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Blood-red hawthorn is distributed in the forest-steppe zone, in the European part of the USSR, in Western Siberia, and in Eastern Kazakhstan. Grows in sparse forests, along forest edges and river banks, in walled ravines. Hawthorn blood-red is widely cultivated as an ornamental and landscaping plant, unpretentious and cold-tolerant.
There are about 40 species of wild hawthorns in the USSR.
Hawthorn prickly and other species are also used for medicinal purposes. Hawthorn prickly is distinguished by the fact that its branches are gray, fruits with 2- 3 seeds.
Flowers collected at the beginning of flowering, when some of the flowers have not yet bloomed and fruits without stalks, collected at full maturity, are used. Hawthorn blood-red has a faint odor, the taste is bitter-sour, slightly astringent. The smell of fresh flowers is unpleasant, dried flowers have no smell; their taste is bitter. The chemical composition of hawthorn blood-red is not studied.
Chemical composition and properties of hawthorn
Properties of hawthorn are used in traditional and folk medicine. There are indications that in chemical composition hawthorn prickly and blood-red are equivalent (A. Д. Fursaev et al., 1962). Essential oil, choline and acetylcholine, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, quercetin and quercitrin, trimethylamine were found in hawthorn flowers. A number of flavonoids, triterpene derivatives - oleanic and ursolic acids, ascorbic acid, carotene, choline, acetylcholine, essential oil, fructose, coloring and tannins, amygdalin, sorbitol, tartaric, citric, krategic, chlorogenic and caffeic acids, hyperoside, fatty oil, sitosterol, are found in the fruit.
Properties of hawthorn blood-red and prickly hawthorn, although they have a similar range of useful substances that help to get rid of many ailments.
The effects and uses of hawthorn
The uses of hawthorn are common in pharmacology. Hawthorn preparations (infusion of fruits and flowers, liquid extract from the fruit, tincture of flowers is part of cardiovalenom) reduce the excitability of the central nervous system, have a tonic effect on the heart muscle, increase blood flow in the coronary vessels of the heart and brain vessels, eliminate tachycardia and arrhythmia, relieve discomfort in the heart area, slightly reduce blood pressure, improve sleep and general condition of patients. Tincture of hawthorn flowers for vasospasms is much more effective than tincture of the fruit (C. А. Tomilin).
The cumulative properties of hawthorn have not been confirmed clinically. The use of hawthorn is prescribed for functional disorders of cardiac activity, cardiac weakness, after diseases, angioneuroses, the initial form of hypertension, insomnia, hyperthyroidism with tachycardia, with increased thyroid function.
In the laboratory of pharmacology VILAR, taking into account the above-mentioned indications in diseases of the cardiovascular system and the presence of triterpene saponins in hawthorn fruits, was tested liquid alcoholic extract of hawthorn pentapestichnogo when administered orally at a dose of 0.5 ml / kg in experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits. The result was obtained as follows: 1) hawthorn liquid extract accelerates the reverse development of experimental cholesterol atherosclerosis in rabbits, which is expressed in the reduction of blood cholesterol level and increase of mucitin-cholesterol ratio, as well as in the reduction of lipoid deposits in organs; 2) hawthorn liquid extract causes a pronounced decrease in blood pressure in chronic experiment on the background of cholesterol atherosclerosis in rabbits.
In France, the properties of hawthorn are well known. Widely used in medicine flowers, leaves and red berries hawthorn as an antispasmodic, reducing the excitability of the central nervous system, tonic heart remedy. The bark of young branches, collected in early spring, is used as an anti-fever remedy and is also useful for diarrhea.
In Austria, the use of hawthorn is also medically recommended. The flowers and fruits of hawthorn are used in the form of infusion, tincture and extract as a heart vasodilator. When consumed over a long period of time, it has a beneficial effect on blood pressure. The active substances of this plant have not yet been fully studied, but a lot of research work is being done in this direction.
In the GDR also used hawthorn flowers and fruits for weakness of the heart muscle and circulatory disorders in it. The medicinal properties of hawthorn have a beneficial effect on heart function, especially in old people, dilate the vessels of the heart. Used in the form of tincture, infusion, extract. Based on recent studies, hawthorn preparations are believed to increase the glycoside action of foxglove, lily of the valley, and strophanthus (Dorfler and Roselt, 1964).
In Poland, the use of hawthorn is recommended for heart disease, blood rushes to the head, atherosclerosis, nervous diseases, etc.
In domestic folk medicine, hawthorn blood-red is used for heart disease, dizziness, shortness of breath, insomnia. Fruits harvested after frost are eaten fresh. The medicinal properties of hawthorn fruit have been known since the time of Dioscorides.
We use hawthorn flowers and fruits as a hypotensive, cardiotonic, improving the rhythm of the heart means and are used in hypertension, atherosclerosis, especially in the menopausal period..
