown, almost black, at the break - yellowish or yellowish-brown.

Store in a wooden container in a dry place for 5 years. The raw materials contain tannins, gallic, ellagic and oxalic acids, pigments, starch, essential oil, vitamin C, carotene, saponin, sanguisorbin and sterols.

Burnet has an astringent, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, analgesic and bactericidal effect against microbes of the dysenteric and typhoid paratyphoid groups.

Promotes vasoconstriction, inhibits intestinal motility, and reduces the muscles of the uterus. For gastric, intestinal, hemorrhoidal, uterine and pulmonary bleeding, a decoction or liquid extract of burnet, prepared in 70% alcohol, is taken 30-50 drops 3-4 times a day.

Burnet preparations are used for inflammation of the mucous membrane of the small and large intestines, for excessive accumulation of gases in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as for diarrhea caused by eating poor quality food or food poisoning.

Preventive use of decoctions in combination with sanitary and hygienic measures prevents the development of dysentery or reduces the severity of the disease. The phytoncidal activity of burnet allows it to be recommended for cholecystitis and some infectious diseases.

Externally, burnet decoction and extract are used to treat wounds, abrasions and cuts.

For inflammatory diseases of the nasopharynx, the oral cavity is rinsed 5-6 times a day with burnet preparations, alternating with solutions of table salt, rivanol, hydrogen peroxide and other disinfectants. In gynecological practice with trichomonas inflammation