The medicinal plant called radiola rosea has been known in folk medicine for several centuries. The healing properties of the pink or golden root, as radiola is also called, are also recognized by official medicine; at present, preparations based on this unique plant are widely used to treat various diseases.
Description
The rhizome of the radiola is pink bronze-gold in color, which is why it is commonly called the golden root. The plant has unbranched erect stems, the height of which does not exceed 40 cm. Usually the radiola grows in groups of 10-15 units, but single specimens can occasionally be found. The root is thick and fleshy. Leaves ellipsoid
shape, alternate, sessile, lanceolate or oblong-ovate, wedge-shaped at the base. The top of the leaf is palmate-toothed. Inflorescences are corymbose, many-flowered with unisexual small flowers of yellow or greenish color. Fruits about 8 mm long in the form of an upright leaflet withshort nose at the top. Pink radiola blooms in mid-summer, and its fruits ripen by September. The golden root propagates by seeds and vegetatively. It is not particularly demanding on heat and light, but is dependent on moisture.
The Carpathians, Polar Yakutia, the Urals, the mountains of Eastern and Southern Siberia, the Far East, the Altai mountains - these are the places where you can find this healing plant. It usually settles on the banks of mountain rivers, on stony placers and on grassy slopes. For the first time, some medicinal properties of radiola rosea were described by the ancient Roman physician and pharmacologist Pedanius Dioskrid. This plant was especially honored in Tibet: it was believed that a person who found a golden root would be happy and he althy for two centuries, and in China they believe that radiola prolongs life.
Use of golden root in medicine
For the treatment of diseases of the nervous system, an alcohol extract from the roots and rhizomes of the plant is used. Their collection is carried out when the pink radiola begins to bear fruit. Dry the roots in dryers at a temperature of about 60 ° C. A 40% alcohol extract has a stimulating and adaptogenic effect, similar to the effect of drugs on ginseng and eleutherococcus, but it can also increase blood pressure. Rhodiola roots and rhizomes contain glycoside radioloside, tyrosol, tannins, carbohydrates (glucose, sucrose), acids (citric, malic, gallic, oxalic, succinic), essential oils, anthraglycosides, lactones, flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, isoquercetin, hyperazide), lipids and sterols. Aboveground partthe plant is used to make lotions and decoctions that are used to treat trachoma. Rhodiola rhizomes are used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary tuberculosis, various fractures, skin diseases, and also as an antipyretic and general tonic. Ointments and lotions from radiola rosea treat skin rashes, inflamed wounds, conjunctivitis and abscesses. The juice from the rhizomes of the plant is good for wound healing and effectively helps with jaundice. In addition, pink radiol is able to increase physical and mental performance, helps fight stress and overload. It should be noted that drugs from the rhizomes of the plant increase blood pressure, therefore, they are contraindicated in hypertensive patients.
