Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot: properties and application in medicine and folk practice

Coltsfoot (lat. Tussilago farfara) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family, distributed throughout almost the entire territory of the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia. The plant prefers damp river banks, ravines, clay slopes, hills, ditches and roadsides.

Coltsfoot, up to 25 cm high, has a creeping, branched rhizome with a bunch of adventitious thread-like roots. The plant blooms in early spring, before the leaves appear. Flowering shoots are erect, unbranched, covered with brownish scaly leaves. The flowers are golden yellow, collected in a small basket. The fruit is a slightly curved achene with a tuft.

When the coltsfoot blooms, dense, rounded, heart-shaped basal leaves appear on a long, succulent petiole. They are green above, white-tomentose below due to the abundance of long tangled hairs. The underside of the leaf is soft and warm, the top is hard and cold.

The medicinal raw materials are the inflorescences and leaves of coltsfoot. The leaves are collected in June-July, when they are relatively small and almost bare on the upper side. You should not take very young leaves, pubescent on both sides and with brown spots. The raw materials are loosely placed in baskets and quickly dried, laid out in a thin layer, in the attic or open air, often turning over so that both sides dry evenly. The leaves are dried on a cord, fishing line or thick thread. After drying, they sort through, removing browned and moldy ones. Flowers with stems are dried in a dryer at a temperature of 50-60°C. Store in a dry place in a closed container for 3 years.

The leaves of coltsfoot contain the glycoside gussilyagin, saponins, carotenoids, malic, tartaric and ascorbic acids, sitosterol, inulin, a large amount of mucus, a little essential oil, dextrans, tannins and other substances. Steroid compounds (faradiol, stigmasterol, sitosterol, arnidiol, taraxanthol), as well as flavonoids, carotenoids and mucilages were found in the flowers.

In medicine, coltsfoot is used as an expectorant, anti-inflammatory and wound healing agent. It relieves cough, reduces the amount of mucus produced, and facilitates breathing in case of bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. Coltsfoot is also used for skin diseases such as eczema, dermatitis, burns, ulcers and wounds.

To prepare decoctions and infusions from the leaves and flowers of coltsfoot, you can use the following recipes:

1. Decoction of leaves: pour 10 g of dry leaves into 200 ml of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, strain. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.

2. Infusion of flowers: pour 1 tablespoon of dried flowers into 200 ml of boiling water, leave for 15-20 minutes, strain. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.

3. Collection of leaves and flowers: mix 10 g of dry leaves and 5 g of dried flowers, pour 200 ml of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, strain. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.

Despite its beneficial properties, it should be remembered that coltsfoot may cause allergic reactions in some people, so you should consult a doctor before use. It is also not recommended to take coltsfoot for a long time and in large quantities, as this can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance in the body.