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Borage
is an annual plant, which is covered with fine hair, 30-60 cm tall, the stem is branched, erect, grooved, the root system is peg-shaped with countless lateral roots. Lower leaves on stems, ovate. Upper leaves sessile and elongated forms. Regardless of the position of the leaves, they are fleshy, hairy, toothed along the edge.
The flowering time of the plant is June-August. The flowers are blue or a shade of blue with a pink tint, on long flower stalks, formed at the top of the stem.
The fruit consists of four, large, elongated, slightly curved nutlets of dark brown or black color. The seeds are small. The seeds ripen in late August - early September. Seed germination lasts up to 3 years.
The entire surface part of the plant is used for medicinal purposes. The plant is harvested during flowering, cutting it to the ground, necessarily cutting off the old leaves. The leaves are dried in the sun or by spreading them in a thin layer on sieves in well-ventilated rooms. Store the drug in a cool and dry room, in a tightly closed container for no longer than 1 year.
Ready seeds of the plant are collected at the end of August or September, necessarily in dry weather, and stored in paper bags.
Borage
contains fatty acids, resins, saponins, mucilages and tannins, as well as essential oil. In addition, the plant is rich in retinol, ascorbic acid, silicic acid, malic and citric acid, potassium nitrates, phosphorus, lithium and calcium.
Gamma-linolenic acid and cislinolenic acid are found in
Borage
oil, which are necessary in the synthesis of prostaglandins, which have anti-inflammatory properties.
Medicinal significance
Borage
is an excellent source of Omega 6. The mucilage substances in the plant have a covering effect on the walls of the digestive tract. Thanks to the unique composition of the plant, it acts as a mild laxative, sedative, anti-inflammatory, sweat and urine expeller. The tannins present in the plant improve the digestive process and help the body to increase its working capacity. Saponins, on the other hand, help to balance the water-salt balance in the body, also act as sedatives, diuretics and promote expectoration.
Borage
can be classified as a weed, but it is often cultivated as a salad plant, and of course also as a medicinal plant. When using the plant as a food product, it increases the body's working capacity, helps to get rid of depression, hypochondria and melancholy. Salad from fresh leaves is an excellent blood cleanser, which is recommended in cases of cardioneurosis, pleurisy and dermatosis.
Pulmonary catarrh, cardiac neurosis, neurasthenia and headaches are treated with water infusions of this plant. The flower decoction of the plant is an effective diuretic and diaphoretic, as well as an emollient.
Vitaminized salad normalizes metabolism, prevents premature inflammatory processes in the kidneys and intestines, relieves anxiety and irritability, can improve sleep.
Borage
decoctions are used to treat gastritis with reduced content of gastric juice. The juice of the plant is effective in the treatment of neurodermatosis and skin inflammations.
Borage
can be included in medical diets when treating gallstone disease, vascular diseases, kidney and urinary tract diseases, cardiac neurosis, heart attack, as the plant is able to influence metabolic processes in the body and relieve tension in the nervous system. The seeds of the plant help to maintain lactation in nursing mothers, as well as increase the amount of milk.
Gout sufferers can make compresses from the leaves of the plant.