Valerian

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Valeriana Officinalis, Garden Valerian, Garden Heliotrope, Set Wall, All-Heal, Red Valerian, Valerian

It is distributed almost everywhere, except in the Far North, Siberia, and the desert regions of Central Asia. The plant is adapted to a variety of habitats, is moisture-loving, grows in forest clearings, edges, and prefers moist soil. It is well cultivated and propagated by seeds.

This is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Valerian family up to 2 m high. The rhizome is vertical, short, thick, hollow inside, and densely planted with long roots outside. The stem is erect, simple, hollow inside, and branched at the top.

The leaves are opposite, non-pinnate, whole or large-toothed. Blooms in May-August. The flowers are small, fragrant, white or pink, collected in paniculate inflorescences. The fruits ripen from June – September.

Medicinal raw materials are two-year-old rhizomes with roots. Dig them out with a sharp shovel in August – in September, when the fruits have already flown, the stems with shields are still preserved since it is difficult to find and recognize the plant without shields.

The rhizome and roots are shaken off the ground, washed in baskets, and laid out in a 15-centimeter layer for 2-3 days. Then its thickness is reduced to 2-3 cm. Dried in the shade at a temperature no higher than 35 ” C. It is not necessary to over-dry the roots, as they crumble a lot.

Slow drying makes it possible to obtain a more fragrant and active medicinal raw material. Dry valerian should be in places not accessible to cats that gnaw and pull apart raw materials. The shelf life is 3 years.

The rhizome and roots of valerian contain essential oil, glycosides, traces of alkaloids, tannins, resinous substances, saponins and organic acids.

Valerian enhances inhibitory processes, reduces the reflex excitability of the central nervous system, relaxes the spasm of smooth muscles of internal organs, promotes the expansion of heart vessels and lowers blood pressure.

Its preparations are used for insomnia, nervous excitement, neuroses, epilepsy, convulsions, nervous shock and severe experience, with vegetative-vascular dystonia, spasms in coronary vessels, migraines, constipation, stomach and intestinal spasms, in the menopausal period, there is increased excitability and palpitations due to increased function thyroid gland.

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