Quince Oblong.

Quince oblong

A tree or shrub of the Rosaceae family, 1.5-8 m high. Old branches and trunks have dark gray, smooth bark. Young branches are woolly-tomentose-pubescent.

The leaves are green above, grayish below, short-petioled, entire, elliptical. Blooms in May - June. The flowers are solitary, regular in shape, round, large, on pubescent pedicels.

The fruit is a false “apple” with an aromatic odor and sour taste. When young it is tomentose, and when mature it is smooth. The seeds are reddish-brown with a slimy skin. Ripen in September – November.

Quince oblong is widespread in the Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia and the south of the European part of Russia. It grows in forests, among bushes, along the shores of overgrown lakes, on plains, in the lower and middle mountain zones.

Used in confectionery and canning production. The fruits are used to prepare sauces for meat dishes and iron-rich syrups. They are consumed boiled and baked.

Used to add shine to fabrics. It is propagated by grafting onto seedlings.

Medicinal raw materials are fruits, seeds and leaves.

The fruits are harvested when ripe. The seeds are air dried. Leaves are collected in June–July. Dry under a canopy, stirring, or in a dryer at a temperature of 40-50°C.

The raw material is considered ready if the leaf petioles break rather than bend when bent. Seeds and leaves are stored in tightly closed wooden or glass containers for 1 year.

The fruits contain carbohydrates, vitamins C and B1, tannins, essential oil, hydrocarbons, esters, aromatic compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, triterpenoids, steroids and higher fatty acids.

Mucilage, amygdalin glycoside, sugars, proteins and fatty oil were found in the seeds. The leaves contain carbohydrates, triterpenoids, resins, alkaloids, vitamins C and K, phenol carbonic acids, tannins, flavonoids, leukoanthocyanins and lipids.

Quince preparations have an enveloping, tonic, diuretic, antiulcer, astringent and antibacterial effect.

Fresh fruits are used as a choleretic and diuretic. They are useful for tuberculosis and bronchial asthma. The pulp of the fruit is used for gastrointestinal diseases, diarrhea, liver diseases and as an antiemetic.

In the form of syrup, the fruits are indicated for anemia. Mucous decoctions are prepared from the seeds, used as a laxative, enveloping and emollient.

An infusion of leaves is prescribed for inflammatory diseases of the stomach; it weakens attacks of bronchial asthma.

Quince is used internally and externally in the form of decoctions, infusions, syrups and lotions. It has healing properties for many diseases.