Common hazel, more known to us as a hazelnut is a shrub or tree, reaching a height of 3 to 5 meters. The leaves of this plant are large, oval in shape, slightly pubescent, the core has a grayish-brownish hue. The fruit of hazel is a dry nut containing edible seed. Outside, the fruit is covered with a leaf wrapper. Blossom hazel in March - April, and nuts mature in September. This plant is widely spread. Very often, hazel can be found in deciduous and mixed forests, on felling areas, in thickets of shrubs.
What parts of hazel are used in folk medicine?
Folk medicine uses leaves, the stalk of the stems and the fruits of hazel.
What chemical substances contained in the haze cause its application in folk medicine?
In folk medicine, hazel is spread due to the presence in it of a number of biologically active substances. Thus, the leaves of the hazelnut contain essential oil, palmitic acid, mycitroside glycoside, sucrose. In the cortex, tannins, flobafenes, lignoccerin alcohol, essential oil, betulin are found. The use of hazel seeds in folk medicine is due to the high content of fatty oil (up to 70%) in them, which is easily absorbed by the human body. In addition, the seeds contain about 16% protein and 2 to 5% sucrose.
At what diseases do people use hazel in folk medicine?
In folk medicine decoctions from the bark of hazel are used for varicose veins and capillary hemorrhages. Leaves of hazel are used for the manufacture of infusion, which is used in cases of prostatic hypertrophy. Seeds are used in folk medicine as a means of stimulating the production of milk from nursing women. Seeds of hazel also promote the dissolution of stones in the case of nephrolithiasis, prevent the accumulation of gases in the intestine. In diseases of the lungs and fever, the seeds of hazel, which are spread with water, are used. To treat skin burns, use a mixture of seeded hazel seeds with egg white. The oil contained in nuts has an antihelminthic effect and is therefore used in folk medicine for the treatment of helminthiases. In case of hair loss, the oil of hazel nuts should be rubbed into the scalp. Decoction of pluss (a leaf-like wrapper in which a nut is enclosed) is recommended in folk medicine for diarrhea.
How correctly to prepare medicinal raw materials from hazel for further use in recipes of traditional medicine?
Leaves and bark of hazel are harvested at the beginning of the summer period. Dry the collected raw materials under canopies, in attics or in any dry and ventilated room. The fruits of hazel are harvested in September. Ripe nuts should be easily separated from the sheet-like wrapper. If the collected fruits are not yet ripe enough, they are put in small piles in a dry room and left for a while. After the oxidation of tannins in the wrapper occurs, the hazelnut shell becomes brown. Such mature nuts are separated from the wrappers and dried for long-term storage.
How to prepare folk medicine from a hazel?
Infusion of foliage leaves according to the prescription of folk medicine is prepared as follows: one tablespoon of chopped leaves pour a glass of boiling water, then bring to a boil, insist for an hour and filter. The received amount of infusion is taken within one day. Similarly, infusion from the bark of hazel is prepared.
Seeds of hazel have excellent taste and can be eaten in a raw and lightly roasted form.
Dmitry Parshonok , specially for the site