:fig1:
The blackberry is distributed in almost the entire European part of the former USSR, except for the northwestern part, in Siberia, Central Asia, Crimea and the Caucasus.
Cultivated primarily in the Americas as a food and ornamental plant. Blackberry grows wild along the banks of rivers, wet forests.
Mature fruits and young leaves are used. Leaves are collected during flowering, fruits - as they ripen. The fruits have a sweet-sour taste, the leaves have a tart flavor. The odor of blackberries is faint.
Chemical composition and beneficial properties of blackberries
Useful properties of blackberries are actively used in phytotherapy. Glucose (2.88-3.64%), fructose (3.12-3.24%), sucrose (0.35-0.58%), ascorbic acid (15- 18 mg%), carotene (up to 220 KU per 100 g of fruit), vitamin E, organic acids (up to 2.2%), tannins and aromatic substances are found in the fruit.
Useful properties of blackberries are not only contained in its fruit. Ascorbic acid (80-271 mg%) was found in the leaves, and fatty oil (12.9%) was found in the seeds.
The effects and uses of blackberries
In the scientific medicine of the USSR, the use of blackberry has not been utilized.
In Bulgarian medicine, the beneficial properties of blackberries are additionally found in the leaves: flavones, organic acids, inositol. They are used in the form of decoction (6-10 g of leaves per 500 ml of boiling water) for diarrhea, gastritis and stomach bleeding. In addition, the leaves are used to make medicinal tea as follows: fresh leaves are placed in a closed vessel, where they stay until they wilt, then "steamed" without water until they turn black, then air-dried. Tea prepared in this way acquires a special aroma and flavor reminiscent of the aroma and flavor of Chinese tea.
In Poland, the use of blackberries is recommended for joint pain, inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, coughs. Externally as a good wound healer.
Young leaves were also used in the GDR, and the following beneficial properties of blackberries were found in them: tannins, inositol, organic acids (mainly lactic acid). Use as an infusion for diarrhea, cough and as a gargle. Boiling is not recommended, as boiling increases bitterness. In the past in Germany, the leaves were used for stomach and liver ailments and for baths.
Leclerc (France) indicates that the use of blackberries was recommended as a hemostatic agent as early as the twelfth century. Decoction of leaves with the addition of fruit juice he recommends for gargling the throat: decoction of leaves 10% - 800 g and fruit juice - 200 g. Buds, leaves and tender stems of blackberries are recommended with the addition of honey as an astringent, tonic for throat diseases in the form of gargles.
In dysentery syrup is prepared: lump sugar in an amount twice as much as berries, cook until thick syrup, take 3-4 tablespoons per day.
Many authors recommend blackberry mixed with other plants for diabetes: ash, field horsetail, medicinal stannica and valerian root in equal parts. 6-8 g brew 1 liter of boiling water, insist and take hot and cold.
Dioscorides (1st century BC. э.) recommended the use of blackberries in the form of decoction, which contained tannin, against diarrhea and as a gargle solution for inflammatory diseases of the gums and ulcers (aphthae).
In folk medicine of the Caucasus immature fruits are used as an astringent, mature fruits - as a laxative, decoction of leaves - as a diaphoretic and in the form of gargles for sore throats.
In domestic folk medicine decoction of leaves are used in chronic enteritis, sore throat (gargle with decoction), in female diseases with menstrual disorders in the form of syringes. Decoction of branches drink with neuroses, shortness of breath. Blackberry root used as a diuretic for dropsy (15 g dry root poured 300 g boiling water, take a tablespoon after 2 hours). With bleeding and weak digestion is recommended tincture of the root, for which 100 g of root boiled in 500 g of water until evaporated half. The decoction is strained and mixed with an equal amount of aged red wine. Fresh leaves were applied to lichens and stale leg ulcers.
Fresh berries are consumed as food. Useful properties of blackberries, like raspberries, have a thirst-quenching effect, easily tolerated not only by healthy people, but also by patients with chronic diarrhea. In raw and dried form, blackberries are used for making jams, pie fillings, syrups, making tinctures, soft drinks, jellies, pastilles and compotes.
Foliage tops of blackberries, collected in the early flowering period, we use as an astringent for food toxic infections, dysentery and sometimes, when indicated, with peptic ulcer and duodenal ulcer..
