Common juniper.

Common juniper

An evergreen shrub of the cypress family, 1-3 m high. The plant is a long-liver, some specimens live 200-300 years. The height of the juniper reaches 12 m. The trunk is branched. The needles (leaves) are linear, awl-shaped, spiny, arranged in 3 pieces. in the whorl.

The plant is dioecious. Blooms in May. The fruit is a fleshy cone-berry with a sweetish-spicy taste and smell. In the 1st year of life the fruits are green, in the 2nd year they are blue-black. Ripen in October – November.

Common juniper is widespread in the forest zone of the European part of Russia, the Urals and Siberia. It grows in the undergrowth of mixed and deciduous forests, in forests, on dry hills and mountain slopes, along river banks. Tolerates both dry and moderately moist sandy soils.

The Cossack juniper should be distinguished from the common juniper, the fruits of which are poisonous and have black-blue berries with a waxy coating and two drupes.

Cultivated as an ornamental plant. The wood is used in turning, the branches with needles are used for smoking meat and fish products, the fruits are used for preparing dishes from the meat of wild and domestic animals and birds. Juniper spices correct and improve the taste of meat.

Together with mint, garlic, marjoram and wormwood, it is included in marinades. Juniper berries are suitable for making fruit drinks and beer; they are used to flavor drinks and baked goods.

Cone berries serve as medicinal raw materials. They are harvested in October – November. When collecting, place fabric or thick paper under the bush. Air dry in the shade or in the attic. Ovens or dryers should not be used, as the quality of the raw materials deteriorates from heating. Store in a closed wooden container for 3 years.

The berries contain essential oil, sugars, resins, dyes, fatty oil, formic, acetic and malic acids, tannins and trace elements (manganese, iron, copper and aluminum).

Juniper preparations have a diuretic, choleretic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antimicrobial effect, and stimulate digestion. The main active ingredient of juniper is essential oil. It actively penetrates the kidneys, lungs, liver and gall bladder.

An infusion of berries is used for edema of cardiac origin. At the same time, not only water, but also salts are removed from the body. It is prescribed for lung diseases accompanied by the formation of abundant purulent sputum, lethargy of the gastrointestinal tract, bloating and gallstones.

The infusion can be used to rinse the mouth and throat and for inhalation of the upper respiratory tract, in the form of baths for rheumatism and gout, for skin diseases and diseases of the peripheral nervous system.

To prepare the infusion, pour 10 fruits with 1 glass of hot water, boil in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 15 minutes, cool for 45 minutes, filter through two or three layers of gauze and bring the volume to the original volume. Take 1 tablespoon 4 times a day before meals. The course of treatment is no more than 2 weeks.

To improve the quality of the blood, it is recommended to chew berries daily on an empty stomach, adding 1 piece each day. Having brought the intake to 15 pcs., the norm is also reduced by 1 pc.

For the bath, prepare a decoction at the rate of 100 g of dried fruits per 1 liter of hot water and boil for 30 minutes.

Juniper fruits are contraindicated in acute kidney diseases (nephrosis, nephritis), gastric and duodenal ulcers, acute gastritis and colitis.