Honey locust Common.

Honey locust

A large tree of the legume family, 25-46 m high. The branches are covered with sharp dark brown shiny spines up to 10 cm long. The leaves are simple with paired pinnate oval leaves, jagged along the edges.

The flowers are yellow-green, collected in a cluster-shaped raceme. Blooms in June - July. The fruit is a flat, multiple-fruited, dark brown bean (pod) up to 40 cm long.

Common honey locust is cultivated in the southern regions of our country. The fruits are used as feed for cattle and wild boars. The seeds are sometimes used as a coffee substitute.

Common honey locust is a good honey plant.

Ripe fruits and, less commonly, young leaves serve as medicinal raw materials. The fruits are harvested when the pod becomes dark in color and breaks easily. They are dried in a dryer at a temperature of 50-60°C or in the open air. The leaves are collected in the first half of summer in dry, sunny weather. Dry in the shade, laying out in a thin layer and stirring occasionally. The raw material is considered ready if the petioles do not bend when bent, but break. It is stored in bags or closed wooden containers for 2 years.

The fruits contain triterpene saponins, alkaloids (triacanthin), flavonoids, tannins and mucilages, and vitamins C and K.

Preparations of honey locust are used for spasms of the gastrointestinal tract, which is due to the presence of the alkaloid triacanthin in the plant, which is more active, but somewhat more toxic than papaverine.

In medical practice, decoctions of fruits and leaves are used for chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic inflammation of the gallbladder and spastic colitis. Preference is usually given to a decoction of the fruit. However, it should be remembered that they contain a significant amount of saponins, large doses of which cause poisoning. Therefore, if salivation, pallor of the skin, nausea, vomiting or fainting occur, the drug is discontinued and gastric lavage is prescribed.

A decoction of honey locust fruits is recommended for use primarily for chronic constipation. A decoction of the leaves has a weaker effect. To prepare it, pour 1 tablespoon of crushed leaves into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 30 minutes, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, filter through two or three layers of gauze, squeeze and bring the volume with boiled water to the original volume.

Take 1 tablespoon 4-5 times a day 30 minutes before meals.