Eleutherococcus, or Freeberry spiny.

Eleutherococcus, or spiny berry

Shrub of the Araliaceae family, 1–3.5 m high. The shoots are straight, covered with thin thorns. The bark is light gray.

The leaves are long-petiolate, palmately five-parted. Leaves have a wedge-shaped base, elliptical, pubescent along the veins. Blooms in July - August.

The flowers are small, collected in spherical, loose umbrellas. The fruit is a drupe, which is almost always formed only on the upper, larger umbrella. Ripens in September - October.

Eleutherococcus is widespread in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories, in the Amur region and in the south of Sakhalin. It grows in valleys, on mountain slopes, in coniferous and mixed forests, in fires and clearings, forming impenetrable thickets. The culture of eleutherococcus, in addition to the Far East, is possible in Western Siberia, Ukraine and other regions of our country.

Propagated by seeds and cuttings of rhizomes. Seeds germinate in the 2nd year. To obtain seedlings in the 1st year, the seeds are stratified by keeping them in wet sand for 4-5 months at a temperature of 18. 2Q°C and 2-3 months at 3°C. However, this technique increases seed germination only to 40-50%.

This is due to the fact that some of the seeds die during the stratification process and some are affected by fungal diseases even on the mother plant. Therefore, immediately after collection, they must be kept for 1-2 hours in a 2% solution of potassium permanganate. Eleutherococcus is unpretentious, grows on any soil, but is moisture-loving.

Prefers open places with sufficient lighting. Seeds are sown in spring in beds or holes to a depth of 2-3 cm. Seedlings and seedlings are planted at a distance of 2-3 m.

The soil is well seasoned with rotted manure and turf-compost soil. In the 1st year of life, seedlings develop well under diffuse light conditions. In the future, no special care of the plants is required, with the exception of watering.

The most effective way of propagating Eleutherococcus is vegetative. For this, rhizomes 12-15 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm thick are used. You can also take rhizome shoots or prepare green cuttings.

They are planted at the end of June - the first half of July. Plant care is the same as when planting seedlings grown from seeds.

The essential oil obtained from the roots is used in perfumery and the confectionery industry for the production of soft drinks and candies.

A decoction of the roots and powder of the leaves are used in livestock farming to increase the survival rate of young cattle and chickens and fertility. and milk production of female minks, - weight gain in rabbits, calves, piglets and adult animals, increasing fat content and milk yield in cows, improving the quality of fur. Young leaves are used as a seasoning for rice and soybeans, and a tea surrogate is obtained from them.

They are food for roe deer and sika deer.

The medicinal raw materials are roots and rhizomes, and sometimes leaves. They are harvested from the second half of September, choosing well-developed plants.

The rhizomes are shaken off the ground, quickly and thoroughly washed in running water, dried in the open air, dead parts affected by diseases and pests are removed, and the remains of above-ground shoots are cut off. Dry in a dryer at a temperature of 70.80°C or in the attic with good ventilation.

When bent, the finished raw material should break, not bend, the rhizomes should remain white, low-fiber, have a strong aroma and a spicy, astringent taste.

The roots contain carbohydrates, essential oil, triterpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, phenols and their derivatives, phenol carbonic acids, lignans (eleutheroside D and E), coumarins, chromones and flavonoids. Triterpenoids, oleic acid, alkaloids and flavonoids are found in the leaves.

Eleutherococcus preparations have restorative, anabolic, wound healing, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and