Burdock root extract - properties, uses and contraindications

Burdock (burdock) is a weed plant known to every person in our latitudes. These weeds stand out among other plants due to their large, rough leaves and basket-shaped inflorescences, which with their soft hooks cling to human clothing or animal fur, ensuring their spread. It was these burdock hooks that in the 50s of the 20th century served as the prototype for the creation of the Velcro fastener that is popular today.

But burdock is not only a widespread weed: it is a healing plant that has been used by herbalists since time immemorial to heal many skin ailments and diseases of internal organs.

How and where it grows

In Russia, the most common types of burdock are large and felt. They grow almost everywhere: they can often be seen on river banks, along roads, in vegetable gardens and forest clearings. They also love places where organic waste accumulates (landfills, manure heaps).

Content:

• How and where it grows
• Chemical composition
• Beneficial features
• Contraindications for use
• Use in folk medicine
• Burdock remedies
• Application in cosmetology
• conclusions

To ensure that harvested plants do not cause harm to health instead of benefit, when collecting raw materials (roots, leaves, fruits) of burdock, you must carefully select the places where it is collected. They should be located away from landfills, busy roads, agricultural lands and livestock complexes.

The main harvested raw material of this plant is its roots. The roots of one-year-old burdock are considered the most useful. It is recommended to collect them before hibernation - in September-October. It is at this time that the roots contain the highest possible concentration of nutrients. Burdock leaves are collected from July to September, when they are most juicy and fleshy, and the fruits are collected in July-August, that is, as they ripen.

Burdock roots are cleared of soil, washed and cut into pieces 10-15 cm in length. To dry, they are laid out in a thin layer on a thick sheet of paper in a dry but well-ventilated area.

Leaves and fruits are dried in a suspended state, avoiding exposure to sunlight. Dry roots are stored in dry, cool rooms for 5 years, leaves and fruits - up to 1 year (until the next harvest).

Botanical description of burdock

Large burdock
is a large biennial herbaceous plant, 60-180 cm high. The root is fleshy, taproot, lightly branched, spindle-shaped, up to 60 cm long, in the first year of life it is succulent, and in the second it becomes flabby and hollow inside.
In the first year, burdock forms basal leaves, in the second - a powerful, erect, ribbed, reddish, strongly branched in the upper part, slightly glandular stem. The leaves are petiolate, gradually becoming smaller towards the top of the stem, broadly heart-shaped, ovate, toothed, with sparse short hairs or glabrous above, grayish-tomentose below. The lower leaves are large, up to 50 cm in length and width. The flowers are collected in spherical baskets with a diameter of 3-3.5 cm, arranged in the form of a shield or corymbose panicle at the ends of the stem and its branches. The involucre of the baskets is bare, green, and consists of imbricated linear, gradually pointed, hard, hooked-curved leaves. The general bed of the basket is slightly convex, densely planted with rigid, linear-subulate bracts. All flowers are tubular, bisexual, with a lilac-purple corolla. Cup in the form of a tuft. There are 5 stamens, the anthers are fused into a tube with arrow-shaped appendages. Pistil with lower single-locular ovary. The fruits of burdock are oblong, bare, ribbed, spotted achenes, 5-7 mm long, with a tuft of multi-row yellowish-white, hard, easily falling hairs. The pappus is 2 times shorter than the achenes. Burdock
blooms in June-August. The fruits ripen in September-October.

Burdock

Arctium lappa Taxon

: Aster Family (Asteraceae)
Other names:
burdock, burdock
English:
Burdock, Edible Burdock, Lappa, Beggar's Buttons, Gobo

The botanical name of the genus Arctium comes from the Greek word arctos - bear; specific - lappa - from the Greek iavcin - to take, cling, grab.

Chemical composition

Burdock leaves contain a lot of tannins, essential oils and mucus. This chemical composition of the leaves allows them to be used as an external hemostatic and wound healing agent.

The seeds of this plant contain a lot of fatty acids and the lignan glycoside arctiin (eleutheroside F). This substance exhibits pronounced antibacterial and hypoglycemic properties.

The chemical composition of different parts of burdock differs significantly, but the roots of burdock are the richest in useful substances. Fresh roots of one-year-old burdock contain up to 18 g of carbohydrates (of which 3 g of dietary fiber), 1.5-1.6 g of proteins and up to 0.2 g of fat. The calorie content of 100 g of raw burdock roots is 72-75 kcal.

Burdock roots contain significant amounts of:

• inulin;
• fatty acid;
• phytosterols;
• essential oils;
• resins;
• tannins;
• bitterness;
• vitamins;
• minerals;
• mucus.

Fatty acids, of which the largest amount are stearic and palmitic, are involved in the synthesis of cell membranes and the main substances of connective tissue - hyaluronic acid, collagen and elastin.

Burdock phytosterols (stigmasterol, sitosterol) play the role of antagonists of animal cholesterol, preventing its deposition in the walls of blood vessels as part of atherosclerotic plaques.

Burdock roots contain many vitamins B, C, E. They are a source of potassium, manganese, magnesium, and copper.
Due to the high concentration of potassium, burdock raw material has a pronounced diuretic effect. Vitamins and minerals

Name	Content per 100 g of fresh roots, milligrams
Vitamin B1 (thiamine)	0,01
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)	0,03
Vitamin B4 (choline)	11,7
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)	0,32
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)	0,24
Vitamin B9 (folic acid)	0,023
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)	3,0
Vitamin E (tocopherol)	0,38
Magnesium	0,038
Potassium	308,0
Phosphorus	51,0
Sodium	5,0
Calcium	41,0
Iron	0,8
Manganese	0,23
Zinc	0,33
Copper	0,08
Selenium	0,0007

The bitterness contained in burdock raw materials, together with inulin, prevents surges in glucose levels in patients with diabetes.

Other recipes

Depending on the diseases for which burdock is used, the recipes differ. But at home you can prepare not only medicines based on this plant.

For example, you can make a salad. For this you will need:

1. Wash 200 g of burdock leaves, 50 g of horseradish, 100 g of green onions and 30 g of plantain leaves.
2. Grind everything.
3. Add salt and sour cream to taste.
4. Add sesame seeds if desired.

The green dressing turns out to be interesting. To do this, you need to wash and grind the leaves of burdock, dill, parsley, plantain and sorrel in a meat grinder. The mixture should be placed in molds and frozen. It can be added to soups, meat, fish.

Beneficial features

Products made from burdock roots have a variety of beneficial properties when taken orally:

• diuretic;
• diaphoretic;
• choleretic;
• antiseptic;
• antiallergic;
• hypoglycemic;
• wound healing;
• anti-inflammatory;
• laxative.

Burdock inulin is a polysaccharide that is a plant analogue of human insulin. It improves the penetration of glucose into cells, reducing its concentration in the blood. The presence of inulin in burdock normalizes the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates and restores normal intestinal microflora. In the intestines, this polysaccharide absorbs various toxic substances, including poisons.

Tannins exhibit wound-healing and hemostatic properties, and mucus has an enveloping effect on the mucous membranes of the digestive organs.

Contraindications for use

Burdock products are contraindicated for use if you have an individual intolerance to the chemical composition of the plant itself or other ingredients included in the product. It is not recommended to use burdock products for pregnant and lactating women.

Home remedies made from burdock may exhibit dangerous properties if its raw materials were collected in environmentally unfavorable places.

Such plants absorb many contaminants - pollutants (salts of heavy metals, pesticides, nitrates, radionuclides), so raw materials obtained from them can cause poisoning or allergic reactions.

Application of juice and fresh leaves

Fresh burdock leaves can be used as follows:

1. For mastopathy, apply to the chest.
2. For erysipelas, moisten the leaf in natural homemade sour cream and apply to the inflamed area.
3. For itchy skin, soak in milk before making a compress.
4. For wounds, cover them with a clean sheet, after kneading it with your hands to release the juice.
5. For joint problems, wrap them in sheets overnight and insulate them.

All these compresses are very effective. They need to be left for several hours.

Use in folk medicine

A pharmaceutical medicine called “burdock oil” is recommended by dermatologists and trichologists for hair problems. Externally, burdock products are also used for:

• eczema;
• furunculosis;
• skin itching;
• dermatitis;
• insect bites (mosquitoes, wasps, bees);
• snake bites;
• joint pain (for compresses);
• baldness.

For external use, use fresh leaves, a decoction of burdock roots or burdock oil.

For diseases of the digestive tract

A decoction and infusion of burdock roots is successfully used in the treatment of:

• heartburn;
• gastritis;
• ulcers of the stomach and duodenum;
• pancreatitis;
• atony of the gallbladder;
• constipation;
• hemorrhoids.

Taking burdock products internally improves digestion and stimulates the secretion of digestive juices.

For renal pathologies

Due to its diuretic properties, products based on burdock root are used for renal pathologies accompanied by edema syndrome. For urolithiasis, a decoction or infusion of burdock root helps to dissolve and remove small stones from the urinary tract. Burdock remedies are especially effective for urate stones (made from uric acid salts). The acids of burdock roots contain the enzyme uricase, which promotes the dissolution of urates and excretion in the urine.

For cancer

Traditional medicine recommends the use of products based on burdock raw materials for the complex treatment of oncological diseases of different localizations. For some tumors, folk remedies made from burdock are simultaneously taken internally and used externally. For example, for breast cancer, fresh burdock leaves can be applied externally to the site of the tumor, and a decoction or infusion from its roots can be taken internally.

Folk remedies from burdock for cancer do not replace the main treatment (chemotherapy, surgical treatment), but only help to inhibit the growth of tumors and improve the general condition of the patient during treatment.

Remedies from burdock roots are also used internally for:

• diabetes mellitus of the first or second type;
• gout;
• rheumatic diseases;
• prostatitis;
• prostate adenoma;
• allergies, including to pollen;
• bronchial asthma.

Burdock decoction also helps with poisoning with mercury and other heavy metal salts. In this case, we are not talking about acute poisoning, which requires the immediate use of specific antidotes, but about chronic intoxication (occupational hazards, addictions, unfavorable living conditions). In these cases, the medicine from burdock must be taken for a long time.

All about herbs and more

General information
Plant names: Latin - Arctium Common - Burdock Pharmacy name: roots - Radix Bardanae Arctium belongs to the Asteraceae (or Asteraceae) family. A number of burdocks are represented by 11 species. It owes its origin to the Mediterranean. Six species of burdock grow in Russia, the most common being large burdock (Arctium lappa) and felt burdock (Arctium tomentosum). The top of the stem of this burdock is covered with felt. The petioles, like those of the large one, are protruding and straight, but in shaded places they can bend in arcs.

Common names: In Dahl's dictionary, burdock is called lapushnik, moulder, dog. Belarusian: bryleunik, zadzerka, dog, dzyady. Kazakh: zhaprak. Azerbaijani: torture. Armenian: kratun. Georgian: orovanda. It is necessary to take into account that the name “burdock” is popularly used by several different species of Asteraceae with wide leaves, as well as marigold, water lily, and egg capsule. Its most famous middle name, Burdock, is rarely associated directly with burdock. Perhaps we can say that Burdock and Burdock practically live separate lives. Origin of names: Its generic Latin name Arctium comes from the Latinized Greek name for burdock "arcion" ("arceion", "arktion"). First used by Dioscorides in his work “Materia medica”. It is believed that it is consonant with the Greek “arktos” (“bear”) and was given to it because of its huge leaves. The specific “grab” is assigned to it because of the fruits that tightly cling to everything that passes by. The Russian word "burdock" contains an ancient Indo-European root with the basic meaning of "leaf". The name was given to plants with huge leaves. The name is related to the Lithuanian lapas - “leaf” and the Russian “paw” (including in the meaning of “coniferous tree branch”), as well as the adjective lop-eared.

Botanical description. Appearance: Burdock - Arctium When describing burdock, one should not forget that it is a biennial plant. In this he is very similar to his giver of the generic name - the bear. During hibernation, the bear economically spends the fat gained in the summer. Burdock stores all the nutrients accumulated in the first summer with the help of a powerful rosette of leaves in a huge root. And in the second cycle, it removes them from there, investing them in a tall trunk, at the top of which flowers and basket-shaped seed storages - burrs - will appear. That is why, when in early spring other plants look pitiful and defenseless, burdock immediately surprises with its powerful growth. The root generously gives out everything necessary for growth. Burdock appears before us in the form of an almost thornless large herbaceous plant, reaching a height of up to one and a half meters. If we could see through the ground, we would be amazed at its powerful tap root. The length of the root is not inferior to the height of the above-ground part of the burdock and sometimes stretches up to the same one and a half meters. The annual large burdock has a long root, up to sixty centimeters, and the lobe of branched roots pierces the soil horizon both in depth and in breadth. There is no place to stick a shovel in the burdocks, the ground is so clogged with roots and roots. From a distance, burdock attracts the eye with its large (up to 40 centimeters) leaves. Its leaves fit into the following definitions: heart-shaped, alternate, simple, petiolate. The front side resembles green oilcloth, the back side resembles gray felt. Against their background, the flowers are almost invisible. But if you get closer, you will see that they resemble small purple torches. The general branched inflorescence has a corymbose or paniculate shape. Burdock flowers are bisexual, identical, all fertile, with a regular tubular five-lobed corolla. The general receptacle is flat, barely fleshy, covered with numerous setae, initially flat, later spirally twisted. The involucre is glabrous or cobwebby, its leaves are multirowed, linear or lanceolate, the outer and middle leaves are narrowed into a deflected pointed tip ending in a small hook, the inner ones are more or less filmy, straight. Stamens with free bare filaments and arrow-shaped anthers at the base, ending at the apex with narrowed upward or pointed appendages and with filamentous bare simple or bi- or multipartite appendages at the base. The style is surrounded at the base by a suprapistal disc, which remains with the fruit, with linear, hairy branches curved at the base. Having analyzed in detail what usually eludes our eyes, we move on to what draws attention to itself - to the burrs. Burdock fruits are oblong achenes, flattened on the sides, truncated at the apex, ribbed, usually more or less wrinkled between the ribs (especially at the base and at the apex), less often smooth or almost smooth. The crest is short, its bristles are unequal, rough, multi-row, free to the base, falling, the attachment area is basal, straight. After ripening, the seed baskets easily cling to animal fur (or human clothing). In this way, the seeds are dispersed over considerable distances. Interesting fact: it is the burdock burdock that we have to thank for the now so popular Velcro fastener. In 1948, the Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral took a close look at the burdock seeds clinging to the fur of his dog, and it was then that he had a brilliant idea that quickly found practical application. She did not push buttons and laces out of the market, but significantly reduced their number. Flowering occurs in June - August, up to a thousand seeds per bush. Habitat: Settles on fertile soils near human habitation, on roadsides, in garbage areas, as well as on forest edges and clearings. Widely distributed: the range of the genus is the temperate zone of Europe and Asia. And some species are even brought to the American continent. Parts Used: Almost all parts are used in folk medicine. The roots, young leaves and young stems can be eaten.

An incredibly useful plant. It is used in many sectors of the national economy. Here are just a few examples:

• Insecticide against caterpillars of cabbage whites, cutworms and moths. In veterinary medicine, a decoction is used for washing horses and cows with itchy skin, lichen, and hair loss.
• Fatty burdock oil is used in soap making, the paint and varnish industry, and for the preparation of drying oil.
• Leaves and roots are used for food. The roots are consumed only from plants of the first year of life - raw, boiled, fried, baked. They are put in soups and borscht instead of potatoes, parsley, and carrots. Jam and marmalade are made from the roots. Roasted roots are a coffee substitute. Flour from the dried roots is added to the dough. Young shoots and leaves, peeled, are used for salads, cabbage soup, and borscht.
• The stems provide coarse fiber, and waste stems can be used to make wrapping paper.
• When fresh, the plant is not easily eaten by livestock, but it provides nutritious silage for dairy cows. In France, the USA, China and Japan, it is grown in gardens and industrial plantations.
• Honey plant, bees willingly collect nectar with a strong pleasant smell and pollen from burdock.

Collection and harvesting
Burdock roots are harvested in late autumn.
Only roots from the first year of life should be taken. At this time they are fleshy and juicy, but the roots of the two-year-old burdock are flabby, like wood, and are unsuitable for medicinal purposes. Shake off the ground. One source categorically warns against washing, arguing that dried soil remains can be easily removed with a brush by the end of the first day. Another source highly recommends cold water rinsing. The roots are cut lengthwise into long strips. Dry them outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. Another source recommends drying in a warm but not overheated oven. The shelf life of the roots is no more than one year. Burdock leaves are torn in the fall and dried, spread out in an even layer. Then it will be enough to soak these leaves in water and apply them to the sore spot. Medicine:
The roots contain the polysaccharide inulin (up to 45%), proteins (about 12.34%), essential oil (up to 0.17%), fat-like substances, palmitic, stearic acids, mucus, tannins, bitter and protein substances, sitosterol , resinous and other substances. The leaves contain essential oil, mucus, tannins, and ascorbic acid up to 350 mg%. The seeds contain 25-30% fatty oil.

Pharmacological properties.
Burdock roots are known in pharmacopoeias under the name lat. Radix Bardanae. An infusion of the roots in olive or almond (less often sunflower) oil called “burdock oil” is used in scientific and folk medicine as a means to strengthen hair. A decoction of the roots is used as a diuretic and diaphoretic. The root extract improves the composition of blood and urine in patients with gout while simultaneously improving the clinical status. The second fraction of plant alkaloids, obtained by electrodialysis, showed clear activity in inhibiting tumor growth. Young leaves of the plant exhibit antibacterial activity. It has been experimentally established that consumption of burdock root increases glycogen deposition in the liver. According to S. A. Tomilin (Kyiv), fresh or in the form of a liquid extract, burdock root is indicated for diabetes - a decoction of crushed root: 20 g per 250 ml of water, 3 times a day. Traditional Medicine:
Infusions and decoctions of burdock root are used to treat gastritis, stomach and duodenal ulcers, ulcers, boils, as a blood purifier.
Burdock decoction is used for various diseases of the genitourinary organs. It will help with gout, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, chronic constipation, and diabetes. Fresh leaves are applied to wounds, tumors, and sore joints. A remedy for treating salt deposits is prepared from fresh May burdock leaves. For inflammatory processes in the stomach, you should eat 4-5 freshly dug young burdock roots every day for two to three weeks. But after a few hours, fresh roots begin to lose their beneficial qualities. For colitis with poor peristalsis, atrophic changes in the mucous membrane of the large intestine, and persistent constipation, a decoction of burdock seeds is used. The greatest fame for burdock is the so-called “Burdock oil”, which quickly heals wounds and helps with burns. It is prepared not from burrs, but from fresh roots. Finely chop fresh burdock root, pour 3 full tablespoons of sunflower oil, leave in a warm place for 24 hours, then boil over low heat for 15 minutes, drain after straining into a bottle and store. Contraindications and possible side effects: none found. Magic:
The main magical properties of burdock are considered to be cleansing and protection from evil forces.
Let's look at protective recipes: a.) From evil forces. Burdock is placed in bags with dry herbs of all kinds. b.) From witchcraft. A wearable necklace is made from dried, chopped burdock roots. c.) From negative energy. Burdock leaves are scattered around the house. Collecting burdock for magical purposes has additional conditions. The magical and healing power of burdock roots is manifested if they are collected on the waning Moon, and the leaves should be cut in the first phase of the Moon, from sunrise to noon. Myths and Legends:
Two main qualities of burdock - the vitality of the plant and the tenacity of its prickly flowers-baskets - determined its symbolic meaning - persistence and obsession. Thistle, along with heather, is a symbol of Scotland. According to legend, the Normans, who wanted to subdue the Scots by cunning, decided to sneak up on the army barefoot at dawn, and one of the soldiers impaled himself directly on a thorny burdock flower, screaming in unexpected pain and thereby waking up the Scots. After the Normans were expelled, the savior flower was placed on the ancient Scottish coat of arms. He personifies perseverance and strength, invincibility and has the same prickly disposition as many Scots. In Slavic folklore, burdock is a symbol of worthlessness. However, he was often called grandfather, since there was a custom to place a symbol of a good spirit - a sheaf of this thorny plant at the gate or door of a hut, stable, in order to ward off foreign hostile spirits and evil spirits. In the language of flowers, burdock represents importunity and boredom. In the era of the Biedermeier style, the playful use of flower symbolism as communication was very popular; in that system, burdock literally meant “You can rely on my sympathetic devotion and reliable help.” A Japanese legend says that when they first met, gobo did not want to impose himself on a person, but only tried to attract his attention: he really wanted to make friends with the powerful ruler of the world. But people usually passed by indifferently or even scolded the gobo for its intrusiveness. And only one poor old peasant looked at him kindly and from then on they became friends. Since then, in many peasant fields in Japan you can see carefully tended beds of burdock, used for food. Burdock inflorescences were often included in Kupala wreaths. According to Polish legend, the severed head of John the Baptist rolled into the weeds, into the thickets of burdock and wormwood. This legend explains a simple operation that protects against headaches next year: the Western Slavs picked burdock and wormwood on St. John’s day and threw them onto the roof. In legends, burdock (associated with huge leaves) and burdock (associated with burdocks) show different characters even among the same people. As an example, I will give excerpts from two fairy tales by the same author: “In one old manor’s estate, they haven’t eaten snails for a long time, and they all died out. But the burdock did not die out. It grew and grew, and nothing could drown it out. All the alleys, all the beds were overgrown with burdock, so that the garden became not a garden, but a burdock forest. No one would have guessed that there used to be a garden here if there hadn’t been an apple tree and a plum tree sticking out here.” Hans Christian Andersen (c) “Happy Family” “And the young Scotswoman looked around for a long time, choosing and choosing, but she didn’t choose anything: not a single one of the garden flowers suited her taste. But then she looked over the fence where the burdock grew, saw its lush blue-red flowers, smiled and asked the son of the owner of the house to pick a flower for her. - This is the flower of Scotland! - she said. — It adorns the Scottish coat of arms. Give it to me! And he tore off the most beautiful one, pricking his fingers as if with a prickly rose hip.” Hans Christian Andersen (c) “The Fate of Burdock” Dream Interpretations are contemptuous of burdock in both of its forms: “If you dream of Burdock, you have made a mistake in something; a garden in a dream overgrown with burdocks, a sign that you are offended by the world,” exposes our not very beautiful qualities. “The appearance of this plant in your dream indicates immodesty of desires and excessive persistence,” another sonic warns of bad things. “Seeing a burdock in a dream means that you will not be able to achieve your goal,” a third person is disappointed in us. Burdock in a dream means obsessive troubles in life. “A problem will arise - how to get rid of an annoying, stupid person,” promises one dream book. “Frequent checks of work officials,” says another. And only girls can rejoice a little at the promise “To a new admirer,” however, it is not a fact that he will not turn out to be that “annoying, stupid person.” Russian proverbs and sayings also do not spoil the mug with a kind attitude:

• The burdock does not grow higher than the ash tree, and the rooster does not fly higher than the hawk.
• The burdock is tall, the devil is glad for it.
• It got stuck like a burdock in the wool.

Recipes, infusions, decoctions:
Burdock decoction.
For dropsy, take 1/3 cup of a decoction of 20 grams of burdock root per glass of water 3-4 times a day. Method for preparing the decoction: 1 tablespoon of dried and crushed burdock root, pour 500 grams of boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes over low heat. Burdock infusion. Preparation of diaphoretic infusion: boil two teaspoons of finely chopped roots over low heat in a glass of water for 10-15 minutes. Drink 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day. Use in cooking:
Burdock has such extensive uses in cooking that a separate book could be published containing recipes from burdock. Young burdock roots are consumed like carrots. Salads are prepared from its young leaves. For salad or vinaigrette, use boiled sweet roots and peeled, boiled petioles. Fresh leaves and petioles are added to green cabbage soup. Fried or baked burdock roots are especially tasty. They are also used to make jam. Burdock root flour mixed in a 1:2 ratio with rye flour is suitable for baking bread. In Japan, it is cultivated in garden beds, and is called “dodo” or “gobo”. Recipes: Salad. Take 100 g of burdock leaves, 30 g of horseradish, 50 g of green onions, 20 g of plantain, 20 g of sour cream, salt and sugar to taste. Dip the washed leaves in boiling water for a minute, dry lightly, chop, mix with chopped onion, add grated horseradish and chopped plantain, season with sour cream. Puree. Pass clean fresh burdock leaves (1 kg), 100 g of sorrel, 30 g of dill or parsley through a meat grinder, add pepper to taste. Mix, place in sterile glass jars and store in the refrigerator. Puree can be used to prepare soups, salads and as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes. Soup. Prepare 50 g burdock leaves, 80 g onions, 150 g potatoes, 20 g rice, 20 g butter, salt, pepper. Boil the peeled potatoes and rice until tender. Add chopped burdock leaves and sautéed onions to the soup 10-15 minutes before serving. Burdock soup with mushrooms. Cut the young burdock roots of the first year of life, peeled, into small pieces and cook like potatoes, then add 50 g of fresh mushrooms. You can also add some milk powder. Before finishing cooking, season the soup with pepper, wild garlic or other wild onions. Coffee. Grind the washed burdock roots, dry, fry until brown, and grind in a coffee grinder. It should be brewed like coffee, at the rate of a teaspoon of powder per glass of boiling water. Baked roots. You will need 50 g of burdock roots, 2.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Boil the roots in salted water and fry in oil. Stewed burdock root (gobo) – Tanakigobo. By beating the burdock root and destroying the root fiber, you get a fragrant, well-seasoned dish. Ingredients (for 2 servings): Burdock root (gobo) …..1 large root Broth………….1/2 cup Sugar…………..1 tsp. Salt……………a little Soy sauce………1 tsp. White sesame…….3 tbsp. l. Vinegar…………..1 tbsp. l. Sugar…………..2 tsp. Soy sauce………1 tsp. Salt……………a little 1 serving 167 kcal 1. Cut burdock root (gobo) into pieces 12 cm long. Add a little vinegar to boiling water and lower the gobo. Cook for 7-8 minutes, remove. Lightly beat the boiled gobo until cracks form. 2. Cut gobo into pieces 3-4 cm long, convenient for eating. After mixing the main ingredients from the list, pour the resulting sauce over the gobo and simmer. Simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. 3. Pour the cooled burdock root with sauce prepared from additional ingredients from the list.

Burdock remedies

Healing remedies from burdock can be prepared from its leaves, fruits, and roots. They are used externally (for compresses, lotions) and internally. For internal use, decoctions, infusions, tinctures are prepared, and juice is squeezed from fresh roots.

Decoction

Chopped burdock roots (2 tablespoons) are poured into 1/2 liter of boiling water, boiled for 20 minutes, filtered. Take 100 ml three times a day.

Cold infusion

1 teaspoon of crushed roots is poured into 250 ml of boiled water at room temperature and left for at least 5 hours (for example, from evening to morning). After straining, drink warm throughout the day.

Juice from roots

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Treatment with juice from fresh burdock roots is carried out in May-June, when burdock roots contain the greatest amount of useful substances. The dug up roots are crushed to a pulp (grated or passed through a meat grinder), and the juice is squeezed out. Take 1 tbsp orally. spoon at least 3 times a day. The continuous course of treatment should not exceed one week, then a break for the same period is required. After this, the course is repeated.

The juice is consumed internally for liver diseases, and externally for the treatment of dermatological diseases and tumors.

↑ About yummy

Common burdock

On Sedition I read the headline “Burdock root instead of winter vegetables” and remembered my long-standing experience of boiling burdock oil. Why, how I cooked it and where I used this oil - I don’t remember, but what was supposed to be thrown away after boiling was burdock roots

— I decided to taste it.

SO YUMMY! I ate it and didn't notice. And I was going to repeat everything, but somehow, as it happens... city life..

And now I find out that it used to be one of the staple foods.

The article inspired me to eat burdock roots globally. Join us! I guarantee that the root is delicious!

You can read the article itself here:

In Europe, the most common supermarkets sell burdock root, kohlrabi and truly sweet turnips. In Asia, where ordinary potatoes never took root, thanks to rice, they make salads from fresh burdock root and are not even surprised by this fact. In Switzerland they cook turnips for lunch and are very surprised when Russian tourists ask: what do you eat it with?

But in our country, turnips remain only in fairy tales and proverbs (“simpler than steamed turnips,” this is what they say in our culture, and not in China, for example), and we don’t even know its taste. What we have in our hypermarkets is dirty and forgotten, believe me, it’s not a turnip, it’s a hybrid of the hard heel of an elephant. Turnips should be juicy, sweet and aromatic! In a sense, it is reminiscent of the currently reviving culture among summer residents - kohlrabi.

It was in our tradition that burdock root was served for both the first and second course, and instead of bread. Yes, that was not so long ago, some hundreds of years ago. Such knowledge has been lost. We don't even know what this root looks like, with the rare exception of professional herbalists.

But our ancestors lived for a long time and did not get sick precisely because they ate medicinal foods every day. Turnip for bones, burdock for everything - it even treats hepatitis (!), pine nuts instead of milk, Old Believers still call it bread, we won’t even mention hemp oil.

So, let's add some variety to our diet and try to cook something traditional and healthy.

Since the taste of burdock root is something tender, juicy, at the same time crispy and slightly reeking of medicinal herbs, there can be a lot of recipes for fresh root.

Carrots, in comparison, are much coarser in taste. Hence, my personal recommendation is that if you use carrots, lightly marinate them before adding them to the burdock root salad.

It will go perfectly with - apple, celery stalk, cucumber, grated ginger, kohlrabi.

↑ Burdock root salad

My version:

• Burdock root – 7-8 peeled large roots
• Apple – 1
• Cucumber – half the volume of burdock root
• Lettuce leaves - for placing the finished dish on them
• Goji berries - to taste
• Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon

↑ Healthy mayonnaise made from raw plant ingredients for it

• Almonds or cashews – 1 cup, pre-soaked
• Lemon juice - about half
• Honey – 1 dessert spoon
• 1 clove of garlic
• Sea salt optional
• Water – enough for the consistency of sour cream
• If you want it spicier, add a little ground white mustard seeds

↑ Making burdock salad

• Peel the peel from the burdock root. This is easy to do using potato peelers. Rinse it from any remaining soil.
• Then cut it into manageable pieces, like Korean carrots, or as desired. Add to bowl, sprinkle with lemon.
• Cut the cucumber and apple in the same manner. Add goji berries. You can lightly soak them in orange juice before this, I like them crunchy, I skip this point. Mix everything.
• Bring all ingredients for mayonnaise in a blender until smooth. It should turn out like real mayonnaise, only tastier.
• Place lettuce leaves on a plate, then prepare the salad and serve with mayonnaise sauce.

Finally, information from the wonderful herbalist Elena Fedorovna Zaitseva, who will tell you about the true properties of burdock:

Application in cosmetology

Burdock root products are often used in cosmetology to strengthen hair and get rid of dandruff. For these purposes, it is more convenient to use pharmaceutical products made from burdock: pure burdock oil, shampoos or balms based on it. From burdock oil you can prepare complex remedies that help with itchy scalp: with the addition of a decoction of calendula, chamomile or hop cones.

Regularly rubbing burdock oil into the scalp is useful during chemotherapy courses for the treatment of cancer. It helps maintain the vitality of hair follicles and accelerate hair regrowth after hair loss.

Use of burdock on the farm

In the Middle Ages, burdock

used as a vegetable, now widely used in Japan, Korea, Italy, Brazil and Portugal.
The roots, which grow up to 1 meter long and 2 cm in diameter, and the stems before flowering are eaten. It tastes like an artichoke. In cooking, burdock is used to prepare salads, vinaigrettes, borscht, and soups. The roots are used baked, fried (pre-boil in salted water), raw as a potato substitute, flour is made from them and mixed with wheat or rye (mixed in double quantity) to make flat cakes. Korean-style burdock
: cut green (not red) sprouts no more than 30 cm high, with leaves that have not yet blossomed (500 g), soak overnight in cold water to remove odor, boil in salted water, peel the stems, cut into slices , fry, then add soy sauce, sprinkle with crushed sunflower seeds, add garlic, onion and simmer until tender.