Dyeing woad - benefits and harms. Woad dye in antiquity and the modern world

Dying woad (popularly Dyer's woad, blue grass, krutik, usma, etc.) is a biennial herbaceous plant of the Cruciferous family. It grows on dry slopes and hills, in the steppes, sometimes in forests in Europe and Asia, as well as North America and other countries where it was imported and settled down. It is a valuable honey plant, as it blooms relatively early compared to many other honey plants. Sometimes clogs cultural plantings.

Some gardeners grow woad as a background plant in flower beds. Dyeing woad is widely used in folk medicine and natural cosmetology, it is approved for use as a biologically active substance. active additive. From the seeds of dyer's woad is obtained fatty oil, reminiscent of the composition of linen. Also, this plant is used to dye wool blue-blue.

Description and preparation

Woad dyer has a rutaboid-shaped root that goes deep into the ground, an upright stem with hard hairs, reaching up to 1 meter in height, bluish-green leaves - lanceolate basal and arrow-shaped sessile stem. In May-June, the plant blooms with small yellow flowers collected in a rare paniculate or corymbose inflorescence. In the second year of the plant's life, in June-July, woad fruits ripen - black small pods with one seed.
Leaves, roots, and sometimes flowers and seeds of dyer's woad are used as medicinal raw materials in folk medicine. The leaf is harvested from May to September: the leaves are cut and dried on fresh air in the shade or in a well-ventilated area.

The roots are harvested in autumn - in October-November: they dig up, cut off the stem, wash the root, cut into plates and dry in a well-ventilated room or an electric dryer. The dried root is ground into a powder. The flowers are harvested during the flowering of dyer's woad. Dried roots and leaves are stored for two years, flowers - one year.

Chemical composition and properties

Woad dye contains: flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, nitrogen-containing compounds, vitamins and dyes. The roots are also rich in thioglycosides. The seeds of dyer's woad contain fatty oil. Due to its composition, the plant has: antiviral, antimicrobial, antibacterial, antibiotic and antiseptic effects. Currently being researched antitumor properties plants.
In folk medicine, dyeing woad is used for:

  • upper respiratory tract infections;
  • flu
  • abscess in the throat and lungs;
  • salivary gland infections;
  • chickenpox;

  • herpes;
  • measles;
  • meningitis;
  • encephalitis;
  • mumps;
  • enteritis;
  • intestinal disorders;
  • dysentery;
  • typhus;
  • hepatitis;
  • diseases of the spleen;
  • dermatitis, shingles, furunculosis, wounds, ulcers.

Recipes

Infusion:

  • 50 g leaves or flowers of dyer's woad;
  • 200 ml of boiling water.

Pour the vegetable raw materials with boiling water, boil in a water bath for 15 minutes, and then remove from the bath and let it brew for 45 minutes. Strain. Drink 1/3 cup three times a day after or with meals.
Tea:

  • 100 g of dyer's woad flowers;
  • 200 g of boiling water.

Pour boiling water over the flowers, cover the container with the mixture with a lid and let it brew for 20 minutes. Drink as well as infusion three times a day.

Root decoction:

  • 50 g of crushed woad root;
  • 250 ml of boiling water.

Pour boiling water over the woad root and boil in a water bath for half an hour. Then let it cool down a little (10 minutes) without removing it from the bath and strain. Drink a third of a glass 3-4 times a day. Also, a decoction can be used externally in the form of washings and lotions for skin diseases.
Decoction for epidemic meningitis:

  • 60 g of crushed woad root;
  • 200 ml of water.

Cover the roots with water, bring to a boil and boil until half of the liquid has evaporated. Strain. Drink at a time or divide into two doses - in the morning and in the evening.
Infusion to improve vision:

  • 1 tsp dyer's woad seeds;
  • 1/3 st. boiling water.

Pour the seeds with boiling water, wrap the container with the infusion with something warm and let it brew until it cools. Strain the infusion. Instill 1-2 drops in each eye 2-3 times a day. Also to improve vision juice from fresh leaves woads lubricate the eyelids 2-4 times a day.

In cosmetology, juice and powder from the leaves of dyer's woad are used to color eyelashes and eyebrows. In addition to the coloring effect, this plant has a healing effect: it relieves inflammation and stimulates hair growth. To get a result Fresh Juice woad leaves are rubbed for 15 minutes into the eyebrows and eyelashes. Also this method also used to strengthen hair.

Contraindications

Woad dye is contraindicated:

  • children;
  • pregnant and lactating women.

Woad should be taken with caution when:

  • diabetes
  • hemorrhagic disorders;
  • undergoing anticoagulant therapy.

Dyeing woad has practically no contraindications, but before using it in medicinal purposes However, it is recommended to consult with your doctor.

A well-known antipyretic in China. It has antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic effect.
Removes toxins. Highly effective in the acute phase respiratory diseases (heat, headache, sore throat, body rash, etc.).

Indications

Method of use

0.5 to 1 sachet 3 times a day. For children and debilitated patients, the dose is reduced by half. Dissolve the contents of the package in boiling water and allow to cool to room temperature. Duration of admission - 3-5 days.

Peculiarities:
During the period of taking the drug, it is not recommended to smoke, drink alcohol, spicy, bitter, cold, raw, fatty foods. It is ineffective with abundant transparent mucous discharge from the nose.

Contraindications

Individual intolerance to the components of the product, pregnancy, lactation. Before use, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

1. The doses of drugs given in the text are the average therapeutic doses for adults. For elderly and weakened people, the dose of the drug should be less - from 1/2 to 1/4 of the therapeutic dose (depending on the severity of the disease). The dose should be increased gradually.

2. Preparations in the form of powders and pills are washed down with warm boiled water. Extracts must be dissolved in a small amount warm boiled water.

3. Elixirs and decoctions must be shaken before use.

4. Children and people suffering from severe chronic diseases, to prescribe drugs, you should consult a doctor.

Lee West products in elite sports

Preparations of traditional Chinese medicine, due to its powerful adaptogenic properties and natural composition are of great interest to sports medicine. Physical improvement in many sports depends on the rate of recovery of the athlete's body, on his ability to adapt to the volume and intensity of loads, as well as to climatic and geophysical factors. More than 25 drugs presented by Lee West have been certified for the absence of doping components in their composition. Many of them were used in the preparation Russian athletes to XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and are now used in elite sports.

Source of information - Lee West company materials

Certificate of state registration No. 77.99.23.9.U.6063.6.09
Declaration of Conformity No. ROSS CN.AE96.D05190
Certificate of Conformity No. ROSS RU.DP.3716.P.CN.0032

Botanical characteristic

Woad dye, in translation - Isatis tinctoria, its other names are dye grass, krutik, chenille, usma, farbovnik, sharnik-grass. Belongs to the category of biennial plants. At the same time, in the first year it forms a rosette of rather large leaves, and only in the second year does a stem grow ending in flowers, the height of which varies from sixty to one hundred and twenty centimeters.

The flowers of the dye grass are yellow in color, their petals are up to five millimeters long. The plant blooms in May or early June. It bears fruit until July. The fruit is an ordinary naked pod, a little less than a centimeter long. Seeds are slightly yellowish, arranged one at a time.

Spreading

This plant grows in southern countries, but also feels good in middle latitudes. It can be seen in the Caucasus, in Asia, it is also in many European countries and in North Africa.

In Russia, it is mainly found in the European part, it also grows in Siberia, the North Caucasus and Dagestan.

Used part

This plant uses the root part, juice and seeds. Concerning chemical composition, then we can note the presence of substances such as indican, synegrin, as well as indoxyl five-ketogluconic acid.

Collection of raw materials and their preparation

In order to prepare the roots, you must wait autumn period, and you can carefully dig them out, after which they are shaken off adhering soil particles and washed under running water, then they can be dried with a paper towel, since the presence of liquid can provoke decay.

When the root is dried, it is cut into small plates and placed on a pallet in a thin layer, and placed in a ventilated place, the raw material must be constantly turned over so that moldy fungus does not appear.

If you want to better prepare raw materials, then use an automated dryer, it supports required temperature, which will help to quickly bring the roots to the desired condition.

The optimal temperature for drying is fifty degrees. Seeds appear only in the second year of growth of the farbovnik. They are used for medicinal purposes in winter time, when you can not get the juice of the krutik.

Growing a plant

This plant is cold-resistant, easily tolerates frosts in both autumn and spring. Drought resistant. Not demanding on the soil, but top scores gives when grown on chernozem soil. Reproduction occurs by seed.

Application of dyeing woad

This plant is not used by official medicine, but traditional healers actively use sharnik - grass with many pathological conditions that occur in the human body.

The decoction is actively used in China, it is used in influenza epidemics, meningitis, encephalitis, hepatitis and. The juice well stimulates hair growth, has a coloring property, and makes the eyebrows and eyelashes of the fair sex darker and more saturated.

Recipes

You can use this recipe. You need to gently squeeze the juice from the leaves, this can be done with a meat grinder, or you can use a regular mortar and pestle, after which the raw materials must be placed in a gauze bag and squeezed.

After the juice is ready, they are recommended to treat the eyelid area up to four times a day. For two years of such procedures, you can even get rid of glasses. Of course, in this case, it does not hurt to first consult a qualified ophthalmologist.

For the same purpose, you can prepare infusion. You will need a teaspoon of seeds, which are recommended to be poured with 70 milliliters of boiling water, then the drug should stand a little, thirty minutes is enough, after which it is filtered and can be instilled into the eyes twice a day, one drop each. Again, check with your ophthalmologist first.

At mumps prepare the next recipe. You will need sixty grams of root, which is filled with water and placed on water bath. After a while, the broth is removed from the stove, allowed to cool and filtered through a fine sieve, after which it is recommended to drink it in one go.

Traditional medicine recommends preparing the following recipe. You will need sixty grams of pre-crushed woad roots, which are recommended to be placed in a vessel, after which you need to add 200 milliliters of hot water there.

Then it is recommended to place the container in a water bath, while the fire should be minimal, and boil down a little until the broth remains in the amount of one hundred milliliters. You need to drink it at one time, or divide it into two equal parts, and use it in the morning and in the evening when epidemic meningitis occurs.

Conclusion

Before using the above folk recipes, it is recommended to consult a qualified physician. If any symptoms appear, the first thing you should always seek help from a doctor, it is unnecessary to treat the diseases that have arisen on your own, as this can aggravate the existing situation.

Woad dye

The genus Vaida of the Cabbage or Cruciferous family, 60-120 cm high.

The earliest honey plant. Flowers provide bees with nectar and pollen. Bees willingly visit Vaida; a hectare of woad can produce over 30 kg of sugar in the nectar.

Woad dye

The plant was widely cultivated in Europe for its blue dye. The leaves have long been used to dye wool blue and green colors. Dyeing woad was especially valued in the handicraft production of carpets, when only natural dyes were used. For this, it was bred in the fields. V. I. Dal pointed out: “Waida replaces our vat paint, indigo.”

Fresh juice is obtained from slightly dried leaves and used as cosmetic product. They decorate eyebrows, eyelashes, eyelids, thickly applying each time after a slight drying. This natural dye relieve infections of the eyelids and eyes, stimulates the growth of hairs and the density of eyelashes.

Oil was pressed from the fruits, resembling linseed in properties.

Woad dye

Woad dyer is cultivated in China as a medicinal plant used by the Chinese folk medicine. Leaf (lat. Folium isatidis) and root (Radix isatidis) Woads are used in official medicine China in the form of teas and decoctions for various inflammatory and colds and included in the State Pharmacopoeia of China (Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2005), Vol. 1).

In addition, modern scientists have proven that dyed woad contains a substance that can have a powerful antitumor effect when oncological diseases. However, doctors warn that self-medication is contraindicated. At risk are pregnant women and people suffering from diabetes. Therefore, taking medicines from a miraculous plant should be agreed with your doctor.

Woad dye

The peculiar shape of the leaves and fruits gives Vaida the qualities of an ornamental plant.

Blooms profusely from the second decade of May to mid-June (25–30 days). It grows in one place for 3-4 years. In the first year it forms a rosette of leaves, in the second year it blooms and bears fruit.

Blooms in May-June. Fruiting in June-July.

Cold-resistant plant, tolerates spring and autumn frosts. It is steady against summer droughts, it is a little exacting to the soil. Good results gives when sowing it on black soil.

Landing: The seeding depth is 3-4 cm. Seeds begin to germinate at a soil temperature of 3-5 C. best temperature germination-10-20C.

Woad can be sown both in spring and summer, both without cover and under cover (oat-pea mixture, Sudanese grass, etc.). less than 200C.

In conditions Rostov region are the months of August-September.

To the north - you can sow in August - July.

A rosette appeared this year, which means that Vaida will bloom next year.

Seedlings appear during spring sowing on 5-7 days, during summer sowing on 8-12 days.

Other names: usma, krutik, chenille, farbovnik, dye grass, sharnik-grass.

Botanical reference

Woad dye - the name of a biennial herbaceous plant cruciferous family (Brassicaceae, Cruciferae). It reaches a height of up to 100 cm. Woad dye has sharp, oblong-lanceolate, hairy, entire or notched basal leaves; the upper and middle leaves are linear, narrowly swept. woad petals yellow color, small (3-4.5 mm), inflorescence rare, paniculate, with small yellow flowers. Bare oblong pods are 13-16 mm long and 3-4 mm wide.

Usma blooms in May-June, fruits ripen in July-August.

Wild usma grows in oak groves, forests, steppes, on river banks and sandbanks. The distribution area of ​​​​the plant covers many countries of Europe, Western and Central Asia, North Africa. Woad dye can be found in the Caucasus (in Armenia, Dagestan), in the European part of Russia and in Eastern Siberia.

Almost all parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes: leaves, inflorescences, roots, seeds.

Chemical composition

The roots of dye woad contain thioglycosides, which contain sulfur. The aerial part of the plant is rich in vitamins and saponins. Indigoid dyes (indigotin) contain usma leaves and flowers. The seeds are rich in fatty oil, carbohydrates and alkaloids. The fatty acid composition of the oil includes linoleic, palmitic, oleic, erucic, linolenic, arachidic, stearic, eicosadienoic, eicosenoic and lignoceric acids.

Indican and sinegrin were found in the roots. During hydrolysis, indican decomposes into glucose and indoxyl.

For medicinal purposes, dyer's woad is used due to its excellent antibacterial properties.

The aerial part of the plant is popularly used for cooking healing decoctions and tinctures. They are used for a wide variety of ailments and ailments: colds, diseases of the spleen, infectious diseases(for measles), as laxatives and stimulants for vomiting (for poisoning).

practices Tibetan medicine Usma is used to fight Escherichia coli and typhoid coli, causative agents of dysentery.

Dyeing woad is also used for oncological diseases.

Since dyer's woad is a toxic plant, it is not used in official medicine. And yet, in China it is grown as medicinal plant- a decoction of the roots or an infusion of the aerial part of the dyer's woad is recommended for the treatment of epidemic meningitis and encephalitis, mumps, sore throat and acute hepatitis. Means based on woad are also used externally: they treat sore throat, tumors, boils, wounds, ulcers and ringworm. Simultaneous indoor and outdoor reception is also possible.

Fatty oil is made from the seeds of dyeing woad, the composition of which is close to that of flaxseed, so in some cases it can be used as a substitute for it.

In the East, usma is used in cosmetic purposes many hundreds of years. Freshly squeezed juice and usma oil are applied to hair, eyebrows and eyelashes to increase their density. Juice is obtained in the process of cold pressing the leaves of dyer's woad. With the help of further processing, the juice turns into oil - it is the oily fraction contained in the product that will stimulate active growth hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. In addition, the oil has a much longer shelf life. Another difference between oil and usma juice is that it does not stain the skin and hair.

Freshly squeezed juice of dyer's woad has a bright green color, but it quickly becomes cloudy and becomes black with an emerald tint. This liquid is used to color eyebrows, eyelashes and eyelids, applying a thick layer about every two hours (after drying). natural paint not only relieves eye infections, but also increases the density of eyelashes and eyebrows, thickening the hairs and giving them shine. Hair is also treated with usma juice, however, due to its coloring properties, it is suitable only for owners of dark curls.

Usma oil - effective natural stimulant growth of hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, does not stain the hairs. Already after a few applications, there is a significant improvement in the condition of thin and sparse hairs: they become longer, thicker and stronger. Usma oil is also applied to areas of the scalp with the minimum amount hair to increase its density. It is also added to masks and oil mixtures designed to eliminate hair loss, as well as to enhance their growth. These tools not only improve appearance hair, but also make them less susceptible to external damage.

miraculous properties Usma were discovered several centuries ago. In Central Asia, an increased density of eyebrows, which could grow together on the bridge of the nose, was considered a sign of special beauty. The girls painted on their eyebrows with usma juice so that they converged in one line. Thanks to the stimulating effect of usma, hairs really began to grow on the skin stained with juice.

To apply usma oil for eyebrows and eyelashes, you can use a clean mascara brush or cotton swab. Best applied this remedy every day before bed. In the morning, its remnants are removed cotton swab. It is necessary to ensure that the oil does not get into the eyes, however, it is recommended to apply it close enough to the roots of the cilia.

Eyebrows can be oiled completely or only in those areas where the hairs grow more slowly. Usma oil can be mixed with other oils, for example, castor or burdock.

For curative care for hair loss, usma oil is applied in a course (1 month, every day). IN preventive purposes it is used for a month three times a week.