Medicinal Properties Of Black Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra)
Medicinal Properties Of Black Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra)

Video: Medicinal Properties Of Black Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra)

Video: Medicinal Properties Of Black Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra)
Video: Sambucus nigra (Elderberry) 2024, March
Anonim

Several years ago I bought a black elderberry seedling from an amateur gardener. He called her "heart berry". Bearing in mind the healing properties of the plant, the gardener, without suspecting it, got to the point: the elder has won my heart. Don't ask why. Love for a particular plant is as difficult to explain as love itself. This feeling is irrational. Over the years, my unaccountable love for the elder did not pass, but only strengthened, enriched by the knowledge of this beautiful plant. Black elderberry, it turns out, has a lot of medicinal properties, is used in cooking and even has magical powers.

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The elder grew quickly, but in winter it was pretty frozen. Looking at the dry bare stems of a plant in spring, I was distressed, but, like a Phoenix bird, the bush rose from the dead, giving young shoots. Last season, my favorite gave me a particularly lush flowering and generous harvest of berries.

In our zone, several types of elderberry are cultivated, including a very similar to black elderberry - Canadian elderberry, which is distinguished by frost resistance. In total, the elderberry genus, belonging to the honeysuckle family, has about 40 species!

Black elderberry grows on loose, nutritious, moist soils, in illuminated places. It is a honey plant. On the contrary, harmful insects frighten off, including from neighboring plants. My elderberry grows next to a plum that was planted at the same time as it, and it has never been affected by pests. Apparently, due to the deterrent properties of the neighbor. In the literature it is said that the elder tree itself is attacked by the elder miner fly and leaf mite, but I have never met such. I did not have a chance to test elderberry branches in the struggle with mice for lack of a cellar, where they could destroy stocks. Cellar owners should try to protect themselves from gluttonous rodents with elderberry branches. They write that mice are incompatible with elderberry.

My elderberry blooms in July. Creamy white flowers, collected in large flat corymbose-paniculate inflorescences, resemble lace made by a skilled craftswoman. And this beauty, imagine, is also an exquisite delicacy. You can make a refreshing drink from the flowers: put 20 black elderberry inflorescences and 3 lemons, cut into circles, in an earthenware dish, add water and let it brew for three days. Then strain and add sugar or honey. The flowers of one inflorescence can be sprinkled on an open gooseberry pie. Fortunately, by the time the elderberry blossoms, early varieties of this berry shrub ripen. I borrowed the recipe for the next dish from literature. 350 g of flour is mixed with 50 g of oatmeal, 2 eggs, 50 g of butter, a pinch of salt. Add 20 g of yeast dissolved in 100 ml of warm milk. The dough is kneaded and placed in a warm place.1 kg of washed and sorted gooseberries are mixed with 100 g of powdered sugar. The dough that comes up is rolled out to the thickness of a finger and laid out on a greased form. Berries are laid out on top, which are sprinkled with flowers from one inflorescence of black elderberry. Mix 100 g of butter with 50 g of icing sugar and place in the freezer. When it has hardened, grate and sprinkle on the cake. Bake for half an hour at 190 degrees.grate on a coarse grater and sprinkle on the cake. Bake for half an hour at 190 degrees.grate on a coarse grater and sprinkle on the cake. Bake for half an hour at 190 degrees.

Everything in black elderberry is edible and medicinal. The young leaves are used to make salads. Jelly, jam, vinegar are boiled from berries.

The beneficial properties of black elderberry allow it to be used for medical and cosmetic purposes. The flowers contain a diaphoretic glycosoid, flafon glycosoid rutin, essential oil, choline, coffee, malic, valeric acids. Berries contain glucose and fructose, tannins, vitamin C, large amounts of potassium, carotene, ascorbic acid, and amino acids. Leaves and flowers have a diaphoretic, antipyretic, sedative, diuretic, astringent effect. Various parts of elderberry are used as a diaphoretic, diuretic, mild laxative, anti-inflammatory, and disinfectant. Infusion of flowers is used for chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and colds. It is used as an additional agent in the treatment of rheumatism, sore throat, flu, gout, arthritis. Pour one tablespoon of raw materials with a glass of hot water and boil over low heat for 15 minutes, cool and squeeze. Take half a glass warm 2-3 times a day before meals. With inflammation of the joints and muscles, neuralgia, a mixture of elderberry and chamomile flowers (in equal parts) is scalded with boiling water and poultices are made with them. For edema of the kidneys, an infusion of bark and berries is recommended. The leaves are used for burns, furunculosis, diaper rash, inflammation of hemorrhoids. To do this, the leaves are steamed and applied to the inflamed areas.furunculosis, diaper rash, inflammation of hemorrhoids. To do this, the leaves are steamed and applied to the inflamed areas.furunculosis, diaper rash, inflammation of hemorrhoids. To do this, the leaves are steamed and applied to the inflamed areas.

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You can make face lotion from elderberry flowers: pour 10 inflorescences with half a liter of boiling water and leave for a day. Filter and refrigerate. The lotion is especially effective on the delicate skin around the eyes.

Since ancient times, black elderberry is considered a sacred plant that prolongs life. According to ancient beliefs, guardian angels of the hearth live in its branches. That is why it is advisable to plant it next to the house. It is believed that the elder has magical powers that can protect against witchcraft. Fragrant inflorescences can be dried in the shade and stored in fabric bags filled with them.

The possession of these riches costs practically nothing. Black elderberry is unpretentious. It is enough to plant it in your garden in the right place and enjoy life.

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