Air is a perennial marsh herbaceous plant belonging to the aroid family, with a creeping fragrant rhizome no more than 3 cm in diameter, white inside, porous. The leaves are long (up to a meter), xiphoid, come out in bunches from the top of the rhizome. At the root there are many thin, cord-like roots. The stem is up to a meter high, straight, not branched, covered in the lower part by a bunch of leaves. It blooms from June to July with small yellow-green flowers. Rhizome has a sharp spicy taste and smell. Calamus grows along the shores of lakes, ponds, slowly flowing rivers and other bodies of water, in wetlands. It occurs in the steppe zone of European regions (to the Volga), in the south of the Far East and Siberia.
Calamus root has been used in all these regions because it has excellent healing effects.
The chemical composition of calamus root and its harvesting for medicinal purposes
For medicinal purposes, calamus root is used, the use of which gives a remarkable effect due to the content of essential oil (about 5%), bitter glycoside of acorin, ascorbic acid, gum, resin, tannins, calamine alkaloid, choline, up to 35% starch.
Rhizomes are harvested in early autumn, in some places in early spring. Rhizomes are dug up, washed in cold water, then cut into pieces about 20 cm in length, without cleaning the cork layer. Initially, they are dried in the air in the shade, then they clean off the skin with a knife and dried in the attic, under a canopy or in ovens or dryers with a temperature of no higher than 30 °. In dry form, they can be stored for at least 2 years.
Calamus root: application in folk medicine
Apply the root of calamus swamp in the form of decoctions, alcohol and water infusions and tinctures, as well as powders.
The acorin glycoside and essential oils contained in the roots of calamus affect the endings of taste buds, thereby increasing appetite, improving digestion and increasing the release of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which is especially useful for patients with low secretion of gastric juice.
Calamus root preparations are used today for peptic ulcer of the duodenum and stomach. Glycoside acorin increases the tone of the gallbladder and bile secretion of the liver.
Also, root preparations of this bog plant are prescribed for jaundice and kidney diseases, malaria, rickets, exudative diathesis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, pneumonia, cough, bladder diseases, as a diuretic.
A decoction of the roots has analgesic, disinfectant, wound healing and expectorant effects. Calamus root preparations are also used for chronic gastritis, achilia, diarrhea of various origins and other digestive disorders. Calamus root is part of the stomach and laxatives.
Some herbalists recommend calamus root in case of nervous diseases accompanied by seizures, in chronic diseases of the spinal cord with loss of sensitivity, with frequent heartbeats and to lower blood pressure.
And root juice is used as a means to improve vision and memory.
Sometimes root preparations are used for hepatitis, colic and cholecystitis.
The root of the plant has found application in external products. For example, old ulcers and purulent wounds are sprinkled with crushed root (powder) or washed with tincture or decoction of calamus root. The effectiveness of calamus for infected ulcers and wounds is due to the content of volatile, with antiseptic properties.
Calamus root for hair is also extremely beneficial. So, in case of hair loss, decoctions of dry shredded roots are used to wash the hair (they grind the root, pour boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Then add calamus leaves and flowers and boil for another 5 minutes. It is better to use the medicine fresh). The same decoction is used in the form of lotions and washes in the treatment of ulcers and purulent wounds.
With poor hair growth, their increased loss or dry seborrhea , they wash their hair or rub it into the infusion of calamus roots: pour a glass of cold water on the table. teaspoon of crushed airy root and insist about 8 hours, use twice a week (course 2 months).
The root broth is drunk for toothaches or rinsed in the mouth for inflammation of the gums and oral cavity: 1.5 tbsp. boiling water is poured into a teapot. spoon chopped roots, 2 hours, insist, filter.
And to strengthen the gums and teeth, ordinary tooth powder is mixed with powder from calamus roots (not more than 0.5 grams per 1 time). They brush their teeth three times a day.
With heartburn, a quarter of tea houses. spoons of calamus root powder with a sip of water. Or chew a small piece of the roots and swallow.
With hepatitis take the roots of calamus, St. John's wort and immortelle in equal parts. Pour boiling water (200 ml) a tablespoon of the mixture, 5 minutes. boil. Drink before meals three times a day, 100 g.
With gastritis, intestinal and gastric colic, colitis, an infusion of calamus roots is good: pour a glass of boiling tea. spoon of root (chopped), 20 min. insist, filter. Drink before meals 100 g four times a day.
With diarrhea, 2 teaspoons are brewed. tablespoons of calamus powder 200 g of boiling water, 2 hours insist in a sealed container. Filter and drink 50 g of a glass before meals, three times a day.
With hemorrhoids, sedentary baths from a decoction of calamus roots help: 30 g of raw materials per liter of water.
For diseases of the gallbladder, pour 200 g of boiling water a teaspoon of the root, 20 minutes. insist, filter. Infusion is taken four times a day for 0.5 cups.
With angina, caries, periodontal disease and toothache, the root of calamus is chewed.
For colds, nasal congestion, and polyps, they smell airy powder. And in small doses, it is an effective way to bring a person into consciousness with a coma or shock, it cleans the airways, causing sneezing, and also improves memory.
Calamus root: contraindications
The root is contraindicated in all kinds of bleeding, including nasal and hemorrhoidal. Do not use the root in patients with increased gastric secretion. In large doses, the root of the bog calamus acts as an emetic.
Calamus root, the use of which, as we have already seen, is quite multifaceted, you can use it only after consulting a doctor!