Folk medicine has long attached great importance to the dandelion, which was considered the source of the elixir of life. The name of this plant has Greek roots and means "to calm". It was in this direction that it was used by the ancient healers. In addition, dandelion has rare tonic properties. This plant has also been used in cooking. Hot and cold dishes were prepared from it. Dandelion was also used to make a drink that tasted like coffee. Currently, gardeners in many countries grow this plant as a cultivated one, paying the most serious attention to it.
The medicinal properties of dandelion allow it to be used in traditional medicine recipes. This perennial herb is a member of the Compositae family. All parts of the dandelion contain a thick milky juice that has a bitter taste. The fruits of the plant are an achene with a fluff, which is located on a stalk reachingtwenty to thirty centimeters high. The root of a dandelion is slightly branched and long. The plant blooms from the last days of May to August.
The raw materials used in the manufacture of medicines are the roots, as well as the aerial part. Harvesting of a medicinal plant is carried out in different periods. The roots are dug up in autumn after the leaves have withered or in the spring before flowering begins. The aerial part is cut off at the end of May. It is suitable as a medicinal raw material only at the beginning of flowering.
Useful properties of dandelion root are due to the list of useful substances contained in it. This part of the plant contains taraxacin and triterpene compounds, taraxasterol and sterols, flavonoids and inulin, fatty oil and rubber, carotene and proteins, organic acids and sucrose. Resins and copper, selenium and zinc accumulate in it. The aerial part of the medicinal plant is used as a source of saponins and protein, vitamins A and C, as well as B2 and nicotinic acid. The leaves are rich in phosphorus and contain calcium, iron and manganese.
Useful properties of dandelion root, as well as its leaves, have long been used in alternative medicine. The plant is able to have a choleretic and anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic and diuretic, antipyretic and expectorant effect. It is used as an antihelminthic and laxative, as well as an anti-sclerotic and anti-allergic agent. The use of dandelion stimulates appetite, improves the condition of the skin and normalizes the generalwell-being.
The beneficial properties of dandelion root, which are used to eliminate inflammation, increase sweating and reduce temperature, are due to triterpene compounds, as well as resinous and mucous substances that make up its composition. The bitterness contained in the medicinal plant increases appetite and improves the digestion process. This is due to their choleretic ability, as well as the ability to increase the secretion of gastric juice.
Useful properties of dandelion root, the use of which promotes expectoration of sputum, are also due to the presence of bitterness in its composition. Beta- and stigmasterol, which belong to the glycerides of unsaturated fatty acids, produce an anti-sclerotic effect, removing harmful cholesterol from the body and cleansing the blood of toxins.
As a prevention of various diseases, as well as for medicinal purposes, dandelion tincture, as well as decoctions, teas and powders, are used. In early spring, it is sometimes recommended to drink juice from the leaves of a medicinal plant.
