Common turnip (agrimonia eupatoria). Properties of turnip. The use of turnip in modern folk medicine

Common turnip is a perennial herbaceous plant of the rose-flower family. The stem is erect, woolly-hairy, 80-90 cm high. Leaves are discontinuously feathery. Flowers are golden yellow, arranged in a long spike-like inflorescence. The calyx is five-divided with 5 petals. Common turnip blooms in June through July. Widespread almost everywhere in Europe, Asia, North and South America, North and South Africa, and in the European part of the USSR, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Repyashka grass grows on hills, between bushes (Fig. 65).


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The above-ground part of the plant, harvested before fruiting, is used. The taste of common turnip has a bitter, astringent, tart, odor is weak, spicy.

Chemical composition

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Tannins, essential oil, bitter glycoside, mineral salts, bitters, traces of nicotinic acid, B vitamins, flavonoids, coumarin, steroidal saponins, traces of alkaloids are found in leaves, stems and flowers. Repyashka herb is poorly studied and is not used in scientific medicine in the USSR.

According to German researchers, choline, organic acids, and silicic acid are found in the herb (Dorfler, Roselt, 1964).

Action and application

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Used herb turnip in the GDR almost exclusively in the form of tea for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, in the form of tincture or gargle - for diseases of the mouth. In wounds on the skin - in the form of a compress from the decoction of the herb.

In Austria, common turnip is used in the form of decoction or powder for sore throat, vein spasms, boils. In Austrian folk medicine it is used for liver diseases, gallbladder diseases, bleeding and poorly healing wounds.

In France, Leclerc in his book on phytotherapy writes that the common turnip can be used in inflammation of the throat in the form of "agrimonny gargle" at least 5 times a day (100 g of dried turnip leaves to 1 liter of water, boil until reduced by 1%, strain, add rose honey). Such gargles, he writes, should be recommended to preachers and teachers who have to talk a lot and for long periods of time. Infusion of turnip leaves is also recommended for migraines, stomach disorders. Some authors recommend the plant as a topical remedy for tumors, bruises, sprains. To do this, prepare a mixture consisting of crushed leaves of turnip, vinegar and wheat bran, in equal amounts, boiled over low heat until a homogeneous thick mass, which is applied in the form of a compress in a possibly hot form in the morning and evening until recovery.

In Bulgarian medicine, the herb Repyashka is used without stiffened stems, in the form of infusion for diseases of the liver, gallbladder (hepatitis, jaundice, gallstones), and as an additional therapy for rheumatism, diarrhea. Externally - in the form of washes for inflammatory diseases of the throat, nose, dermatitis, furunculosis, etc. In Bulgarian folk medicine it is used for skin diseases, bladder atony and nocturnal urinary incontinence.

In domestic folk medicine it was used as bitterness for stomach and intestinal diseases, especially diarrhea, liver diseases, jaundice, rheumatism, lung diseases, bleeding, hemorrhoids, as an astringent and diuretic..