The use of quinoa: the benefits and harms of consuming the plant. Quinoa beneficial properties and contraindications

In our country, quinoa can be found everywhere; it grows on personal plots, wastelands, river banks, fields and vegetable gardens. Getting rid of the plant is not so easy, since it produces tens of thousands of seeds per season. He is included in and destroyed.

In the old days, quinoa was considered a valuable plant that could save people from hunger. It was used as food not only by the Slavs, but also by the Germans, French, Romans and Greeks. They noted that quinoa satisfies hunger and leaves you feeling full for a long time.

Scientists managed to find out why quinoa gives such an effect. It turns out that it contains a lot of protein. It is recommended to eat garden quinoa rather than wild quinoa. This plant is odorless and tasteless, so it must be seasoned with spices such as onions, peppers or garlic. Quinoa seeds can be used in making porridge or mixed into flour for baking bread. Its leaves can be harvested for the winter, added to cabbage soup or salads, and also made into vegetable puree. Quinoa is suitable for making cutlets that vegetarians will enjoy.

Quinoa is an annual plant with more than 100 species. The leaves are gray-green or green in color, decorative types can be yellow or purple in color, for example, red quinoa. Due to its attractive colors, this variety is used for making flower arrangements or decorating areas.

Only one type of quinoa has been cultivated - garden quinoa, which is in great demand in some countries. The plant can be successfully grown in the garden and used in medicinal purposes or as food.

Composition of Quinoa

The beneficial properties of the plant are used in folk medicine. It can have a general strengthening effect, assist in the treatment of gout, tumors, hemorrhoids and radiculitis.

Quinoa decoction can be used for diseases of the oral cavity and gums, as a tonic. It can act as a sedative, therefore it is indicated for depression and neuroses. If you suffer from a cough or cold, quinoa will help get rid of the problem. The properties of the plant promote the removal of sputum and have an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect.

Quinoa leaves can have a disinfecting effect and relieve antispasmodic pain. If the leaf is applied to the wound, it will stop the bleeding and prevent infection from entering the blood. This plant can be used to get rid of headaches and headaches. Steamed quinoa leaves are used for applying them to a sore spot.

How can quinoa harm you?

Excessive consumption of quinoa seeds can cause stomach upset, vomiting, and in some cases ulcers and nervous disorders. It is not recommended to use quinoa as food for people with colitis, gastritis, ulcers, cholelithiasis and urolithiasis.

Quinoa (Átriplex) is a common plant that bothers gardeners and has a lot of beneficial properties that jaded people have forgotten about.

Historical facts

During times of famine, peasants in Rus' saved themselves from death by processing quinoa seeds and mixing the coarse mixture with traditional flour. Bread baked from such ingredients did not look attractive and irritated the mucous membrane of the throat, but there was no choice, and this made it possible to survive.

Britain already appreciated the healing qualities of this plant in the 6th century, but only in the 17th century did quinoa begin to be used in cooking. The Incas also treated her with respect and reverence. The French gave the name to the garden swan “pleasant woman”, the Germans - “good Henry”. The writings of the Roman physician Galen describe the ability of the weed to saturate the body.

The area is wide and limitless. There is no place on earth where quinoa specimens are not found. Varieties that are useful and used by people grow mainly in Australia and the Northern states of America.

Varieties of Quinoa

The plant is famous for its variety of species, the main ones:

  • Edible garden.
  • Tatar.
  • Spreading.
  • Coastal.
  • Small-flowered.
  • Beautiful fruit.

Cleaning and stocking quinoa

It is the grass that has the healing substance. It is used freshly harvested, and quinoa is also dried. The herbaceous part is collected during the flowering period. Freshly cut grass is laid out in a thin layer under a canopy with good air circulation, away from precipitation and sunlight. The seed harvest, after complete ripening, is dried in the same way. Observing storage conditions, medicinal substance In the form of hay, it lasts for a year, and the fruits last for 3 years.

The chemical composition of quinoa - what is its value?

  • Fats.
  • Carbohydrates.
  • Amino acids. 10 out of the declared 17, which the body cannot produce on its own.
  • Fiber.
  • Essential oils.
  • Retinol.
  • B vitamins.
  • Ascorbic acid.
  • Tocopherol.
  • Nicotinic acid.
  • Microelements.
  • Oxalic acid.
  • Alkaloids.
  • Pectin.
  • Saponins.
  • Rutin.

Squirrels. An amazing component of the plant. In terms of content, it can compete with some types of meat.

Healing properties of the plant

  1. General strengthening. Responsible for the barrier functions of the body.
  2. Sedatives. They have a calming effect. Have a positive effect on the condition nervous system.
  3. Preventive. They help prevent heart attacks and take care of the cardiovascular system.
  4. Strengthening. Restores the elasticity of the walls of blood vessels due to the presence of rutin.
  5. Improving the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. They improve intestinal motility and speed up the process of food processing.
  6. Replenishing. The plant is capable of saturating the body useful substances. Valuable property while following a diet.
  7. Antioxidant. Quinoa removes toxins and harmful substances. The plant is capable of relieving the symptoms of poisoning.
  8. Laxatives. The herb gently relieves the intestines from stagnation (constipation). Thanks to fiber, it can be called a natural cleaning brush in the body.
  9. Bronchodilators. The plant helps with respiratory problems and colds.
  10. Antispasmodic properties. Quinoa is effective for menstrual pain and headaches.
  11. Hemostatic.
  12. Antiseptic.
  13. Diuretics.
  14. Choleretic.
  15. Anti-inflammatory. Quinoa relieves internal and external inflammation.
  16. Antibacterial properties. The plant is capable of coping with processes in organs caused by infection.
  17. Expectorant. Liquefies, exfoliates and removes mucus accumulations from the respiratory tract.

Use in alternative medicine

For medicinal purposes, people have learned to use various dosage forms. Depending on the diagnosis, it is advisable to use a more convenient and effective method:

  • Decoctions.
  • Infusions.
  • Steamed quinoa.

  1. The plant is universal. In addition to its rich nutritional properties, it can heal kidney diseases, pulmonary pathologies, and ailments of the urinary system.
  2. A positive effect on joints has been noticed, it relieves inflammation.
  3. Relieves symptoms of arthritis, gout, rheumatism.
  4. Supports heart function thanks to calcium in the composition.
  5. Restores blood vessels, gives them endurance and elasticity.
  6. Improves intestinal function and digestion in general.
  7. Cares for the oral cavity, relieves inflammation, heals wounds.
  8. Heals acute viral, respiratory diseases, bronchitis, laryngitis, tracheitis. It is an excellent expectorant.
  9. Recommended for use on initial stages diabetes and as an additive to diets.
  10. Good immunomodulator.

Contraindications for use

According to experts, quinoa is contraindicated for:

  • Cholecystitis.
  • Urolithiasis.
  • Chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
  • Tendency to bleed.
  • Problems with blood clotting.

Overdose

Excessive use of seeds for medicinal purposes can cause diarrhea, disrupt the functioning of the stomach, and cause vomiting. Can give impetus to the formation of peptic ulcers.

Healer's recipes: how to use quinoa

  1. Juice. For its extraction, young green plants are used. The herb collection is crushed using a meat grinder and squeezed. Take a tablespoon before each meal three times a day. This healing substance can cleanse the intestines, improve peristalsis, remove helminths, and cope with constipation. Used externally in the form of lotions and applications for wound healing.
  2. Tea. A pinch of dried fresh harvest leaves are poured with boiled water (200). Leave for 10 minutes and consume with honey.
  3. Steamed quinoa. Can relieve pain symptoms from rheumatism and swelling. Compresses are applied to inflamed joints. The duration of exposure can be up to 8 hours (night sleep period).
  4. Infusion. The crushed leaves of the plant (1 tablespoon) are poured with boiled water (250 ml) and left for two hours. Take in sips (2-3), up to 3 times a day. The tincture has a calming effect, relieves colic, and relieves dry cough.
  5. Decoction. The dry composition of crushed stems and leaves is covered with boiled water (100 ml.). Simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. After preparation, the composition is passed through a sieve and brought to the original volume with boiling water. Take 1 tbsp. spoon three times a day for lesions of the oral cavity, gout, douche for female diseases, thrush.

Slavic secret of youth

  1. Quinoa has a beneficial effect on facial skin. This is a natural and effective beauty recipe, proven over centuries. Without attaching special effort, you can achieve a clear result. A handful of herbs (approximate ratio), pour boiled water, wrap in a warm blanket and leave for an hour and a half. It is recommended to wash your face with an invigorating, regenerating and tonic infusion, or you can prepare ice cubes for wiping the dermis. Also, given the bactericidal and antiseptic properties, this will get rid of rashes and cleanse the pores of toxins. It will help relieve the fatigue that has accumulated on the skin during the day. The result will be noticeable within a month.
  2. Chopped, dry collection of herbs (1 teaspoon), pour a third of a glass of boiled water (200 grams), set aside to gain strength for 30 minutes. Strain and add milk. Wet the wipes and apply to a cleansed face. Leave for 20 minutes and wash off. To thicken the composition, you can add COM or your choice of sour cream, yogurt, sour cream - this is the know-how of contemporaries who know a lot about healing care for the skin.

Previously, quinoa was actively used in cooking. It was used to bake bread, cook cabbage soup, and add it to salads and scrambled eggs. Ripened seeds boiled in milk replaced porridge.

The plant is a good supplier of beebread and attracts the interest of bees and beekeepers.

By purchasing lawn grass, you can fall for unscrupulous entrepreneurs and become the owner of a flower bed with medicinal herbs, which is not attractive and aesthetically pleasing. Getting rid of weeds requires a lot of effort and energy.

Video: beneficial properties of quinoa

Many of us have heard the name of the herbquinoa, but not everyone knows what kind of plant this is. Quinoa can be one or perennial shrub, subshrub or grass. The number of quinoa species is more than 100. The height of the plant varies from 20 cm to 1.8 m, the shoots are thick or thin depending on the species. The leaf blades are solid, elongated, arranged alternately. Grass can be red, yellow, or green. The trunk and leaves are covered with villi silver color. Quinoa is a monoecious plant, i.e. female and male flowers placed on one plant. The black seeds are located in bracts.

Did you know? Quinoa has edible species. The most popular type of garden quinoa in cooking.

In most cases, quinoa is a weed. Habitat: wastelands, ravines, fields, vegetable gardens, coastlines. The grass not only grows wild, but is also cultivated as cultivated plant. Quinoa is distributed throughout to the globe. Australia and the USA have the largest number of plant species suitable for use in gastronomy. Dry quinoa grass is used in cooking as a seasoning or in gardening as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Green leaves are used to make cutlets, soups, salads, and pancakes.

Important! Young shoots and leaves contain protein, rutin, vitamins C and PP, and minerals.

Thanks to its saturation with beneficial substances, quinoa has gained wide application in folk healing.

Garden quinoa is an annual herb with an erect, faceted, branched trunk ranging from 60 to 180 cm in height. The leaves are different in shape, elongated, with whole or jagged edges, thin, with a sour taste. The color of the leaves can be emerald or red-burgundy. The lower part of the leaf blade has a milky tint. Small green or red flowers form paniculate or spikelet inflorescences. The seeds are black or brown-olive in color. Flowering occurs in June – August. Garden quinoa comes from Central Europe. Garden quinoa is grown as a vegetable or ornamental plant. How weed it is spread everywhere. The leaves and stems of grass that have not yet bloomed contain many useful nutrients.

Wild quinoa is an annual plant, with a height of 3 to 70 centimeters. The quinoa trunk can be either erect or creeping, branched from the base. The shoots are horizontal or directed upward. Long branches are covered with a filmy coating. The leaves are elongated or triangular, ovoid, with jagged edges, covered with a ragged peeling film. The color of the leaves is gray-green, sometimes changing to red. Flowers form few-flowered balls, which are located in the leaf axils. Few-flowered balls form spicate-paniculate inflorescences. You can see what wild quinoa looks like in the photo below.

Did you know? The salt absorbed by the plant from the soil accumulates in the leaf blades, so the grass can be used to cleanse the soil of excess salts.

Tatarian quinoa is an annual plant that grows from 10 cm to one meter. The grass trunk can be either erect or recumbent. The leaves are elongated, oval, narrow, with jagged edges. The tips of the leaves are sharp, the leaf blade is covered with villi. You can see what Tatar quinoa looks like in the photo below. Flowering – June – October. Flowers form spikelet inflorescences, bottom part which are bordered by foliage. The seeds are round, brown in color, shiny. The plant is a weed, but it is used as food and feed. Natural habitat - steppe, vineyards, vegetable gardens.

Common quinoa is an annual herb with a height of 20 to 60 cm. The stem of the plant is creeping and by the end of summer changes its color from green to red. The leaves are triangular or oval, with or without jagged edges. Flowering period – July – August. Small green flowers form small-flowered balls. U female flowers perianth is absent.

Spear-shaped quinoa is an annual plant. The grass reaches a height of 20-100 cm. The trunk is bare and branched. The leaves are horizontally spaced, uniform below and above, green or silvery-mealy in color. The leaves are attached to the stem opposite to each other. The shape of the leaf can be triangular-spear-shaped, lanceolate with serrations or lobes directed upward. The flowers are collected in small balls, which, in turn, form intermittent spicate-paniculate inflorescences. The seeds are vertical and ripen in September. Flowering period – June – August. Spear-shaped quinoa is used in cooking, fresh, boiled, pickled, or pickled.

Important! The seeds of some types of quinoa, when eaten, can cause hallucinations.

Quinoa elongata is a plant that reaches a height of 20-110 cm. The leaves of the plant are green, narrow, triangular-oblong, elliptical or oval in shape. Green flowers form small clusters of inflorescences. Flowering period – June – July.

Coastal quinoa grows up to 70 cm. The trunk is bare, erect, branched with shoots directed upward. The leaves are green, oval or linear-oval, narrowed towards the base. The tips of the leaves are sharp, the edges are smooth, rarely jagged. The flowers form elongated spikelets, which in turn form paniculate inflorescences. Flowering period – July – August. The seeds are brown, bare, flattened. Coastal quinoa is eaten as a substitute for spinach. It’s easy to guess from the name where coastal quinoa grows. Habitat: sea sandy shores.

Spreading quinoa has the following description. The height of the grass is 30-150 cm. The trunk is erect, faceted, branched. Quinoa is an annual plant. Root system rod. The lower row of leaves is unevenly rhombic or spear-shaped. The leaves, located alternately on the stems, are attached with the help of petioles, with smooth or jagged sides, elongated, green in color. The leaves of the branches are oval, narrowed, looking upward. Green flowers form spikelet inflorescences. Flowering period – June – July. The seeds are small, flattened, black in color. spreading quinoa It is not only a forage plant, but also a food plant.

Quinoa is a plant that many gardeners consider a useless weed. They are trying to clear their area of ​​it. They will probably be surprised to learn that this inconspicuous herb has many beneficial properties and is even used in cooking.

Spreading quinoa: description

This is a herbaceous annual plant belonging to the amaranth family (genus - quinoa). It can be from 15 to 80 cm in height. The leaves are alternate, the middle and lower ones have a diamond-lanceolate shape and jagged edges. The upper leaves are entire, sessile, without ears.

Quinoa flowers are small, inconspicuous, collected in small balls. These are the apical inflorescences. They have five petals, which sometimes grow together. Sometimes the perianth is missing and is replaced by a triangular bract. Spreading quinoa has dioecious but monoecious flowers with five stamens. branched. The root penetrates deep into the subsoil layer.

The fruit is dry, single-seeded, and may be enclosed in bracts. Spreading quinoa blooms from June to mid-September. The fruits appear in August.

Spreading

Spreading quinoa is widely represented in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and is found in China. In our country, it grows in almost all territories except the Far North. Spreading quinoa has taken root and in North America. She prefers cultivated areas, areas near farms, vegetable gardens and orchards. You can often find this plant along the roadsides.

Chemical composition

Spreading quinoa is especially rich in nutrients during the flowering period. In the above-ground parts of the plant the following were found:

Spreading quinoa: beneficial properties and description of medicinal compositions

Spreading quinoa medicinal properties which has been known since ancient times, has been successfully used in folk medicine. Lotions and poultices are prepared from it to heal ulcers, wounds, and skin inflammations. Quinoa helps normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, relieve debilitating dry cough, headaches, cure jaundice and forget about stomach colic. Quinoa infusion is used for thrush and long, heavy menstruation.

Quinoa juice (for worms)

To get fresh juice, you will need young, non-hardened quinoa stems and leaves. Pass them through a meat grinder or grind with a blender. The resulting mass must be squeezed through gauze folded in several layers. It is recommended to take the resulting juice half an hour before meals, one tablespoon (tablespoon) three times a day.

Decoction for gout

This composition is prepared quickly and easily. You will need quinoa spreading - two tablespoons (dry and crushed leaves). Fill them with 0.1 liters of boiling water. Place the mixture on low heat for fifteen minutes. Now you need to strain the broth and bring the resulting amount of liquid with boiling water to the initial volume. This decoction should be taken before meals, a tablespoon three times a day.

Decoction for thrush

Thirty grams of finely chopped (fresh) herbs pour 250 ml of water, place the container on low heat for about twenty minutes. Squeeze out the raw materials, and add 500 ml of boiling water to the resulting broth. Cool and use for douching (twice a day).

Decoction for stomatitis

Grind three teaspoons of dry herb to a powder. Pour 300 ml of boiling water over it and set aside for an hour in a tightly closed saucepan to allow the broth to infuse. Then the composition can be strained, and the grass can be squeezed out. The decoction should be rinsed in the mouth in the morning and evening.

Tea

Spreading quinoa is a unique plant. Its leaves can be used to make tea to help with cough. It will get rid of thick, difficult to separate sputum.

Use in cooking

Quinoa leaf salad is delicious and very healthy dish. It is recommended for people who are under stress or have diseases of the lungs and bronchi.

A delicious, nutritious porridge is prepared from fully ripened quinoa seeds, which tastes like semolina. In addition, flour is prepared from the seeds by first removing the impurities and grinding them. This flour is an excellent additive for baking bread.

Spreading quinoa is an excellent seasoning for main fish or meat courses. The leaves of the plant are well dried and then crushed.

Procurement of raw materials

In folk medicine, almost the entire plant is used: leaves, flowers, rough stems and seeds. Prepare medicines based on quinoa, you can use either a fresh plant or raw materials harvested in the summer. This should be done during the flowering period. They dry it like most medicinal herbs, under a canopy, in the air. You can use a well-ventilated room for this purpose. The seeds are collected as they ripen.

The green part of the plant, when dried, retains beneficial properties for a year, and seeds for three years.

Contraindications

All medicinal plants have certain contraindications. Quinoa in this sense is no exception.

  1. Medicines based on quinoa are not recommended for use by people suffering from cholelithiasis and urolithiasis.
  2. The salicylates contained in quinoa can cause bleeding in people with low blood clotting ability.
  3. Long-term, uncontrolled use of drugs based on this plant can aggravate chronic diseases of the intestines and stomach.

In conclusion, I would like to say that, despite the presence of many useful properties, spreading quinoa is not used in traditional medicine. It has quite serious contraindications, so do not start treatment without consulting your doctor, especially if you have chronic diseases.

Syn.: mari.

An annual semi-shrub monoecious plant with alternate leaves, covered, like the stem, with a powdery coating. It is a valuable food product and is also widely used in folk medicine in some countries.

Ask the experts a question

Flower formula

The formula of the spreading quinoa flower is: *O2-5T2-5P(2-5).

In medicine

Quinoa is a plant that is not included in the domestic pharmacopoeia and is not used in Russian medicine. However, quinoa is a valuable food product, and its medicinal properties are used in folk medicine in different countries.

Quinoa is used for constipation as a laxative. It is an excellent vitaminizing and general strengthening agent for vitamin deficiency and scurvy. Helps with various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. When coughing, it has an antibacterial and expectorant effect.

Spreading quinoa greens are rich in mineral salts of calcium and iron, vegetable fats, valuable protein, carbohydrates, vitamins PP and C. Infusion, as well as decoctions prepared from the aerial part of the plant, are successfully used as an antibacterial, expectorant, and diuretic. Quinoa has carminative and sedative properties; the fresh greens of the plant are natural remedy cleansing the liver, gallbladder and gastrointestinal tract from toxins and waste.

An infusion of fresh or dried quinoa will help cure sore throat, and can also be used topically in the form of lotions for skin diseases accompanied by itching. Poultices made from quinoa leaves are an excellent remedy against gout and hemorrhoids, and some people treat with a decoction gynecological diseases and constipation.

Contraindications and side effects

It must be remembered that abuse of this plant as a food product can cause diseases of the digestive system and nervous system. Also, quinoa should not be eaten by people suffering from urolithiasis and cholelithiasis.

In cosmetology

The beneficial properties of quinoa can be used in home cosmetology. Having antibacterial, anti-inflammatory properties, and providing a vitaminizing effect on the skin, quinoa can be used for washing and bathing. Leaves are suitable for this. Prepare an infusion of 4 tablespoons of dry leaves per 1 liter of boiled water.

In cooking

Quinoa is undoubtedly one of the most widely known edible plants. It has almost no pronounced taste, only slightly salty when raw. Therefore, it can be added to various dishes in a sufficiently large quantities. In the old days, it helped people out during periods of famine, crop failure, and lack of food; peasants and city dwellers widely used it in their diet. Quinoa was ground into flour and bread was baked from it along with rye flour. From its mature seeds they prepared a nutritious, delicious porridge with the addition of milk, they cooked cabbage soup from fresh quinoa and sorrel, often using it instead of cabbage.

Nowadays, quinoa can find wide use as a useful vitamin and mineral supplement to dietary, lean and everyday nutrition. Scrambled eggs with finely chopped quinoa are almost a delicacy. Chopped young quinoa herb with onion, boiled egg and butter Perfect for filling dumplings, dumplings, pies, pies, quite plausibly resembling meat in them. Quinoa can be prepared for the winter by fermentation.

Young leaves of quinoa are extremely useful in fresh to prepare a wide variety of salads, it is used not only as an additive to main vegetables and other ingredients, but also as a main component. You can dress salads vegetable oil, sour cream, mayonnaise, various sauces. Such fresh herb salads are a wonderful vitamin supplement, especially indispensable in the spring. Quinoa is added to various soups, main courses with vegetables and meat. A puree is made from scalded (blanched) quinoa leaves. Currently, it can be used in vegetable smoothies, gazpacho and other dishes where a blender and raw vegetables. As a valuable nutritious plant, quinoa is widely known to the peoples of the Caucasus, where it was previously considered a delicious food product.

Classification

Spreading quinoa (lat. Atriplex patula) - a type of herbaceous annual plants genus Quinoa (lat. Atriplex) of the family Chenopodiaceae (lat. Chenopodiaceae).

Botanical description

Spreading quinoa (lat. Atriplex patula) - a plant with tap root. The stem is from 30 to 100 cm high, bare, straight, branched, with horizontally spaced or upwardly directed branches. The leaves are green, single-colored on both sides, thin, hanging down, with a short petiole; the lower ones are opposite with a spear-shaped base, the blades of which are directed obliquely upward, broadly wedge-shaped or almost lanceolate, unequally toothed or entire; in the rest of the stem - alternate, lanceolate, with a very short point at the top, sometimes with small lobes at the base, almost always entire. Flowers in dense spike-shaped inflorescences; staminates are mostly five-membered; The bracts of the fruit are ovate- or lance-shaped-rhombic, fused to the upper border. The seed is vertical. It blooms in June-July, bears fruit in September until mid-October.

Spreading

Spreading quinoa, except in the Far North, is widespread throughout Russia. Its distribution area covers Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and is widespread in China. The plant has naturalized and taken root in North America.

The plant prefers vegetable gardens, orchards, cultivated areas, and areas near farms. Often grows along roads where in the best possible way its seeds are spreading.

Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.

Procurement of raw materials

Medicinal raw materials serves as grass (leaves, rough stems, flowers, seeds). It is used fresh and dried. Quinoa grass is harvested during flowering. Air dry under a canopy in the shade. The seeds are collected as they ripen. The shelf life of grass is 1 year, seeds - 3 years.

As a food plant, quinoa is harvested before flowering, when it is still young, juicy and not hardened. You can also collect its parts for food and later - the young tops of the plant without flowers.

Chemical composition

The above-ground parts of the plant are especially rich in valuable substances during the flowering period. They contain saponins, betaine, ascorbic acid, carotene, essential oil, rutin, up to 30% proteins, a lot of fiber and mineral salts.

Pharmacological properties

Quinoa is not a pharmacopoeial plant and is not used in domestic official medicine, but is widely used in folk practices.

Use in folk medicine

In folk medicine, the plant is used as an infusion for gout, hemorrhoids, itchy skin, jaundice, scanty menstruation and leucorrhoea, and as a painkiller for stomach colic. For dry and chronic coughs, it is used as an expectorant. As part of the preparations, the plant is used for benign tumors. Used during childbirth (to facilitate the release of the baby's place).

Since the leaves exhibit antibacterial activity, they are applied fresh to wounds.

Freshly crushed grass is effective means when treating a festering nail bed, it pulls out splinters; quinoa leaves are also applied to the ulcers.

Externally, the infusion of the herb is used to gargle for sore throats and for washing and lotions for itchy skin.

Abroad, the plant is used in the form of plasters, liniments, and decoctions for benign and malignant tumors larynx and other organs.

Quinoa spreading is used for amenorrhea, jaundice, lung diseases, the leaves are used as a hemostatic and diuretic, they also help with scrofula, the treatment of tumors, calluses. In the form of tea, quinoa leaves are used for coughs, thick sputum that is difficult to clear, and hoarseness. In addition, they can be used for hysteria. Fresh leaves and dry grass of the spreading quinoa are used for hypovitaminosis, scurvy, as a general tonic.

It is necessary to recall that pollen from quinoa flowers is one of the strongest allergens in our climate zone.

Historical background

As a food plant, quinoa has been known since ancient times. Until the 19th century, it was specially bred in gardens and sown with it. large plots, along with cereal crops. According to Vasmer's etymological dictionary, the Russian name possibly comes from the white spots on the leaves and goes back to the word "swan" and the Latin albus, meaning "white". It is noteworthy that Russian word"balanda" is borrowed from the Lithuanian language, where the word "balanda" means "quinoa". Hippocrates and Galen also recommended the use of quinoa for constipation and rickets in children. Already in the works of Pliny the Latin name of the plant is found.

Literature

1. V.P. Makhlayuk “Medicinal plants in folk medicine” M.: Niva Rossii, 1992

2. A. L. Budantsev, E. E. Lesiovskaya. Wild growing useful plants Russia. - St. Petersburg: SPHFA, 2001 - 663 p.

3. Pastushenkov L.V. Medicinal plants. Use in folk medicine and everyday life. - St. Petersburg: BVH-Peterberg, 2012 - 432 p.

4. Baranov A. A., Levitsky S. V. - Encyclopedia of medicinal plants. - St. Petersburg: “DilyaPublishing”, 2011. - 480 p.

5. Lavrenova G.V., Lavrenov V.K. - Encyclopedia medicinal plants. Volume 1 - Donetsk, “Donetsk region”, 1996. - 656 p.

6. Edible medicinal plants of the Caucasus: Directory. Rostov n/a: Rostov University Publishing House. Ed. N. G. Vorobyova. - 1989. − 464 p.