Tanning sumac.

Sumac Tanning

Tanning sumac is a shrub or tree of the sumac family, 3-8 m high. The bark of the trunks is brown.

The leaves are deciduous, alternate, unpaired-pinnate, ovoid, dark green above, almost gray below. It blooms in June - July, sometimes again in late autumn. The flowers are small, whitish, arranged separately in hollow panicles with double five-membered perianths.

The fruit is a small spherical or kidney-shaped single-seeded drupe, red-brown on the outside, densely pubescent with glandular hairs. Ripens in September - October.

Tanning sumac is widespread in the Crimea, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. It grows on stony, rocky and limestone slopes of mountains, rising to a height of 900-1800 m above sea level. Cultivated as an ornamental and medicinal plant. It is a good honey plant.

Used for tanning leather and dyeing wool, silk and leather red and black, as a source for tannin, and sometimes for strengthening banks and slopes. The fruits are eaten dried and pickled, as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes. The pericarp of the plant is used to add strength to vinegar or used as a substitute.

Leaves, and less often young branches and bark, serve as medicinal raw materials. Raw materials are harvested from the beginning of flowering to the ripening of fruits from June to mid-September. Only undamaged leaves are collected.

Dry in the sun or in a dryer at a temperature of 60°C, laying out in a thin layer and stirring occasionally. Dry in the sun for no more than 3-6 days, making sure that the raw materials do not get wet. Store in fabric bags for 2 years.

The raw material contains a large amount of tannins, the basis of which is tannin, phenol carbonic acids, flavonoids, organic acids and vitamin C.

Sumac preparations have an astringent, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and hemostatic effect.

The decoction and infusion are effective for inflammatory processes in the mouth, nose, pharynx, larynx, as well as when used topically for burns, ulcers, cracks and bedsores in the form of lotions and wet dressings.

The detoxification properties of decoctions are used for poisoning with poor-quality food, for acute and chronic gastritis, stomach ulcers, inflammation of the colon and in the recovery period after dysentery. A decoction of the bark is prescribed for diabetes mellitus.

To prepare an infusion of leaves, pour 1 tablespoon of the raw material into 0.5 liters of hot water, boil in a water bath in a closed enamel container for 15 minutes, cool for 45 minutes, filter through two or three layers of gauze and bring the volume with boiled water to the original volume.

Take 1/3 cup 3-4 times a day after meals.