Introduction.

The importance of a full and rational diet for both a healthy and a sick person is currently beyond doubt. This diet is based on the intake of various food products in such quantities that cover the body's need for the necessary energy and basic nutrients: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements and water. Proper diet ensures that the body uses all these substances. The source of nutrients can be products of both animal and vegetable origin, and the latter are the main supplier of carbohydrates (in the form of complex polysaccharides, starches or simpler compounds - sugars), vitamins, flavoring, aromatic substances, etc.

Further study of the properties of plant products will allow them to be widely used in the treatment of various diseases. So white cabbage juice has a variety of healing properties due to the high content of ascorbic acid, B vitamins, cobalt, copper, zinc, magnesium, calcium, potassium and especially phosphorus. 16 amino acids and vitamin found in juice U , which promotes the healing of stomach ulcers, as well as tartronic acid, which has the ability to prevent obesity.

The value of food plants.

Vegetable products are a valuable source of minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, etc.) and trace elements (iodine, copper, cobalt, etc.), which are necessary for the implementation of the most important biological and physiological processes that underlie life organism. Minerals and trace elements are an integral part of the protoplasm of the cell, maintain its physiological state, regulate osmotic pressure and acid-base balance in the body. Deficiency of minerals, as well as their excess, can lead to significant functional disorders in the body.

Plant foods also contain phytoncides, an oxidizing agent

nye enzymes, essential oils, vitamins. Water soluble vitamins (B 1 , B 2 , B 6 , C, PP) contained in plants are physiologically active complex organic substances, which, participating in the construction of enzymes, play an important role in the interaction with minerals and amino acids. With a lack of these vitamins, the function of cellular enzymes and metabolism are disturbed.

With vegetable food, so-called flavoring and aromatic substances enter the human body, which, as a rule, do not have great nutritional value and are added to give the food a peculiar taste and aroma. These substances not only stimulate appetite, but also affect the secretion of the digestive glands, improve digestion. To aromatic

substances include essential oils contained in many plants (especially a lot of them in spices). Essential oils inhibit fermentation processes in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulate metabolism, secretion of salivary glands and glands.

gastrointestinal tract. Aromatic substances have

bactericidal action due to the release of phytoncides (onion,

garlic, radish, etc.). The high vitamin content makes these

products valuable for both healthy and sick people.

Plants are especially rich in vitamins in spring. For example, nettles in early spring contain more ascorbic acid than oranges and lemons, and carotene as much as carrots; 20 g of nettle cover the body's daily requirement for vitamin K.

Plant products are eaten raw or after cooking, in the form of additives and seasonings. Raw vegetables containing a small amount of sodium chloride are used in fasting days. Such food not only has a diuretic effect with a tendency to edema, but also contributes to the minimum requirement of the body for water and thereby reduces the feeling of thirst. Vitamins, phytoncides, oxidative enzymes that stimulate digestion processes are preserved in raw plant products. Raw plant foods also have immune properties. When cooking vegetables, essential oils and trace elements pass into a decoction (often not used) along with other active substances.

Food plant classification.

1. family Actinidiae (Actinidiaceae)

actinidia acute ( Actinidia) or kishmish

actinidia kolomikta ( Actinidia colomicta) or raisins

2. Aster family ( Asteraceae)

sowing artichoke ( Cynara scolymus)

annual sunflower ( Helianthus annuus)

lettuce (Lactuca sativa)

3. banana family ( Musaceae)

banana cultural ( Musa paradisiaca)

4. family Barberry ( Berberidaceae)

common barberry ( Berberis vulgaris)

5. the legume family ( fabaceae)

groundnut (Arachis hypogaea)

common beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris)

6. bromeliad family ( Bromeliaceae)

real pineapple ( Ananas comosus)

7. heather family ( Ericaceae)

lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum)

swamp cranberry ( Oxycoccus palustris)

blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)

8. grape family ( Vitaceae)

cultivated grapes ( Vitis vinifera)

9. family Pomegranate ( Punicaceae)

pomegranate (Punica granatum)

10. buckwheat family ( polygonaceae)

sowing buckwheat ( Fagopyrum sagittatum)

sorrel sour (Rumex acetosa)

11. Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae)

common viburnum ( Viburnum opulus)

12. family Cereals ( gramineae)

oats (Avena sativa)

common barley ( Hordeum vulgare)

13. Saxifrage family ( Saxifragaceae)

cultivated gooseberry ( Grossularia reclinata)

Red currants ( Ribes rubrum)

black currant ( Ribes nigrum)

14. cabbage family ( Brassicaceae)

swede (Brassica napus rapifera)

mustard sarepta ( Brassica juncea)

bed bug or watercress ( Lepidium sativum)

garden turnip (Brassica rapa)

radish seed ( Raphanus sativus)

common horseradish ( Armoracia rusticana)

15. laurel family ( Lauraceae)

American avocado ( persea americana)

noble laurel ( Laurus nobilis)

16. Liliaceae family ( Liliaceae)

onion (Allium cepa)

seed garlic ( Allium sativum)

17. the Marev family ( Chenopodiaceae)

beetroot ( beta vulgaris)

garden spinach ( Spinacea oleracea)

18. family Rubiaceae ( rubiaceae)

coffee tree or coffee ( Coffea arabica)

19. myrtle family ( myrtaceae)

feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana)

20 . nut family ( Juglandaceae)

walnut (Juglans regia)

21 .family Solanaceae ( solanaceae)

eggplant (Solanum melongena)

potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)

edible tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum)

22. family Rosaceae (Rosaceae)

common apricot (Armeniaca vulgaris)

quince (Cydonia oblonga)

cherry plum (Prunus divaricata)

common cherry (Cerasus vulgaris)

common pear (Pyrus communis)

gray blackberry (Rubus caesius)

wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

round-leaved shadberry (Amelanchier rotundifolia)

common raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

common peach (Persica vulgaris)

mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia)

walrus (Rubus chamenorus)

common almond (Amygdalus communis)

blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

cherry (Cerasus avium)

domestic apple tree (Malus domestica)

23. family Rutaceae (Rutaceae)

sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)

grapefruit (Citrus paradisii)

common lemon (Citrus limon)

Japanese mandarin (Citrus inschiu)

24. Celery family (Apiaceae)

carrot (Daucus sativus)

curly parsley (Petioselinum crispum)

with e fragrant iceberg (Apium graveolen)

cumin (Carum carvi)

fennel (Anethum graveolens)

25. family Sterculiaceae

chocolate cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)

26. Mulberry family (Moraceae)

garden fig (Ficus carica)

white and black mulberry (Morus alba et morus nigra)

27. family. Cucurbitaceae (Cucurbitaceae)

common watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris)

common melon (cucumis melo)

cucumber (cucumis sativus)

28. Lamiaceae family

common basil (ocimus basilicum vulgaris)

Plant-based diets for certain diseases

With the help of a plant-based diet, numerous metabolic disorders can be partially corrected. So in patients with heart failure, there may be a shift in metabolic processes towards acidosis, the ratio of potassium and calcium ions in the body, water-salt metabolism is disturbed. Plant foods that affect the reaction of urine in the direction of alkalosis include apples, bananas, beets, carrots, melons, potatoes, lemons, peaches, oranges, etc.

For obesity, low-calorie raw vegetables are recommended (turnips, carrots, tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers). Vegetables and greens, contributing to bowel movements, prevent the absorption of cholesterol and increase its excretion from the body. Boiled potatoes with a relatively low calorie content satisfies hunger well. Products with a high content of potassium (beets, pumpkin, raw apples) are recommended for hypertension.

With gout, uric acid diathesis, the so-called days are shown when the patient takes raw vegetables and salads and excludes foods rich in purine bases (sorrel, spinach, etc.) from the diet.

vegetables rich in oxalic acid (sorrel, spinach, beets, potatoes, beans, rhubarb, parsley).

In diabetes, plant foods rich in sugar are excluded.

The use of spicy food products for therapeutic purposes is based on the fact that due to their aroma, complex mixtures of odorous substances are created, some of which have bactericidal properties.

properties. There are over 150 different spice plants. The most popular are black pepper, nutmeg, ginger, wormwood, etc. Wormwood as a seasoning increases salivation, secretion of gastric juice, neutralizes the influence of fatty foods;

cloves have a therapeutic effect in diarrhea, liver diseases; ginger stimulates appetite and reduces flatulence; nutmeg is used as a diuretic; mint gives some sedative effect; hops and poppy have a hypnotic effect.

When prescribing herbal diet therapy, strict accounting and selection of products according to their chemical composition and biological value is necessary, since even vegetables belonging to the same species differ significantly in the composition of mineral salts and vitamins.

This should be taken into account especially when prescribing drugs at the same time, since, depending on the chemical structure, they can affect the disturbed metabolism in different ways and interact with herbal products.

Interaction of food plants with medicinal substances

The same way of introducing plant foods and pharmacological preparations, the similarity of their impact on certain parts of the metabolic cycle lead to the fact that they can either complement and enhance each other's action, or weaken or neutralize the mutual effect.

In addition, many medicines are predominantly derived from herbal products, which can also be added as food ingredients and condiments. In these cases, along with plant products, certain doses of the chemical that is part of the drugs enter the body. This must be taken into account when treating patients.

Interaction medicines and plant foods may be different. First of all, this concerns the pharmacokinetics of drugs, i.e. the influence of nutrients on the metabolism of drugs in the body, starting with the absorption of drugs and nutrients in the digestive tract, the passage of drugs through the digestive tract, etc.

This applies to medicines taken orally. The interaction of drugs and food plant products can occur not only with the oral route of administration, but also at the level of their transportation in the blood, biotransformation.

Finally, drug-food interactions can be pharmacodynamic in nature if the food contains pharmacologically active components.

Most of the substances that pollute the environment (air, soil) affect the activity of enzymes involved in the metabolism of drugs in the patient's body. A large number of exogenous chemicals enter the body with food, and the components of these substances sometimes do not differ from certain pharmacological agents.

Plant foods affect the duration of the stay of drugs in the intestines and the rate of their absorption into the blood. A diet rich in ballast substances (fiber) and often recommended for the prevention and treatment of metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases, affects the absorption of food and drugs. In particular, the absorption of drugs is affected by indigestible polysaccharides. So carboxymethyl cellulose prevents the absorption of digitoxin from the intestine, thereby reducing the acute toxicity of the drug. Methylcellulose delays the absorption of sodium salicylate and reduces the absorption of furradionine. This is due to the different speed of passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract and their removal from the body.

It is possible that indigestible polysaccharides enter into certain compounds with drugs, therefore, it is rational to prescribe most drugs intended for resorptive action on an empty stomach, i.e. in 30 min. before meals. In this case, a negative containing effect on the absorption of drugs and a possible interaction of drugs and a component of food will be excluded. So, food that changes the pH of gastric juice in the alkaline direction (most vegetables and fruits, with the exception of plums and cranberries) can lead to significant disruption of the drug resorption process and even cause their inactivation.

Most vegetable juices containing organic acids inactivate the action of drugs such as erythro-mycin, penicillin, and therefore these drugs are not recommended.

drink sour juices.

When taking iron supplements, you should avoid eating foods and foods that can limit its absorption (rice broth, rye bread from finely ground flour, tea tannins, vegetables with a high content of oxalate, etc.). ascorbic acid, on the contrary, promotes better absorption of iron from the intestine, which should be taken into account during therapy. In addition, it is better to prescribe iron preparations before meals in order to ensure their maximum absorption.

With the simultaneous intake of digitalis preparations and plant foods rich in tannins (rhubarb, spinach, etc.), insoluble precipitates may form, which reduces the therapeutic effect. The influence of wheat bran and some plant polysaccharides on the concentration of digoxin in blood plasma in healthy people has been established. After taking micro-

crystalline cellulose and wheat bran peak concentration

Plasma concentrations of digoxin are observed later than in control studies.

The use of a diet rich in cabbage and brussels asparagus significantly reduces plasma concentrations at the same time.

but taking antipyrine. The half-life of this drug is also reduced and the rate of its metabolism increases.

The interaction of drugs and foods, leading to a weakening of the effect of drugs, requires the exclusion of certain food components from the diet. So, when treating with anticoagulants, it is necessary to limit the diet of foods rich in vitamin K, since it is an anticoagulant.

anticoagulants (green vegetables, white cabbage, spinach, celery, carrots, tomatoes, etc.)

preparations of the tetracycline series form insoluble complexes with calcium-rich foods. Sulfur-containing drugs also form insoluble precipitates when interacting with iron and other heavy metal cations found in plant foods.

Vitamin B6, interacting with L-DOPA, reduces the plasma level of this drug below the therapeutic level, so patients taking it should avoid foods high in pyridoxine (walnuts, beans, etc.)

Thus, the available data indicate the important role of plant products not only in the rational nutrition of patients, but also in treatment, both dietary and in combination with pharmacological drugs.

Description of food plants

Pumpkin seeds– Semina Cucurbitae

Plant. Pumpkin ordinary - Cucurbita pepo, fam. Cucurbitaceae

An annual herbaceous plant. It is widely cultivated as food, fodder and a source of carotene.

Medicinal raw materials. Ripe pumpkin seeds, ripe pumpkin fruits fresh.

Chemical composition. Seeds contain up to 40% fatty oil, which includes triglycerides of palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids. The main pharmacologically active substance that determines the anthelmintic effect of pumpkin seeds is the amino compound cucurbitin, the content of which in seeds reaches 0.1–0.3%, depending on the pumpkin variety. Cucurbitin is a 3-amino-3-carboxypyrrolidine.

Application. From the peeled seeds have long been prepared ex tempore emulsion, which is used to treat helminthiases (tapeworms). This remedy has long been known in folk medicine. This is confirmed by experiment

mentally and clinically. Carotene is obtained from the fruits (from ensiled pumpkin). The most suitable for obtaining carotene varieties are "vitamin" and "interception".

carrot root – Radix Dauci

Plant. Sowing carrots - Daucus sativus, fam. Apiaceae

Biennial herbaceous plant. It has a fleshy root crop.

It is grown throughout Russia.

Medicinal raw materials. Ripe root vegetables in a fresh state.

Chemical composition. Carrot seeds contain essential and fatty oils, flavonoids and other chemical compounds. Terpenes such as citral, caratol, daucol, azaron, ciniol, alpha-pinene and l - limonene. Fatty oil contains glycerides of palmitic, linoleic, oleic acids. Carotenoids are accompanied by traces of B vitamins 1, B 2, pantothene

ova and ascorbic acids, anthocyanidins and coumarins.

Application. The medicinal properties of the roots of carrots are associated with the content in it of a large amount of carotene (pro

vitamin A), which in the human body is converted into vitamin A, and also due to the complex of B vitamins and ascorbic acid. Carrot juice and root crops are used for hypovitaminosis A, which is accompanied by increased fatigue, loss of appetite, a tendency to colds, diseases and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and skin (dry skin). Lotions, compresses, emulsions for chronic skin diseases (eczema, purulent wounds, burns, frostbite, lesions of the mucous membranes of the nose and larynx (chronic runny nose, laryngitis)

Japanese mandarin fruit – Fructus Citri unschiu

Plant. Japanese mandarin - Citrus unschiu, fam. Rutaceae

An evergreen branched tree with a spherical crown. Cultivated in many countries of the world.

Medicinal raw materials. The fruits of the plant are used.

Chemical composition. Ripe mandarin fruits contain up to 10-12%

sugars, organic acids (citric), pectin, mineral salts, glycosides, essential oil, B vitamins, provitamin A and vitamin P, ascorbic acid, beta-sitosterne.

Application. The pulp of the fruit is used as food, which is a delicacy dietary refreshing product. Fresh tangerines and fruit juice are one of the favorite foods for children; they are often included in children's diets as a tonic and digestive product. IN Food Industry canned juices, syrups, sweets, marmalade are made from fruits.

Due to phytoncidal properties, they have an antimicrobial effect, contribute to the normalization of digestion. Tangerine juice inhibits intestinal motility. Phytoncidal activity can be manifested by some skin diseases.

The therapeutic efficacy of mandarin fruit peel was noted, decoctions and infusions of which are used to treat acute and chronic lung diseases as expectorants and cough softeners. The peel is used to increase appetite.

Black currant fruits – Fructus ribis nigri

Plant. Black currant - Ribes nigrum, fam. Saxifragaceae

Branched shrub, distributed throughout the European part of Russia, Siberia, the Caucasus. It grows wild in damp places, in moist forests, along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Medicinal raw materials. Mature fruits are used, collected during their maturity. Dried fruits have a faint aromatic smell, sweet and sour, slightly astringent taste.

Chemical composition. The fruits contain ascorbic acid, vitamins P, B 2 , B 6 , carotenes, tocopherols, vitamins of group K. The content of vitamin P in berries often exceeds 1%. Berries are rich in sugars and organic acids - malic and citric. There are anthocyanins, flavonoids and their glycosides, micro-

elements (B, Mn, Zn, Mo, Co, Cu, Fe, I) .The leaves contain ascorbic acid.

Application. The fruits and leaves have anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, diuretic and antidiarrheal properties. In medical practice, fruits are used as a multivitamin remedy. Vitamin syrups and concentrates are prepared from fruits; leaves and buds are part of vitamin collections. The fruits of black currant are used in the food, confectionery, alcoholic beverage industry. Sometimes the leaves are used as a surrogate for tea, as well as for salting and pickling.

rowan fruits– Fructus Sorbi

Plant. Rowan ordinary - Sorbus aucuparia, fam. Rosaceae

Tree with gray smooth bark. Inflorescence dense corymb. The fruits are apple-shaped, spherical, bright orange, sour, bitter, slightly tart. They ripen in August - September and remain on the tree until frost. Distributed throughout the European part of Russia, in the Urals, the Caucasus and Siberia. It grows between shrubs in mixed and coniferous forests, on edges and clearings.

Medicinal raw materials. Ripe fruit harvested before or after frost. Berries are used fresh and dried. Dry berries are shriveled, spherical, red-orange, shiny with remnants of the calyx at the top, inside with 2-7 sickle-shaped seeds. The taste is bitter-sour.

Chemical composition. The fruits are rich in carotenoids, vitamins C are present. Organic acids (malic, citric, tartaric), bitter and tannins. Found alcohol sorbitol and ketosugar sorbose. The seeds contain the glycoside amyglalin and fatty oil, and the leaves contain ascorbic acid.

Application. Multivitamin raw material with a high content of beta-carotene. Fresh berries are processed into vitamin syrup, dry ones are part of multivitamin preparations. In folk media

scurvy fruits were widely used for scurvy, popular as

as a diuretic and in hypertension. Widely used in the alcoholic beverage industry.

strawberry leaves – Folia Fragariae

Plant. Wild strawberry - Fragaria vesca, fam. Rosaceae.

Perennial herbaceous plant with creeping thick rhizome covered with brown stipules. Thin fibrous adventitious roots and long filamentous shoots depart from it, rooting at the nodes. In places of rooting, rosettes of long-leaved basal leaves develop and flower-bearing stems come out. Basal leaves are ternary, leaflets are sessile with large sharp teeth; the leaves are almost bare above, covered with silky hairs below. The flowers are white, collected in a few-flowered umbellate inflorescence emerging from the axils of a simple large-toothed ovate leaf. The calyx remains with the fetus. The fruit is a multi-nutlet, formed from a growing receptacle fused with a calyx, in the pulp of which small achenes ("strawberry") are immersed.

Distributed throughout the country. Grows on the edges, in clarified forests, in forest clearings, among shrubs.

Chemical composition. The leaves contain vitamins (C, carotenoids, group B), sugars, organic acids (citric, quinic, malic), traces of essential oils, flavonoids up to 2% (rutin), tannins up to 9%, iron salts, manganese.

Medicinal raw materials. Dried basal leaves.

Application. Water infusion is used as a diuretic, with urinary and cholelithiasis, in diabetes.

barberry leaves – Folia Berberidis

barberry roots– Radices Berberidis

Plant. Barberry ordinary - Berberis vulgaris, fam. Berberidaceae.

Branched shrub with a powerful root system; wood is yellow. Branches with tripartite spines up to 2 cm long, in the axils of which shortened shoots with bunches of leaves sit. The leaves are obovate, sharply serrated along the edge, narrowed into a short petiole. Flowers in drooping racemes. The perianth consists of 6 sepals and yellow petals. The fruit is a berry, very sour. It grows in the European part of Russia.

Chemical composition. Contains alkaloids of the protoberberine group: berberine, palmatin, yatrorizine, columbanine; alkaloids of the bisbenzylisoquinoline group - oxyacanthin, berbamine.

Medicinal raw materials. Leaves that are harvested during budding and flowering. Roots that are harvested in late autumn.

Application. A tincture is prepared from the leaves, which is used for hypotension of the uterus in the postpartum period, lowers blood pressure, increases the amplitude of heart contractions, and stimulates bile secretion.

The roots serve as a raw material for the production of berberine bisulfate, which is widely used in diseases of the gallbladder. List B.

Sarepta mustard seeds - Semina Brassicae junceae

Plant. Sarepta mustard - Brassica juncea, fam. Brassicaceae

An annual herbaceous plant with a branched stem 50-60 cm high. The leaves are alternate, glabrous. The inflorescence is a corymbose raceme. The flowers are small, golden yellow. The pods are linear, thin, tuberculate, deviated from the stem. Seeds are almost spherical, gray-gray, brown or light yellow. It is widely cultivated in the lower Volga region and in the northern Caucasus.

Chemical composition. Sarepta mustard seeds contain a glycoside - synegrin, fatty oil up to 40%, proteins, mucous substances.

Medicinal raw materials. The seeds are used to produce mustard fatty oil.

Application. Mustard plasters - pieces of paper of a standard size with a layer of mustard powder applied. Mustard plasters are a typical distraction in inflammatory processes and rheumatism.

In the early industry, mustard essential oil was produced from mustard cake by steam distillation, which was used to obtain mustard alcohol (2% alcohol solution of essential oil). Mustard alcohol was introduced into some rubbing, liniments as an irritant.

Blueberry fruits– Fructus myrtilli

Plant. Blueberry– Vaccinium myrtillus, fam. Ericaceae.

Shrub 15 - 40 cm high with alternate ovate, thin, serrated leaves along the edge. Flowers solitary, axillary, drooping, on short pedicels. Calyx with small entire limb; corolla pitcher-spherical, greenish-pink, four-, five-toothed. The fruit is a juicy, spherical berry, black-gray with a bluish bloom. Flowering in May-June, fruiting in July-August. Widespread in the European part of Russia and Western Siberia. It grows locally in Eastern Siberia and the Caucasus. It grows in thickets in damp places together with lingonberries, blueberries and other shrubs, in coniferous forests, often found in the tundra.

Chemical composition. Berries contain condensed tannins up to 12%, anthocyanins - myrtillin, sugars, organic acids (citric, malic), a small amount of ascorbic acid, carotene and vitamin B 1 , many pictinous substances. The leaves are even richer in tannins, and also contain arbutin, hydroquinone, myrtillin.

Medicinal raw materials. Ripe, well dried berries.

Application. Gentle astringent and dietary remedy for acute and chronic gastrointestinal disorders, especially in children. Included in binding fees. Used as an infusion or decoction. Lowers blood glucose levels.

Viburnum bark– Cortex Viburni

Plant. Viburnum ordinary - Viburnum opulus, fam. Caprifoliaceae

Shrub 1.5 - 3 m high with brownish - gray bark. The leaves are opposite, 3-5-lobed, dark green above, glabrous, wrinkled. Flowers with 5-toothed calyx and 5-notched white corolla, collected in flat half-umbrellas. The fruit is ovoid - spherical, bright red drupe 8-10 mm in diameter. Blooms until mid-summer. The fruits ripen in August - September. It grows in the undergrowth of mixed forests, in bushes, along forest edges, clearings, clearings, along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Found throughout Russia.

Chemical composition. The bark contains vitamins K 1 , ascorbic acid, carotenes and a choline-like substance, also iridoids, triterpene compounds, tannins, viburnin glycoside, yellow-red resin.

Fruits contain sugar, tannins, organic acids, ascorbic acid, carotenoids.

Medicinal raw materials. The bark is harvested in April - May during the period of sap flow.

Application. The liquid extract is mainly used for uterine bleeding. Fruits increase the contraction of the heart muscle and increase diuresis; included in vitamin supplements.

Bibliography

1. C .I. Sokolov, I.P. Zamotaev "Phytotherapy", Moscow 1984

2. V. Preobrazhensky "Modern Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants", Rostov - on - Don 2001

3. D.A. Muravyov "Pharmacognosy", Moscow 1991

4. Internet - encyclopedia.

Conclusion

Many medicinal plants used in medicine are food plants. They are used not only in the food industry, but also in the perfumery and cosmetics industry, the alcoholic beverage industry. Food medicinal plants are used fresh, dried - in the form of infusions and decoctions. They are used as diuretic, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, anti-helminthic, sedative, expectorant, antispasmodic and cardiac agents.

Thus, there is a prospect of using food medicinal plants that act gently to treat various diseases without resorting to chemical synthesis drugs.

Plant pollen (clover) rich in vitamins and minerals such as: vitamin B1 - 62%, vitamin B2 - 106.7%, vitamin B5 - 55.2%, vitamin B6 - 45%, vitamin B9 - 127.5%, vitamin C - 17.9 %, vitamin E - 200%, vitamin PP - 100%, potassium - 38.2%, calcium - 16.9%, silicon - 742%, magnesium - 39.3%, phosphorus - 108.9%, iron - 300 .3%, copper - 13.6%

What is useful pollen of plants (clover)

• Vitamin B1 is part of the most important enzymes of carbohydrate and energy metabolism, providing the body with energy and plastic substances, as well as the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids. The lack of this vitamin leads to serious disorders of the nervous, digestive and cardiovascular systems.
• Vitamin B2 participates in redox reactions, increases the susceptibility of color by the visual analyzer and dark adaptation. Inadequate intake of vitamin B2 is accompanied by a violation of the condition of the skin, mucous membranes, impaired light and twilight vision.
• Vitamin B5 participates in protein, fat, carbohydrate metabolism, cholesterol metabolism, the synthesis of a number of hormones, hemoglobin, promotes the absorption of amino acids and sugars in the intestine, supports the function of the adrenal cortex. A lack of pantothenic acid can lead to damage to the skin and mucous membranes.
• Vitamin B6 participates in the maintenance of the immune response, the processes of inhibition and excitation in the central nervous system, in the transformation of amino acids, the metabolism of tryptophan, lipids and nucleic acids, contributes to the normal formation of red blood cells, maintaining a normal level of homocysteine ​​in the blood. Insufficient intake of vitamin B6 is accompanied by a decrease in appetite, a violation of the condition of the skin, the development of homocysteinemia, anemia.
• Vitamin B9 as a coenzyme involved in the metabolism of nucleic and amino acids. Folate deficiency leads to disruption of the synthesis of nucleic acids and protein, resulting in inhibition of cell growth and division, especially in rapidly proliferating tissues: bone marrow, intestinal epithelium, etc. Insufficient folate intake during pregnancy is one of the causes of prematurity, malnutrition, congenital deformities and developmental disorders of the child. A strong relationship was shown between the level of folate, homocysteine ​​and the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Vitamin C participates in redox reactions, the functioning of the immune system, promotes the absorption of iron. Deficiency leads to friable and bleeding gums, nosebleeds due to increased permeability and fragility of blood capillaries.
• Vitamin E has antioxidant properties, is necessary for the functioning of the gonads, the heart muscle, is a universal stabilizer of cell membranes. With a deficiency of vitamin E, hemolysis of erythrocytes and neurological disorders are observed.
• Vitamin PP participates in redox reactions of energy metabolism. Inadequate vitamin intake is accompanied by a violation of the normal state of the skin, gastrointestinal tract and nervous system.
• Potassium is the main intracellular ion involved in the regulation of water, acid and electrolyte balance, is involved in the processes of nerve impulses, pressure regulation.
• Calcium is the main component of our bones, acts as a regulator of the nervous system, is involved in muscle contraction. Calcium deficiency leads to demineralization of the spine, pelvic bones and lower extremities increases the risk of developing osteoporosis.
• Silicon is included as a structural component in the composition of glycosaminoglycans and stimulates the synthesis of collagen.
• Magnesium participates in energy metabolism, synthesis of proteins, nucleic acids, has a stabilizing effect on membranes, is necessary to maintain homeostasis of calcium, potassium and sodium. Lack of magnesium leads to hypomagnesemia, increased risk of developing hypertension, heart disease.
• Phosphorus takes part in many physiological processes, including energy metabolism, regulates acid-base balance, is part of phospholipids, nucleotides and nucleic acids, is necessary for the mineralization of bones and teeth. Deficiency leads to anorexia, anemia, rickets.
• Iron is a part of proteins of various functions, including enzymes. Participates in the transport of electrons, oxygen, ensures the flow redox reactions and activation of peroxidation. Insufficient consumption leads to hypochromic anemia, myoglobin deficiency atony of skeletal muscles, increased fatigue, myocardiopathy, atrophic gastritis.
• Copper is part of the enzymes that have redox activity and are involved in the metabolism of iron, stimulates the absorption of proteins and carbohydrates. Participates in the processes of providing tissues of the human body with oxygen. Deficiency is manifested by violations of the formation of cardio-vascular system and skeleton, the development of connective tissue dysplasia.

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Wild plants contain almost all the necessary components of food: vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, mineral salts and water. Especially important is the role of fresh plants as a source of vitamins. Most of which are not synthesized in the human body. Many of them are not fully preserved in canned foods that form the basis of food supplies, or are contained in them in a poorly digestible form.

The nutritional value wild plants, wild plants as a source of balanced food.

A lack of vitamins causes a violation of the most important biochemical and physiological processes in the human body and can lead to a decrease in efficiency, a decrease in resistance to adverse environmental influences, a deterioration in tissue regeneration, a slowdown in blood clotting, a violation of adaptation and the development of a number of serious diseases, even with a plentiful diet of high-calorie foods.

In the green parts, wild plants contain mainly vitamins C, K, E, and in seeds, roots and tubers - B vitamins. Vegetable oils are also rich in vitamin E. The fruits of many plants contain flavonoids (vitamin P), as well as vitamin PP. Vitamin A is found in plants in the form of so-called provitamins (carotenoids), which in the animal body are converted into the corresponding vitamins. According to Professor A.A. Kichigin, in many wild plants, the content of carotenoids is much higher than in cultivated ones. The daily requirement of an adult for many vitamins can be satisfied by eating 50-100 g of wild plants.

Wild plants as the main source of carbohydrates.

wild plantsthe main source of carbohydrates, which, during heavy physical exertion, common in extreme conditions, should make up more than 50% of the diet. Due to the rapidly digestible plant sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose), the body's energy expenditure can be replenished in the shortest possible time. Starch is digested more slowly, deposited as a reserve substance in roots, rhizomes, tubers, bulbs, seeds and fruits. In the tubers of Compositae and some other plants, the water-soluble polysaccharide inulin, close to starch, accumulates.

Plant foods containing fiber, which forms the basis of the walls of plant cells, stimulates the motor function of the intestine, promotes the vital activity of beneficial intestinal bacteria. However, in old plants, the cell walls are gradually impregnated with a number of substances, as a result of which their tissues become coarse. Such wild plants are poorly digested, and it is not recommended to eat them.

Wild plants as a source of protein.

A person can also satisfy the basic protein needs at the expense of plants. A significant amount of proteins is found, for example, in the green mass of quinoa, nettle, and legumes. However, vegetable proteins are less digestible than animal proteins. Most of them do not contain in sufficient quantities all the essential amino acids necessary for the human body. Therefore, to maintain a normal metabolism, a certain amount of complete animal proteins should be introduced into the daily diet.

Wild plants as a source of fats.

From wild plants, fats (vegetable oils) can be obtained, which are mainly found in seeds. Fats are part of the cellular structures of all types of tissues and organs and are necessary for their construction. In terms of their energy value, they are twice as superior to proteins and carbohydrates. In addition, fats provide mechanical protection and thermal insulation of the body. Plant fats contain mainly the most biologically valuable unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins A and E, and other biologically active substances. Plant fats are easier to digest than animal fats.

Minerals and acids in wild plants.

Wild plants are rich in minerals, which include such vital components of nutrition as inorganic elements, various salts and water. Minerals are necessary for the formation and construction of body tissues, especially the skeleton, as well as for the activity of the endocrine glands, metabolism and energy, in particular water-salt metabolism. Wild plants contain a significant amount of potassium, magnesium, copper and other trace elements.

The organic acids contained in plants (the most common are malic, citric, tartaric, etc.) have a choleretic, bactericidal and antiseptic effect in the intestines, they are necessary for normal metabolism, promote the absorption of food, many organic acids are biogenic stimulants. Summarizing the above, edible wild plants on topics beneficial substances, which they contain, as well as the way they are used, can be divided into a number of groups.

1. Wild plants capable of accumulating starch, inulin and other useful substances in roots, rhizomes and seeds.

Often, in wild-growing starch-bearing plants, starch accumulates in the underground parts twice as much as in potato tubers. Rhizomes and roots of such plants are usually harvested in autumn, when they are especially rich in starch and other reserve nutrients. They are eaten fried with butter or dried and ground into flour, which is added to bread.

2. Vegetable and lettuce wild plants.

These are plants that can be eaten fresh, in the form of salads, as an admixture to vinaigrettes, they are used to prepare second courses, sauces, soup dressings, etc.

3. In the north, due to harsh climatic conditions, there is no developed cultural gardening.

Therefore, among wild food plants, the group of berries and other juicy fruits is especially important. This includes trees, shrubs, perennial herbaceous species that produce juicy edible fruits, which are an exceptionally valuable food product. They contain the most easily digestible forms of sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose, as well as proteins, fats, mineral salts, organic acids, enzymes, vitamins, tannins and various aromatic substances. The population annually collects large quantities of lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries, currants and other berries, which are consumed fresh, and also by processing high-quality food products, jams, compotes, juices, syrups, confectionery etc.

4. Among wild-growing food plants, spice and drink plants form a special group.

In the preparation of tasty and nutritious food, spices play an important role, which stimulate appetite, increase the secretion of digestive juices and contribute to better digestion and assimilation of food by the body. The most important source of such substances are spice plants. So, for example, linden and St. John's wort flowers give golden-yellow fragrant tea. The leaves and fruits of raspberry, blackcurrant, lingonberry, and other plants are widely used by the population to obtain tea leaves (without special processing). A number of species (femur - saxifrage, three-leaf watch, common juniper, etc.) are used in brewing, as well as in the alcoholic beverage industry.

5. Among wild plants, there are many species that accumulate fatty oils in seeds and fruits.

These oils can be used for both food and technical purposes.

In remote and sparsely populated areas, wild food plants can greatly supplement the diet. Knowledge about wild-growing edible plants will be useful for extreme tourists, expedition members, people who have had an accident in the middle of the taiga. In a word, everyone who may find themselves, for various reasons, in an autonomous existence without sufficient food supplies or who wants to diversify their daily menu.

Based on the materials of the book "On the grazing".
Vereshchagin S.A.

The ratio of carbon and nitrogen in the body of plants and animals. - Cellulose: only very few organisms are able to absorb it. Even if the cell walls are not taken into account, the C:N ratio in the plant mass remains very high. - Organisms possessing cellulases. - Raste
nie is a complex of tissues and organs that differ sharply in composition and nutritional value. - In animals, the chemical composition of tissues and organs is less variable than in plants.
The body of a green plant as a "packaging" of resources is very different from the body of an animal. These differences strongly affect the potential nutritional value of these resources. The most important difference between plants and animals is that plant cells are surrounded by cell walls consisting of cellulose, lignin and (or) other "building materials". It is because of these cell walls that the plant mass has such a high fiber content. The presence of cell walls is also the main reason for the high content of fixed carbon in plant tissues and the high value of the ratio of carbon content to the content of other biologically important elements. For example, the C: N ratio in plant tissues ranges from 20: I to 40: I, but in bacteria, fungi, detritophages, herbivores and carnivores, it is completely different: 8: I or 10: I. Animal tissues , unlike vegetable, do not contain any structural carbohydrates or fibrous materials, but are rich in fat and especially protein. The sharp differences between plants and their consumers in terms of body composition are shown in Fig. 3.16.
Both herbivorous animals that consume living plants and bacteria, fungi, and detritophages that consume dead plants use a food resource rich in carbon but poor in protein. The transition from plants to eat-

Rice. 3.16. Composition of various parts of plants and animals used as food resources by other organisms (according to a variety of sources)

| smoke to their organisms is associated with a decrease in the C: N ratio and involves massive "burning" of carbon, therefore, the main end products of metabolism and undigested residues in herbivorous organisms are compounds and materials rich in carbon (CO2 and fibers). But herbivorous animals and the predators that eat them, on the contrary, show a remarkable similarity in the chemical composition of the body. Most of the energy needs of carnivorous organisms are met by the proteins and fats contained in their prey, so the main excretory products of protoivores are nitrogen compounds.
The abundance of fixed carbon in the plant mass means that it is a potential source of large amounts of energy; most of this energy, however, is inaccessible to phytophages (at least directly). To use the energy resources of plants in full, you need to have enzymes that can break down cellulose and lignins. Cellulases are present in some bacteria and many fungi; some protozoa (such as Vampyrella) can dissolve the cellulose cell walls of algae, make passages in them and get to the contents. A rich source of cellulases is the salivary glands of snails and slugs; it is believed that some other animals also possess cellulases. And yet, the vast majority of representatives of both the animal and plant kingdoms are deprived of much-needed enzymes. For this reason, neither plants nor phytophages have access to the main energy carrier of most plant tissues as a direct source of energy. Everything that living beings can do, nature has imposed many restrictions. One of the most remarkable is the inability of most organisms to acquire cellulolytic enzymes. This is the amazing puzzle of evolution.
Considering plants as food objects, cell walls can be excluded. Ho, even in this case, the C:N ratio in the body of a green plant remains high compared to other organisms. illustrative example provides a way for aphids to feed. Aphids gain direct access to the contents of the cells by inserting their stylets into the conducting system of the plant and sucking the juice containing many soluble sugars directly from the phloem (Fig. 3.17). Aphids use only a part of this energy resource, and the rest is released in the form of carbohydrate mellibiose, which is part of honeydew. From a tree infested with aphids, honeydew sometimes drips like rain. Apparently, for most phytophages and decomposers, the plant body is an excessively abundant source of energy and carbon; limiting most likely are other components of their diet (for example, nitrogen).

Most animals do not have dellulases, so the material of the plant cell walls prevents the access of digestive enzymes to the cellular contents. The chewing of food by herbivorous mammals and the grinding of it in the muscular stomachs of birds (for example, geese) are absolutely necessary operations preceding digestion: it
violate the integrity of plant food cells. A carnivore, on the other hand, can swallow a swok without much fear; prey without chewing it.
Those organisms that possess cellulases gain access to a food resource for which they compete exclusively with each other. Their vital activity makes a very noticeable and unexpected contribution to increasing the availability of food resources for other organisms. This contribution is two-fold. In the digestive tract of a herbivore An animal can develop a miniature ecosystem in which the access of cellulolytic bacteria to the material of the cell walls is particularly facilitated. The rumen or caecum of warm-blooded animals is a kind of temperature-controlled culture chamber, into which pre-crushed (partially) cell walls are continuously supplied. This chamber is like a chemostat in a biochemical plant. Microbial cellulases are predominantly surface enzymes, and close contact of bacteria with chewed food mass accelerates the breakdown of cell wall material. In ruminants, some of the by-products of this bacterial fermentation are absorbed by the host (see Chapter 13). When plant parts decompose, their mass containing a lot of carbon is converted into microbial cells containing relatively little carbon: the growth and reproduction of microorganisms is not limited by carbon, but by other resources.

Reproducing on rotting plant debris, microbes are extracted from environment nitrogen and others mineral resources and incorporate them into their own cells. For this reason, and also because microbial cells are easier to digest and assimilate, detritus-eating animals generally prefer to eat plant detritus that is abundantly populated by microorganisms. But “from the point of view” of a living plant, the vital activity of microorganisms in adjacent areas of the soil, on the contrary, can have adverse consequences. The inclusion of mineral substances in microbial cells leads to the fact that the availability of these substances decreases, and higher plants growing in the neighborhood may suffer from mineral starvation. This phenomenon can be observed after plowing straw into the soil: soil nitrogen becomes unavailable to crops, and they show signs of nitrogen starvation.
Clusters of plant cells are combined into tissues (consisting of approximately identical cells) and organs (consisting of completely heterogeneous cell clusters). The concentrations of nitrogen and other mineral nutrients are highest at growth points, in axillary buds and in seeds, and carbohydrates are highest in sieve tubes of the phloem and in storage organs, for example, in tubers and some seeds. The highest concentrations of cellulose and lignin are found in old and dead tissues, such as wood and bark. Different tissues and organs of plants are so unequal in their nutritional value that it is not surprising that small phytophages are, as a rule, specialists. They specialize not only in plants of certain species and groups, but also in completely specific parts of the plant body: meristems, leaves, roots, stems, etc. The smaller the phytophage, the smaller the scale of heterogeneities in which it can specialize. Extreme examples of such specialization can be found among the larvae of oak gall midges: larvae of some species specialize in feeding on young leaves, larvae of others in feeding on old leaves; larvae of some species feed exclusively on vegetative buds, larvae of other species feed exclusively on male flowers, and still others feed on root tissues (photo 2). Even the most unscrupulous eaters show certain preferences: as a rule, they avoid lignified stems if possible and choose something more nutritious.
The most nutritionally complete parts of the plant body are the seeds. They are the richest source of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and minerals and thus provide food for a wide variety of phytophages. A single seed can provide lifelong food for a grain beetle. In this seed (or on it

Photo 2. Food specialization of larvae of gall wasps (order Hymenoptera, fam. Nut washer). A. Acorns of Quercus carr is with galls formed by larvae of Callirhytis erythrocephalum. B. Gall on the lateral bud of an oak, formed by the larva of Biorhisa pallida. B. Oak leaf with galls formed by larvae of Neuroterus numismalis and N. ienticulatus. G. Galls on male inflorescences (catkins) of oak, formed by larvae of N. quereus-baccarum. (All photos courtesy of I'm Askew.)

Rice. 3.18. Characteristic bites left by animals that feed on the leaves of Trifolium repens clover. (Drawing from Peters, 1980.)

surface), the beetle lays an egg, and inside the same seed the larva completes its development up to pupation. It may turn out, however, that the same grain will make up only a part of the daily food of the bird, or will replenish the winter stocks of the rodent. The same can be said about a clover leaf growing in a pasture: it won’t fill a sheep’s mouth, it will probably feed a snail or slug all day, and a weevil, a mining caterpillar or a pathogenic fungus developing on it, all its life (Fig. 3.18) .
In terms of the resources they offer to potential consumers, different plants and their different parts sometimes differ greatly from each other, but the composition of the body of various phytophages is strikingly uniform. Moreover, in terms of body composition (in terms of the content of certain nutrients), a herbivore differs little from a carnivore. If it is only a matter of how much protein, carbohydrates, fats, water and mineral salts are contained in a gram of feed, then the choice between caterpillars, cod, earthworms, shrimp and venison is very, very narrow. Let these dishes be decorated in different ways, let them taste differently - but the food in them, in fact, is the same. Carnivores, therefore, have no special difficulties with digestion, and they differ quite little in the structure of their digestive apparatus; they are rather concerned with how to find prey, catch it, kill it, and eat it (see ch. 8).

The forest gives us more than just food. From generation to generation, information has been accumulated on the therapeutic use of wild plants. Folk experience was not in vain - knowledge was passed from grandmothers to children and grandchildren for centuries, among the people these people were called healers and sorcerers, but it was thanks to them that traditional medicine was created. With the development of printing, various "Herbals" and "Healers" began to be published. The experience of traditional medicine is widely studied and mastered by modern pharmacology.
In recent years, interest in herbal medicine ("phyto" - a plant) has increased. Phytobars have appeared in some cities, where pharmacists prepare vitamin, appetizing and medicinal drinks.
Let us consider in more detail what constitutes the nutritional and medicinal value of forest flora.
Food products, like all material bodies of nature, consist of chemicals, the quantitative and qualitative ratio of which determines their nutritional and medicinal value. The main constituent elements of nutritional value are the energy, biological and physiological value, as well as the digestibility and good quality of products.
Energy value of food It is determined mainly by three groups of substances - carbohydrates, proteins, fats - and is called caloric content. It is believed that 1 g of carbohydrates and proteins gives 4.1 g of fat - 9 kilocalories (kcal). Knowing the chemical composition of the product, it is easy to calculate its energy value: you need to multiply the percentage of these substances by the indicated calorie coefficients. This is the total, theoretical calorie content. But these substances are not fully absorbed: vegetable proteins - by 60 ... 80, carbohydrates - by 85 ... 90%. To get the actual energy value of the product, it is necessary to correlate the theoretical calorie content with the percentage of digestibility of individual substances.
A person should consume 2500-3300 kcal per day. Thermal energy obtained from the oxidation of food in the body is necessary to maintain metabolism, digestion, physical and mental activity. The more effort, the greater the body's need for energy-intensive food. Of the three groups of substances that determine the energy value of plant products, the main specific gravity falls on carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates

Consist of three elements: carbohydrate, hydrogen and oxygen. The most common carbohydrate and the first organic substance of plant photosynthesis is glucose. In most fruits, berries, vegetables, carbohydrates make up about 80 ... 90% of dry matter.
Carbohydrates are the most important energy component of plant foods, their daily intake is 4 times higher than the daily intake of proteins and fats.
By digestibility, carbohydrates are divided into digestible (sugar, starch, inulin) and indigestible, or ballast substances (fiber, hemicelluloses, pectin).
In mature berries, fruits and vegetables, the bulk of carbohydrates are sugars - glucose, fructose and sucrose, which are among the most easily digestible organic substances of wild edible plants. Mono- and disaccharides are in a plant cell in a dissolved state and are completely absorbed by the human body. Thus, blueberries and lingonberries contain an average of 8.6% carbohydrates, of which 8% are monosaccharides - glucose and fructose. Fresh rose hips accumulate more than 20% of sugars, and when dried, their amount reaches 60% of the total mass.
Flowers of wild-growing edible plants are rich in sugars, so many of them are good honey plants.
Non-sugar-like carbohydrates - starch and inulin - accumulate in the roots and rhizomes of food plants by autumn: the first gives glucose during hydrolysis, the second - fructose. Dandelion and chicory roots contain up to 40% inulin; dandelions also accumulate sugars (up to 20% in the roots). In berries and fruits, as they ripen, the amount of starch decreases sharply and is reduced to zero.
Digestible carbohydrates of wild-growing edible plants, especially berries and fruits, constitute the main energy value of food.

Cellulose

Included in the mechanical and integumentary tissues of all plants. It consists of glucose residues, but is not absorbed by the body, since the human gastrointestinal tract lacks an enzyme that breaks down this substance. Hemicelluloses (semi-cellulose) are partially amenable to hydrolysis with the release of free sugars and are reserve materials of the plant cell, since sugars are then involved in the redox processes of plant respiration. The more fiber and hemicelluloses, the coarser the consistency of plant foods, the more difficult it is to digest.
Modern nutritional science believes that fiber must be present in food, as it is positive; affects the motor functions of digestion and the course of fat; exchange. Coarse cellulose dietary fibers irritate the intestinal walls and promote the movement of food masses through the gastrointestinal tract. With abundant consumption of carbohydrates and fats (and this is typical for many), a lack of fiber can lead to obesity, gallstone disease, and cardiovascular diseases.
In recent years, much has been said about the need for greater consumption of plant dietary fiber. It was revealed that in some countries, with a lack of fiber in food, diseases of rectal cancer are observed. In the absence or insufficiency of plant foods enriched with fiber in the daily diet, food passes slowly through the gastrointestinal tract, leading to constipation, and then to the accumulation and absorption of various substances that have carcinogenic properties and contribute to the formation of malignant tumors.
According to the norms of a balanced diet, the daily intake of ballast substances (fiber, pectin) should be 25 g. The content of fiber and hemicelluloses in fruits and berries is 0.5 ... 2% (in strawberries, raspberries, currants - up to 6%).

Pectin

Particular attention should be paid to pectin substances., which include protopectin - a pectin compound with cellulose and other substances found mainly in unripe fruits and berries. Protopectin is insoluble in water and causes their hard consistency. When fruits and berries ripen, it splits, releasing free pectin, easily soluble in water. At the same time, the consistency of ripe fruits and berries softens.
Modern ideas about pectin have changed significantly compared to the recent past. Studies have shown that although this substance is classified as ballast, that is, indigestible compounds, it, like fiber, plays an important role in the human body. In addition, pectin determines the nutritional and therapeutic properties of many fruits and berries. The destruction of the structure of protopectin and pectin with the release of decay products (pectic and centic acids) leads to a deterioration in the quality and shelf life of fruit and berry products, while the cell structure is destroyed - overripe fruits and berries quickly deteriorate and rot.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the consumption of refined products that have undergone significant factory processing, after which many valuable natural substances are lost (for example, refined vegetable oil is almost completely deprived of vitamins, refined sugar - betanine). On the other hand, during mechanical action, as well as heat treatment in metal containers (boilers, vacuum apparatus), metal ions, which are very toxic to humans, enter the finished product. Pectin substances bind and remove poisons from the body, carrying out detoxification. Their role in the excretion of radioactive isotopes from the body is especially important. Therefore, pectin substances are considered to be a kind of "orderlies" that protect our health.
Pectin has a healing effect on the activity of the intestines, inhibits the absorption of harmful substances into the blood, reduces putrefactive processes, thereby improving digestion. It was revealed that pectin substances have a beneficial effect on ulcerative intestinal diseases. Pectin is introduced into the diet of workers in hazardous enterprises.
Pectin has another valuable property used in the production of fruit and berry products. In the presence of sugars and acids, it forms jelly, while in an aqueous solution there must be at least 60% sugar, 1% acids and 0.5..1.5% pectin. The pectin of apples, plums, quince, strawberries, currants and other berries used in the preparation of jelly, marmalade, marshmallow has a good gelling ability.
The total content of pectin in fruits and berries ranges from 0.5 to 1.5%.

Carbohydrates should be consumed not so much from grain flour products rich in starch, but from fruit and vegetable foods. In a relatively comfortable life, most people have reduced physical activity and, accordingly, daily energy costs. Daily consumption of vegetables and edible wild plants is a good means of unloading - plant foods are low in calories and at the same time, filling the volume of the stomach, creates a feeling of fullness. Vegetable dishes contribute to better absorption of protein (which is important in case of its deficiency), regulate the activity of the liver, pancreas and digestive organs.

Squirrels

Being, along with carbohydrates and fats, energy substances, they are included in the most important components of the human body (muscles, heart, brain), participate in all the most important life processes.
According to their chemical composition, they belong to the group of nitrogenous substances, which, in addition to proteins, are represented in plants by free amino acids, acid amides, enzymes, nucleic acids, and nitrogen-containing glycosides. Proteins are very complex compounds consisting of a set of amino acids. Their number in foods reaches 20, including 8 essential amino acids that the human body is not able to synthesize and receives only from food. Proteins containing all the essential amino acids - lysine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, threonine and valine - are called complete, but if any of the listed amino acids are absent - defective. The presence of complete proteins is characteristic of animal products; in vegetable poverty, proteins, as a rule, are defective.
The total protein content in fresh fruits, berries, wild edible herbs is low - from 0.3 to 2%. With the removal of moisture during drying, the amount of proteins increases relatively. IN fresh mushrooms(boletus mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, champignons, morels) proteins are about 3%, and in dried ones - 4 times more due to water loss. High content of proteins in hazelnuts and hazelnuts - 16-21%.
Proteins called enzymes play a particularly important role - under their influence, biochemical transformations of organic substances proceed in a plant cell. Oxidases, enzymes that regulate respiration processes, have exceptionally high activity in plants. At the same time, the group of these enzymes includes polyphenol oxidase, which oxidizes phenolic compounds with atmospheric oxygen, resulting in a darkening of the color of the pulp, a decrease in the P-vitamin value, and physiological diseases of fruits and berries. Ascorbin oxidase catalyzes the oxidation of vitamin C.
The destructive effect of enzymes is enhanced at high temperatures of storage and processing of fruit and berry raw materials.

Fats

As can be seen from the previously given calorie coefficients, fats are the most energy-intensive substances, 2.5 times higher than proteins and carbohydrates in this indicator, but they are just very few in the plant food of the forest.
Fats by chemical nature belong to the group of lipids, which differ from other organic substances in that they do not dissolve in water, but are readily soluble in alcohol, benzene, and ether.
Although the content of fats in most edible wild plants is low, they perform an important function in the life of the plant cell, being part of all its structural elements. It is probably no coincidence that fats are concentrated in the organs of reproduction and reproduction - seeds, where their amount reaches 25%. The total fat content in the skin of fruits and berries is about 2, and in the pulp - up to 1%.
Exception from general rule are sea buckthorn fruits, the pulp of which contains up to 9% fat, and especially nut fruits - hazel and hazelnut kernels containing 55 ...
Vegetable fats contain phosphatides, fat-soluble vitamins - carotene (provitamin A), 6, K, E and P. So, in fatty oil of sea buckthorn seeds, up to 120 mg% of vitamin E and 100 mg% of carotene were found.

Wax.

These fat-like substances - esters of fatty acids and monohydric alcohols - cover the fruits, berries, stems and leaves of plants with a thin layer. The wax coating is especially pronounced on the fruits of apple trees, pears, plums, grapes, blueberries, leaves of red and white cabbage of late varieties. Waxes protect medicinal plants from moisture evaporation and wilting; being water-repellent substances, they serve as a protective film that prevents the penetration of microorganisms into succulent plant tissues.
According to the requirements of a balanced diet, the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the daily diet should be equal to 4:1:1, or, translated into grams - 400:100:100. In the composition of carbohydrates, the daily rate of sugars should not exceed 100 g, proteins and vegetable fats - 50% (for an adult). This ratio may vary depending on age, physical and other costs of the body, environmental conditions.

organic acids.

Due to the content of organic acids, food has a more pronounced taste and is much better absorbed. Acids activate digestion, reduce the active acidity of the environment and improve the microflora of the stomach. In most wild fruits, two acids predominate - malic and citric; in raspberries - salicylic acid, in sorrel - oxalic acid.
Organic acids are easily consumed during respiration. That is why the sour taste of fruits and berries decreases during storage.
Being in a dissolved state, organic acids are easily absorbed by the human body, have a beneficial effect on lipid metabolism, in particular, malic acid helps to reduce cholesterol in the blood.
Considering the positive effect of acids, one should focus on oxalic acid, which accumulates in significant quantities in some leafy vegetable plants. Increased consumption of oxalic acid can lead to the formation of kidney stones. For persons predisposed to this disease, especially for children, the use of dishes from wild-growing sorrel, as well as grown in culture, should be limited.
Many organic acids have antimicrobial activity and are used as preservatives. Benzoic acid contained in cranberries and lingonberries contributes to the long-term storage of these berries. Salicylic, sorbic, ascorbic and other acids differ in antiseptic properties. Some organic acids are involved in the formation of the aroma of fruits and berries.
Acids in plants are found in the free state and in the form of acid salts. The total amount of organic acids in most fruits and berries varies considerably - 0.3 ... 2.5%, in vegetable plants - 0.1 ... 0.7%. The sensation of sour taste can be neutralized by sugars and enhanced by the presence of tannins.
During the oxidation of 1 g of organic acids, 2.5 ... 3 kcal of heat is released. The daily intake of organic acids is 2 r.
The nutritional and therapeutic and dietary value of wild-growing edible plants is determined primarily by the presence of biologically active substances. It has long been noticed that a long absence of fruit and vegetable poverty leads to a weakening of the body's resistance to various diseases.
The concepts of "biological value" and "biologically active substances" have different interpretations. Academician A. A. Pokrovsky, considering the biological value of food products, believes that it reflects the qualitative composition of proteins, the balance of their amino acid composition and digestibility. The composition of biologically active substances includes, first of all, vitamins, microelements, phenolic and other substances, the role of which is becoming more and more significant every year, as well as alkaloids, glycosides, coumarins, essential oils, resins, tannins, which can be used to control physiological processes in human body. Therefore, they are also called physiologically active, or, as is customary in pharmacology, active substances.
The most fully studied are such biologically active substances as vitamins and microelements.

Vitamins.

It is no coincidence that fruits and berries are called vitamin products, because the human body receives some vitamins almost exclusively from fruit and berry and vegetable foods. Wild-growing edible plants often turn out to be not only equivalent to cultivated varieties, but also significantly surpass them in the content of certain vitamins (nettle, dandelion).
At the origins of the discovery of vitamins was the Russian scientist N. I. Lunin. Back in 1880, he experimentally proved that food is not complete if it lacks some vital substances. IN scientific world At that time, the concept dominated, according to which for normal life a person needs three energy groups - proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The negligibly small doses of unknown substances that N. I. Lunin spoke of were difficult to detect.
In 1911, the Polish scientist K. Funk isolated a crystalline substance belonging to the class of amines from rice bran. The scientist was able to establish that the absence of this substance in food from one polished rice, devoid of shells, causes the beriberi disease. K. Funk called this vital amine vitamin (the word "vita" in Latin means "life"). Hence the designation of vitamins in the letters of the Latin alphabet.
Modern science has accumulated a huge amount of material about vitamins. It has been established that these substances play the most important role in metabolism, regulate the processes of assimilation and use of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, the functions of all organs and systems, the growth and development of a living organism. Being part of about 100 enzymes, vitamins are their active components, as biological catalysts participate in chemical reactions occurring in a living cell.
Currently, about 30 natural vitamins have been studied, 20 of them a person should receive from food. Some vitamins are synthesized in the body, for example, vitamin A - from carotene, vitamin O - as a result of irradiation of the body with ultraviolet rays, some of the vitamins are produced by the intestinal microflora.
Along with the letter designation, vitamins received names that reveal their chemical nature.
With a lack of vitamins in the human body, various disorders occur, called hypovitaminosis, which most often manifests itself in winter and spring. In the complete absence of vitamins, vitamin deficiency can occur, which is almost never observed today. But an excess of vitamins - hypervitaminosis - can lead to a painful disorder of the body.
are the most important source of vitamins.
Vitamin C was discovered by the Hungarian biochemist Szent-Györgyi as a remedy against scurvy, or scurbut, hence its second name, ascorbic acid. Today, ascorbic acid is given a truly universal value. This vitamin is necessary for regulating the content of hemoglobin in the blood, the normal functioning of some cells, it promotes the absorption of iron, thereby participating in the formation of red blood cells, has a positive effect on the production of immune bodies, increases the ability of blood leukocytes to absorb and destroy pathogenic bacteria, and prevents the formation of carcinogens - nitrosamines, which can accumulate in the body when consuming vegetables containing a large amount of nitrates, accelerates the healing of wounds and bone fractures. The range of medicinal properties of this unique substance is far from being limited to the listed ones.

Ascorbic acid

An unstable compound that is easily destroyed during the heat treatment of fruits and vegetables - boiling, frying, sterilization. With prolonged exposure to high temperatures, vitamin losses can reach 30 ... 90%. To preserve it, fruits, berries, vegetable greens should be quickly lowered into boiling water or syrup.
Vitamin C is also destroyed by the action of metals, therefore, in household it is best to use enameled dishes, and select stainless steel knives.
Vitamin C is resistant to acidic environment. So, sauerkraut is a good source of ascorbic acid in winter time of the year. The preservation of vitamin C is facilitated by sugars, proteins, sulfur compounds that inhibit the activity of ascorbine oxidase.
When using wild-growing edible greens fresh or for canning, it must be taken into account that the content of vitamin C decreases sharply during storage. Therefore, the period from the moment of collection to the processing of plants should be minimal. Ascorbic acid is oxidized especially quickly in crushed leaves and stems: its amount decreases by half after 2 ... about hours.

Vitamin C

It is concentrated in the pulp, as well as in the peel and adjacent juicy tissues. So, when peeling an apple, we significantly impoverish the product, and not only in ascorbic acid - the apple peel contains vitamins of the group
B, carotenoids, P active substances, as well as mineral elements.
Most of the vitamin C in rose hips - up to 2000 mg%. One tablespoon of fruits is enough to prepare a drink with a daily intake of vitamin C. Sea buckthorn, hawthorn, currant berries are high in vitamins, ascorbic acid is well preserved in cranberries, lingonberries, strawberries, raspberries. Nettle, cow parsnip, oregano, sweet clover, burdock, meadowsweet, hops, dandelion, sorrel, horsetail are real sources of vitamin C. In fresh white mushrooms, vitamin C is 30 mg%, in dried mushrooms - 150 mg%. There is a lot of vitamin C in green nuts (up to 1200 mg%), but as it ripens, its amount drops sharply.
Vitamin C accumulates in the needles of pine, spruce, birch leaves and other trees. Water infusions and extracts of pine needles in extreme circumstances more than once rescued people from scurvy and other diseases.
Vitamin R. In 1936, Szent-Györgyi was the first to isolate a white crystalline powder from the peel of a lemon and called it citrine. Later it turned out that this substance of a phenolic nature has a capillary-strengthening effect. In our country, a similar drug, called rutin, began to be produced from tea leaves.
Currently, more than 150 polyphenols are known that have P-vitamin activity and have received general definition- bioflavonoids. These include both colorless and coloring substances of a phenolic nature. The most common are catechins and leucoanthocyanins. Catechins are found in most wild fruits and berries. Leukoanthocyanins, along with catechins, are found mainly in unripe fruits and berries; as they ripen, they turn into brightly colored anthocyanins of red, blue, purple with all sorts of shades. All polyphenols are united under the general name "vitamin P".
The therapeutic effect of P-vitamin substances lies in their ability to normalize the permeability and elasticity of blood capillaries. Like ascorbic acid, vitamin P prevents the oxidation of the hormone adrenaline, on which the integrity of blood capillaries depends, so it is also called vitamin C2.
Flavone substances with yellow and orange color are most widely distributed in fruits and berries. If you bite into an apple with a tart taste and the flesh soon turns brownish, then it contains catechins that have the property of vitamin P. Vitamin P is found in long leaf tea, which is characterized by a tart, astringent taste. There are many P-vitamin substances in blueberries, blueberries, cranberries, red currants, as well as in rose hips and sea buckthorn. Champions in P-vitamin substances are chokeberry (1000-3001) mg%) and black currant (1000-2140 mg%).
It is noticed that the joint presence of vitamins C and P enhances the physiological effect of each of them. One more property is interesting: during the processing of fruit and berry raw materials for juices, the presence of anthocyanins and other P-vitamin substances protects ascorbic acid from destruction.

Vitamin B9.

This vitamin is more commonly referred to as folic acid, which was first isolated in 1941 from spinach leaves. Then it turned out that folic acid widely distributed in other parts of plants. Especially a lot of this vitamin in cabbage and green crops. In products, folic acid is in a bound form, and it is converted into a free form in the human body, acquiring vitamin activity. Lack of vitamin B9 leads to damage to the circulatory and digestive systems, growth retardation in children. The therapeutic effect of folic acid is used in leukemia, when the amount of hemoglobin in the blood decreases sharply. In addition, folic acid plays an important role in the synthesis of amino acids, protein metabolism, increases the activity of certain enzymes, and promotes better absorption of vitamin B12. The synergistic, that is, the joint effect of folic acid and P-vitamin substances, is used in the treatment of radiation sickness, atherosclerosis, obesity and liver diseases.

A variety of fruit and vegetable foods fully satisfies the body's need for folic acid. Rose hips, black currants and other wild berries, as well as vegetable greens, both garden and forest, have long been considered useful for anemia. Vitamin B9 also comes from rye bread and other foods.
It should be borne in mind that folic acid is relatively easily destroyed by heat treatment.

Vitamin A (retinol).

Considering the vitamin composition of plant foods, it would be more correct to say that it does not contain vitamin A, but its precursor, the pigment carotene. In humans and animals, a carotene molecule, oxidized, gives two molecules of vitamin A. Vitamin A itself is found in animal products - meat, fish, eggs, milk, especially fish oil and unrefined vegetable oils.

However, a person receives most of the provitamin A from berries, fruits, vegetables, which, as a rule, have a yellow-orange color; in vegetable green crops, green grass of wild plants, there is also a lot of carotene, only it is masked by another pigment - chlorophyll. The main suppliers of carotene are carrots, lettuce-spinach, spicy plants; in the spring-summer season, the lack of carotene can be completely compensated for by the food gifts of the forest and meadow. Ordinary edible greens, which we trample under our feet or pull out like weeds, contain a lot of carotenoids.
Vitamin A also has a second name - axerophthol, as it helps to cure an eye disease - xerophthalmia, or night blindness. In the deep stage of the disease, the cornea of ​​​​the eyes dries out, while the protective functions of the lacrimal glands are violated, and the eyes are easily affected by pathogens. However, in modern, relatively favorable nutritional conditions, an eyesore almost never occurs (this disease was typical in the old days for the poorest segments of the population).
With a prolonged deficiency of vitamin A, ailments begin to manifest themselves, diseases of the mucous membranes of the renal tubules, internal organs, gastrointestinal, genitourinary and respiratory tracts are observed. With a lack of carotene in poverty, the skin becomes rough, quickly inflamed, hair loses its luster.
Vitamin A is sometimes called the growth vitamin, the child's body needs it all the time, but it must be taken into account that carotene does not dissolve in water, it is a fat-soluble substance. Therefore, carrots and vegetable greens should be consumed with butter, sour cream and other fat-containing foods, otherwise the absorption of carotene will drop sharply. So, eating a whole carrot, we absorb carotene by 10%, but if we grind the carrots and season with mayonnaise or sour cream - by 80 ... 90%.
With excessive intake of vitamin A, poisoning can occur - hypervitaminosis, which is no less dangerous than hypovitaminosis. With excessive doses of vitamin A, children develop vomiting, small pinpoint hemorrhages on the skin and high fever; these phenomena can be observed to a lesser extent in adults. Self-medication with a vitamin A preparation is unacceptable, which can only be taken as prescribed by a doctor.
There is a lot of carotene in sea buckthorn, wild rose, hawthorn, cloudberries, red mountain ash, viburnum, raspberries. Nettle, St. John's wort, hops, clover, as well as pine needles, lime blossom, buds and birch leaves are rich in carotene.
Carotene is thermally stable, during cooking its losses are 10 ... 20%, but it is very easily oxidized when dried under the action of atmospheric oxygen; its losses under the influence of direct sunlight are even more significant.

Vitamin K (phylloquinone).

It has various derivative forms: plants contain vitamin K1, animal products - K2. In 1942, Academician A.V. Palladii received a water-soluble highly active vitamin Kz, on the basis of which the drug vikasol is produced, which is widely used to stop bleeding.
Vitamin K deficiency leads to a loss of the body's ability to synthesize the protein prothrombin, which is necessary for blood clotting. In a healthy body, vitamin K is synthesized by the microflora of the stomach, and also comes with poverty, so K-avitaminosis in adults is usually not observed.
The need for vitamin K is met mainly by cabbage, spinach, parsley. Many wild edible plants can be a good addition to them, especially nettle, liquid extracts of which are widely used in medicine.

Microelements.

The presence of minerals in most fruits, berries and vegetable plants ranges from 0.5 to 1.5%. Depending on the quantitative content, they are divided into macroelements, which make up tenths and hundredths of a percent, and microelements, the presence of which, as a rule, does not exceed 1 mg% (some microelements are found in plants in millionths of a percent).

Macronutrients

Potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium are found in sufficient quantities in grain flour products, meat, fish, eggs, milk, so there is no shortage of them. In fruits, berries and vegetable plants, more than 50% of the total ash content - oxides of mineral substances remaining after the product is burned - is potassium. Due to the high content of potassium, fruit and vegetable food reduces the water-retaining capacity of proteins and helps to remove excess water from the body, which is especially important for edematous phenomena due to diseases of the kidneys, liver, heart failure, high blood pressure.
The role of trace elements in the life of the human body is great. Suffice it to say that about 200 enzymes are activated by metals. In total, about 70 minerals have been identified in the human body, of which 14 trace elements are considered essential - these are iron, cobalt, copper, chromium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, iodine, tin, fluorine, silicon, vanadium, selenium. Many trace elements enter the body almost exclusively through fruit and vegetable nutrition. Wild edible plants are also rich in trace elements, which, when extracted from the deep layers of the soil, accumulate in leaves, flowers, and fruits.

Iron.

The most common trace element, its content in the body reaches 5 g, the daily requirement of an adult is 15 mg. The main share of iron is part of the hemoglobin in the blood. Iron deficiency causes anemia (anemia), metabolic disorders, affects the condition of the skin, hair, nails, and leads to a breakdown.
It is assumed that iron obtained from meat and bread products is absorbed only by 25 ... 40%, and from fruits and vegetables - by 80%, which is facilitated by the presence of vitamin C in the latter. substances form a sparingly soluble complex with the metal.
Apples, plums, strawberries, raspberries, black currants are rich in iron. Iron salts are found in sweet clover, angelica, nettle, goutweed, sorrel.

Cobalt.

It is part of vitamin B12, which is involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin in the blood. The presence of cobalt in the plant contributes to the accumulation of other vitamins. This element is found in almost all wild plants in which iron is present.

Copper.

The human body contains about 100 mg of copper. This metal is part of many enzymes that regulate the processes of respiration, together with iron is involved in hematopoiesis. In adults, copper deficiency does not manifest itself, but in children it leads to mental retardation, destruction of bones, aorta, and other anomalies.
Micro amounts of copper contained in natural products are not harmful. However, a dose of copper over 2 mg per day is toxic and can lead to deep poisoning, cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. This must be taken into account when cooking jam in copper basins and other brass utensils. It is easy to see that the inner surface of the copper basin brightens after cooking. This means that copper ions have passed into the finished product. The copper content in canned food (metal can penetrate as a result of interaction of the product with the surface of boilers, vacuum apparatus and other equipment) is strictly limited by the standard: no more than 5 mg per 1 kg in fruit compotes, 10 - in jam and marmalade, 15 ... 20 - in tomato puree. An increased amount of copper in fruit and vegetable products may also be due to the use of pesticides, which is excluded when using wild edible plants collected in the forest.
In quantities that are harmless to the body, copper is found in pome fruits, stone fruits, almost all berries, but this element was not found in porcini mushrooms. In wild greens, copper is present along with iron.

Zinc.

The body of an adult contains about 2.5 g. It has been established that this element is part of the insulin hormone involved in carbohydrate metabolism, as well as many metalloenzymes. Zinc is involved in the regulation of the functions of the pituitary, adrenal glands and pancreas, enhances the breakdown of fats, preventing fatty liver. In an adult, zinc deficiency does not manifest itself; in adolescents, with its deficiency, there is a delay in growth and sexual development. The daily requirement for zinc is 8 ... 22 mg.
Animal products are considered the main source of zinc; in harmless amounts, zinc is found in almost all fruits and berries, as well as in green vegetable plants.
Zinc is very toxic, so the use of zinc utensils for cooking and storing fruits and vegetables is unacceptable.

Nickel.

The role of this element in the human body is not sufficiently studied. It was revealed that a decrease in the concentration of nickel in the blood occurs in patients with liver cirrhosis, cardiosclerosis.
Nickel is also toxic. But compared with other microelements, its microquantities in many fruits and berries are minimal.

Manganese.

A common trace element, vital for both adults and children; takes part in the formation of bones, blood formation processes, is part of many enzymes. In plants, manganese stimulates photosynthesis and the formation of vitamin C. It has been established that the addition of manganese-containing fertilizers to the soil increases yields. The absence or deficiency of manganese in children causes growth retardation, in adults - a deterioration in well-being.
Manganese is found in many cultivated and wild edible plants. Ceps, boletus boletus, chanterelles are noticeably distinguished by the presence of manganese.
The daily requirement of an adult for manganese is 5 ... 10 mg.

Tin.

It is found in food products in small quantities, and is absent in many plants. Tin is less toxic than copper and zinc, but can be poisonous when it comes into contact with food from industrial equipment and metal containers, the surface of which has been tinned. Especially dangerous is long-term storage in cans of fruit and berry products with high acidity, as a result of which tin salts of organic acids pass into the product. The tin content increases rapidly if the jars are kept open.
For 1 kg of canned food, no more than 100 ... 200 mg of tin is allowed.

Iodine.

Vital element. Its content in the body of an adult is about 25 mg, half of this amount is in the blood, muscle and bone tissues, half is in the thyroid gland, which produces thyroxine and other hormones responsible for metabolism. Lack of iodine in food and water leads to goiter disease. School-age children are very sensitive to iodine deficiency, as it promotes the absorption of other important trace elements - calcine and phosphorus.
The content of iodine in vegetable poverty is negligible, with the exception of seaweed.
Thyroid diseases are observed in areas where water and food products are poor in iodine, therefore, iodized table salt is produced for preventive and therapeutic purposes. The body's daily need for iodine is 100 ... 260 mcg; with a normal diet, the body receives about 200 micrograms of this element due to iodized salt. However, you need to know that iodized salt saves medicinal properties within 6 months from the time of adding potassium iodide, after which it is sold as a regular table.

Tannins.

These are polymeric phenolic compounds, also called tannins, tanides or nolyphenols.
Tannins owe their name to oak, the bark of which has long been used to make animal skins elastic and waterproof. Up to 20% of tannins accumulate in the oak bark. To obtain them, the bark of spruce, willow and other trees is also used.
We encounter tannins every day when we drink tea. The tart, pleasantly astringent taste of tea is caused by the presence of a tannin-catechin complex of substances with high P-vitamin activity. Tea catechins strengthen the walls blood vessels, promote the absorption of vitamin C and, together with the latter, enhance immunity against infectious diseases.
Tannins are widely distributed in flora. They are found predominantly in unripe wild fruits and berries, giving them a tart, astringent taste that makes it easy to identify their presence. As fruits and berries ripen, the amount of tannins decreases, which is especially noticeable when apples, pears, mountain ash, rose hips ripen, hazelnut. But the tart, astringent taste of ripe bird cherry berries is especially pronounced.
Tannins are also contained in the green parts of plants, they are rich in St. John's wort, wormwood, rhubarb, hogweed, angelica, oregano.
According to the content of tannins, blueberries stand out - up to 1400 mg%, mountain ash - 500, black currant - 400, strawberries - 200 mg%, used as a therapeutic astringent for intestinal diseases.
Many fruits and berries, which have a tart taste, have a positive effect on the state of the gastrointestinal tract. The anti-inflammatory effect of tannic phenolic compounds is based on their ability to interact with protein substances: polyphenols, precipitating protein, form a thin protective layer on the mucous membranes, which leads to healing of superficial ulcerations of epithelial tissues and overall recovery.
It was found that catechins and other phenolic compounds (rutin, quercetin) have a choleretic effect, contribute to the accumulation of ascorbic acid and animal starch (glycogen) in the liver, thereby increasing its protective function. Polyphenols are important in protecting the liver from various poisonings. Tannins form complexes with heavy metals in case of poisoning with mercury, salts of copper, iron, zinc and neutralize their toxic effects.
Polyphenols have a positive effect on cardiac activity. Thanks to them, the heart drives more blood through the vessels, spending less energy. Phenols restore the disturbed rhythm, restore strength and capacity to the heart muscle.
During mechanical and heat treatment of fruits and berries, tannins are easily oxidized by atmospheric oxygen to form dark-colored compounds - flobafen. As a result, the appearance deteriorates and the biological value of the product decreases.
The appearance of a brown color on fruit sections can be prevented by blanching, that is, by steaming or immersing in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Since water-soluble substances partially pass into water, it can later be used to prepare syrups and fillings. At home, instead of blanching, 1.5 ... 2% sodium chloride solution is used. When drying under industrial conditions, fumigation with sulfur dioxide is carried out. In all cases of treatment, oxidative enzymes are inactivated - polyphenol oxidase, ascorbine oxidase, which prevents the darkening of sections and the destruction of vitamins.
When canning, one should strive to prevent contact of the pulp and juice of fruits and berries with metals - iron, tin, copper, zinc. When metals interact with tannins and anthocyanins (red and blue pigments), an unnatural color of the product occurs, the same changes occur during storage of canned food under the influence of the container metal. For example, in the presence of tin, anthocyanins give syrups and compotes a dark purple hue, as a result of which the products are rejected. When storing canned products from strawberries, raspberries, cherries in a glass container in the light, the pulp becomes discolored, so such products must be stored in the dark.
Browning of the pulp and skin of fresh fruits, especially in places of mechanical damage, can also be associated with tannins.

Glycosides.

The molecule of these chemical compounds consists of two parts: sugars (“glycos” in Greek means “sugar”) and a non-sugar part - aglycone. As sugars, monosaccharides predominate - glucose, rhamnose, gelactose; aglycone can be substances of various chemical nature - acids, aldehydes, alcohols, phenolic compounds. Aglycones combined with glucose are called glycosides.
Glycosides accumulate in various organs of many edible plants. In fruits and berries, they are concentrated mainly in the skin and seeds, they are also found in the pulp, giving it a peculiar taste and aroma. A typical representative of glycosides is solanine, which is formed when the part of a potato tuber or carrot root that protrudes from the ground turns green and can be very poisonous, so the green part must be removed during culinary preparation. Especially a lot of solanine is synthesized at the points of growth (eyes of tubers, necks of root crops) during the spring germination of vegetables.
The seeds and seeds of fruits and berries often contain amygdalin glycoside, the presence of which is easily determined by the characteristic bitterness with an almond flavor. Hydrolysis of amygdalin releases hydrocyanic acid which is a strong poison. Therefore, jams, compotes, tinctures from fruits with stones can be dangerous: hydrocyanic acid in a bound state is harmless, but as the products are stored, it can turn into a soluble form and cause poisoning. In the kernels of bitter almonds, amygdalin contains up to 2.5 ... 3, plums - 0.96, cherries - 0.82, apple seeds - 0.6%.
Horseradish contains the glycoside sinigrin. When it is hydrolyzed, allyl mustard oil is formed, which causes a sharp, burning taste. Rhizomes and leaves of horseradish are used in canning and storage of products as an antimicrobial agent.
The pulp of cranberries and lingonberries contains the glycoside vaccinin, which gives these berries a specific, slightly bitter taste. Hydrolysis of vaccinin releases benzoic acid, which has an antiseptic effect, which is why cranberries and lingonberries can be stored fresh for up to a year or more, like no other berries.
Chicory roots contain intibin glycoside, which gives a specific bitterness to coffee drinks, so chicory is added as a substitute for natural coffee. The glycoside sambunigrin was found in black elderberries; in the leaves and heads of meadow clover - glycosides trifolin and isotrifolin. Calamus rhizomes contain the glycoside acorin, which, along with essential oils, acts on the endings of the taste nerves, increasing the secretion of gastric juice and causing appetite.
Wormwood contains glycosides absinthine and anabsinthine, which give the plant a bitter taste; infusions and extracts of wormwood are prescribed as bitterness to increase appetite and improve digestion, wormwood is included in the composition of gastric drops and tablets, appetizing and choleretic fees. For the same purpose, dandelion roots containing the bitter substance tarxacin are used. Dandelion roots and grass, like wormwood, improve the secretion of the digestive glands, stimulate appetite, and are used for choleretic medicinal preparations.
In the roots of wild rhubarb, glycosides accumulate, which have a laxative effect; their substitute can be buckthorn bark glycosides, which have found application in medical practice.
Here it is appropriate to recall the indoor aloe flower, which has long been used to treat various diseases. The glycosides of its leaves are chemically and pharmacologically similar to those of wild rhubarb, now widely cultivated in culture. One of the amazing properties of aloe is that in the dark, at a temperature of 4 ... 8 ° C (in a home refrigerator), its cut leaves can accumulate biogenic stimulants for 12 days. Glycosides, or, as they are also called, anthraglycosides, rhubarb, buckthorn, aloe are slightly toxic, stable during storage.

Many plants contain a variety of glycosides - saponins. They got their name from the Latin word "sano", which means "soap". Indeed, despite the complete absence of alkaline properties, saponins have an original ability to produce abundant foam. This excellent quality is used in the manufacture of halva: the caramel mass is whipped to a fine-fibrous, as if foamy state with the help of an extract of a soap root (a plant of the soapwort group) and then mixed with crushed kernels of nuts, sesame or sunflower.
Saponins capable of forming foam even in negligible amounts (in thousandths of a dilution). Saponins are harmless if they enter the alimentary tract through the mouth; if they are injected directly into the blood, they are very poisonous, causing glycolysis, the destruction of red blood cells.
In medical practice, saponins extracted from medicinal plants are used as an expectorant that enhances the action of the respiratory glands. Some saponins can lower blood pressure, have a diaphoretic effect, and cause vomiting.
In the form of glycosides, some legumes and umbrella plants - hogweed, sweet clover - contain coumarins and furocoumarins, which are characterized by poor solubility in water and increased sensitivity to action. sunlight. Pharmacological properties, their very different: some are used as vasodilators and antispasmodics, others - as antitumor agents.

Alkaloids.

They are a variety of nitrogen-containing compounds that have a strong physiological effect on the human body. The most common alkaloid is caffeine found in tea and coffee.
The taste qualities of coffee are formed as a result of complex physical and chemical processes that occur during the roasting of coffee beans, which contain up to 1.5% caffeine. In a dose of 0.1 g at a time, caffeine has a beneficial effect: it tones up the activity of the heart and nervous system, relieves fatigue, and increases mental performance. But higher doses can cause backlash: increased heart rate, irritability, irritability, insomnia, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, increased urine output.
The amount of caffeine in a tea leaf reaches 5%. In addition to caffeine, tea contains alkaloids theobromine, theophylline, adeii and hypoxaitin, which together have a beneficial effect on the heart and nervous system, contribute to the expansion of the blood vessels of the brain, serve, the best medicine against fatigue and headache. Theobromine is also found in the kernels of cocoa beans (0.8 ... 1.8%) - the main raw material for the production of chocolate and cocoa powder. It is this substance that causes their specific bitter taste. The advantage of tea alkaloids in comparison with coffee is also that they exert their biological effect together with catechins and other components. Thus, the caffeine in the tea leaf is partially associated with tannin in the form of oxytheaniate. Sometimes a tea drink becomes cloudy when it cools - this just indicates the presence of oxytheaniate and at the same time about high quality tea. When the tea is heated, the turbidity disappears.
Alkaloids of everyday use include nicotine. Entering the body when smoking tobacco products, nicotine in small doses causes excitation, and in large doses - inhibition of the central nervous system. With systematic smoking, a person chronically poisons his body, while the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs become inflamed, the acidity of the stomach decreases, blood pressure rises, vasospasms and cardiac dysfunction are observed.
The history of the discovery of alkaloids is interesting. The first alkaloid morphine- was isolated from opium poppy in the early 19th century. The crystalline powder of an alkaline nature turned out to be a very strong drug and was named morphine - in honor of the mythological god of sleep, Morpheus. The next epochal event in the history of alkaloids was the isolation from the bark of the cinchona tree of quinine, the most important drug for the treatment of malaria. Then, one by one, brucine, caffeine, nicotine were obtained.
Pharmacological studies have shown that alkaloids have a wide spectrum of action: some expand, others narrow the lumen of blood vessels, and others have a stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Thus, medicine got the opportunity to control many physiological processes occurring in the human body.
In the domestic flora, there is an extensive group of alkaloid-containing plants (belladonna, egg capsule, periwinkle, tea), from which it produces valuable medicines. The content of alkaloids in plants depends on a number of factors: climatic conditions, the stage of biological development of plants, the time of their collection. The largest amount of alkaloids accumulates, as a rule, during the period of budding and flowering and can reach 2 ... 3% of the mass of a dry plant.
Here it is appropriate to say about the effect of galenic preparations, which received their name from the name of the ancient Roman scientist Galen. Galenic preparations are tinctures, extracts containing a complex complex of substances, including alkaloids. The value of such extracts from medicinal raw materials is that, along with known active ingredients, they contain other useful components. So, it has long been noticed that the presence of sugars in plants contributes to a more complete absorption of medicinal substances. Galenic preparations in some cases act gently and are more easily tolerated by the body than; individually pure substances.
Alkaloids, together with glycosides and essential oils, are found in some spices (spices) used to stimulate appetite and improve food digestion. So, the sharp burning taste of black pepper is due to the alkaloid piperine, and red pepper is due to the presence of a significant amount of the alkaloid-like substance capsaicin.
In some wild-growing edible plants (wormwood, St. John's wort), alkaloids were found only in the form of traces.

Essential oils.

From alkaloids, it is advisable to move on to essential oils, which are the main taste value of spicy plants. Spices are plant products with a specific persistent aroma due to the content of essential oils, as well as glycosides and alkaloids. More than 150 types of spices are known, which are used to improve the taste and smell of culinary dishes and canning products. Almost all spices have bactericidal and fungicidal properties, inhibiting the development of bacteria and mold fungi; when processing vegetables and fruits, they have an additional preservative effect.
The term "essential oils" is not entirely successful, since there is nothing in common between essential oils and fats, which include vegetable oils. He came to our century from the alchemists, when science did not yet have sufficient knowledge about the structure and properties of this group of substances.
Essential oils are volatile aromatic substances, consisting of thorn hydrocarbons and their oxygen derivatives - aldehydes, ketones, acids, alcohols. Acids, interacting with alcohols, form volatile esters. The number of individual substances in the composition of essential oils can be very large.
Essential oils include various formations. For example, cumin fruits contain 3...6% essential oil, which is dominated by carvone and limonel, which cause a strong spicy smell and a bitter-burning taste. Clove, which has a burning taste and strong aroma, contains at least 14% essential oil, the main part of which is eugenol and partly vanillin. A delicate pleasant aroma and a sweetish, slightly burning taste of cinnamon gives cinnamon aldehyde. The composition of the essential oil of apples includes aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, esters, allyl alcohol, formic, acetic, caproic, caprylic acids.
Spicy-flavoring plants are especially rich in essential oils. Hop fruit accumulate up to 2% of essential oils, including humulene and farnesene, calamus rhizomes - up to 4.8%, field mint leaves - up to 2.7%, and inflorescences - up to 6%. Essential oils are found in the leaves and stems of hogweed, black elderberries, wild strawberries, elecampane roots, rosehip petals.
Essential oils accumulate during the period of the most complete ripening of fruits, berries, seeds, their amount also depends on weather conditions - in dry, warm summer, grasses are more odorous, berries are more fragrant than those ripened in damp cool weather.
Long-term storage of fruits at low temperatures leads to a decrease in the content of essential oils and loss of aroma. When fruits and berries are affected by diseases, aromatic substances almost completely disappear, and an unpleasant smell of decay products, acetic fermentation appears, signaling the accumulation of toxic substances.
Fresh fruits, berries and herbaceous plants contain essential oils in small amounts, with the exception of spicy vegetables and citrus fruits. Relatively high content of essential oils are mint (especially its cultivated variety - peppermint), cumin, oregano, wormwood.
Essential oils accumulate in special glands, similar to sacs. Bend and squeeze the orange peel - it will disperse essential oil splashes like from a spray bottle. Sometimes, at low storage temperatures, brown spots appear on unripe lemon fruits - these are essential oil sacs that burst, essential oils leaked out, oxidized and dyed the skin brown.
Essential oils are almost insoluble in water, but are readily soluble in alcohol and benzene. They have found wide application in the perfume industry for the fragrance of toilet soap, lotions, colognes, toothpaste.
Steam-distilled essential oils are used to flavor gingerbread, creams, liqueurs, soft drinks. From dill seeds, for example, dill essence is made - a 20% alcohol solution of dill essential oil. Natural fruit essences are used to flavor caramel and other confectionery.
In pharmaceuticals, essential oils were originally used mainly to improve the unpleasant taste of medicines, but over time, they have revealed versatile pharmacological properties. Many essential oils have antimicrobial, antiviral, antihelminthic, and anti-inflammatory effects. Thus, anise-ammonia drops are widely used, which facilitate the release of sputum when coughing.
Essential oils affect the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, lower blood pressure, dilate the blood vessels of the brain, have analgesic and stimulating properties.
During drying, essential oils exposed to direct sunlight and high temperature quickly lose their specific odor and become resinous. Therefore, it is necessary to dry essential oil herbs as soon as possible, in the shade, at a temperature not exceeding 35°C.

resins.

They are thick, viscous, very sticky liquids secreted on the trunks of conifers and other tree species. According to the chemical composition, the resins are close to essential oils, they contain resin acids, alcohols, phenols, tannins, hydrocarbons.
Resins are rich in buds of pine, poplar, birch, linden, and many herbaceous edible plants.
Resins have a strong antimicrobial effect, are used for the preparation of tinctures, plasters. So, pine resin is part of the Kleol wound healing patch; the essential oil prepared from it - turpentine - is used in medicine and for various household needs.

Phytoncides.

Why is the forest air especially clean and healthy? Yes, green foliage, carrying out the eternal process of photosynthesis, saturates the atmosphere with oxygen, but, in addition to oxygen, the presence of some spicy volatile substances is clearly felt. The peculiar smell is especially pronounced in the pine forest, where the needles, bark, wood seem to be saturated with odorous substances - they disperse everywhere, sterilizing the air. These substances are called phytoncides.
The word consists of two parts: "phyto" - a plant, "cides" - poisonous. But these are “healing plant poisons,” as the founder of the science of phytoncides, Professor B.P. Tokin, called his book. Phytoncides of plants have a toxic effect on pathogenic microorganisms that are pathogenic to humans, thus preventing a number of diseases.
The anti-grinding effect of garlic and onions is known to everyone. It is easy to make sure of this: the onion is rubbed on a grater, and the resulting slurry is placed next to a drop of water in which pathogenic microbes are located. Within a minute, it will be found that the movement of bacteria has stopped, and when sown in a nutrient medium, they will stop multiplying - they will be killed by phytoncides.
The volatile fraction of onion essential oil (propionaldehyde, propyl mercaitan, methanol and other substances) is about 30 ... 35 mg%, sharp varieties have especially strong phytoncidal properties. Garlic phytoncides, which include the essential oil allicin, have a strong bactericidal effect. Garlic preparations are used to suppress decay and fermentation in the intestines, in diseases of the liver, upper respiratory tract, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma.
The scales of garlic and onions also retain antimicrobial properties. Aqueous infusions are prepared on the scales, which are used to moisten the sand used for layering carrots during storage; onion and garlic phytoncides inhibit the development of the sclerotinia fungus (white rot), which causes rotting of root crops during winter storage.
Phytoncides are a variety of substances of various chemical nature that can have a detrimental effect on microorganisms in subtle doses. Phytoncidal action is possessed not only by essential oils, but also by non-volatile substances - alkaloids, anthocyanins, glycosides, organic acids, aldehydes.
The use of vegetables, onion and spicy greens, wild edible herbs in salads or raw prevents gastrointestinal diseases, has a sterilizing effect in the upper respiratory tract, preventing the development of bronchitis, tonsillitis, influenza.
Having visited the Tashkent bazaar in the 30s, B.P. Tokin drew attention to how cooks immediately outdoors, in the heat, in dirty dressing gowns, they cook pies with meat, abundantly seasoning them with spicy herbs. In unsanitary conditions, these culinary products did not become a source of infection precisely because spicy plants and spices were added to minced meat.
Phytoncidal properties are inherent in many edible and medicinal plants. In canning, vegetable, spicy herbs and spices are widely used, the essential oils of which have a strong antibiotic effect.
Phytoncidal properties have birch, poplar, oak, linden leaves. A curious experiment was carried out: on a plate of leaves various trees placed a drop of moisture with pathogenic microbes; after a few hours, the microbes died, with birch and poplar leaves being the most effective.
The pharmaceutical scientist V. M. Salo suggested the following: “Alkaloids, glycosides, like all other substances of plant cells, perform some functions necessary for the viability of this type of function ... Many substances whose role in the plant is mysterious, apparently, provide their immunity: they protect proteins, carbohydrates, fatty oils of plant cells from the destructive activity of microorganisms, i.e. they are phytoncides. Further, the scientist noted that the protective role of phytoncides lies not only in the ability to kill microbes - combining into complex compounds with proteins and other nutrients of plant cells, phytoncides thereby make them "inedible", indigestible for microorganisms.
Phytoncidal properties of plants are widely used in the practice of vegetable growing and horticulture. Both favorable and bad influence different types fruits and vegetables on top of each other. For example, planting tomatoes between the rows of gooseberry bushes prevents the defeat of the latter by agricultural pests.
Having analyzed the main dry substances of the food gifts of the forest, we did not mention another most important component of the chemical composition of plants - water, and in fact its content in the mass
fresh product is 70…95%. Juiciness, freshness, digestibility of plant foods are in direct proportion to the water content.

Water.

The most simple Chemical substance contained in the plant cell. One of the characteristic properties of the water molecule (H2O) is its polarity: one hydrogen atom carries a positive charge (H+), the hydroxyl group is negative (OH-). Due to this, water has the ability to dissolve many biologically active substances, which increases their absorption by the human body and enhances the therapeutic effect.
Water in a plant cell is a medium in which sugars, organic acids, vitamins, mineral elements, pectin, tannins, dyes and other substances are dissolved. Fruit juices are nothing more than water squeezed out of the tissues of food plants. Their therapeutic and dietary value is undeniable. Drinks from berries, fruits and vegetables are much more important in nutrition than ascorbic acid tablets or rutin. The therapeutic effect of fruit and berry juices is determined by the complex of biologically active substances contained in them.
Water is not only a medium in which nutrients, - its molecule, under the action of hydrolytic enzymes, is easily involved in the chemical reactions of splitting complex organic substances into simpler and more easily absorbed by the body. The more water, the lower the calorie content of fruit and berry and vegetable food, but the easier the digestibility of substances dissolved in it.
An increased water content reduces the quality of the canned product, therefore early varieties fruits and vegetables, compared with medium and late ripening, are not suitable for long-term storage and canning. Water is a favorable environment for the development of microorganisms. Fresh fruits and vegetables are easily exposed to various diseases and cause large losses during storage.
In food plants, water is in a free and bound state, and the free form predominates - in the form of cell sap, in which valuable nutrients are dissolved. Only 10-15% of water is associated with proteins and other substances. Free water is easily separated during processing.
Strongly bound water is retained by colloids or ions of osmotically active substances, therefore, drying fruit and vegetable and medicinal raw materials to a moisture content below 10% leads to a deterioration in the digestibility of food products and the destruction of biologically active substances in medicinal plants; at the same time, the increased residual moisture of dry fruits, berries and mushrooms leads to mold and mustiness during storage.