Spreading quinoa is a plant that many gardeners consider a useless weed. They try to clear his plot of it. Surely they will be surprised to learn that this inconspicuous herb has many useful properties and is even used in cooking.
Spreading quinoa: description
This is a grassy annual plant belonging to the amaranth family (genus - quinoa). In height, it can be from 15 to 80 cm. The leaves are alternate, middle and lower. They have a rhomboid-lanceolate shape and serrated edges. The upper leaves are one-piece, sessile, without ears.
The flowers of the quinoa are small, inconspicuous, collected in small balls. These are apical inflorescences. They have simple perianths, five petals, which sometimes grow together. Perianth is sometimes absent, and it is replaced by a triangular bract. Dicotyledonous, but monoecious, with five stamens, flowers have a spreading quinoa. The root system is rod, branched. The root penetrates deep into the subsurface layer.
The fruit is dry, single-seeded, can be enclosed in bracts. Blooming quinoa blooms from June to mid-September. Fruits appear in August.
Spread
Spreading quinoa is widely represented in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and is found in China. On the territory of our country, it grows in almost all territories except the Far North. Spreading quinoa spread in North America. She prefers cultivated plots, farm territories, vegetable gardens and gardens. Often you can find this plant on the side of the road.
Chemical composition
Spreading quinoa is especially rich in useful substances during the flowering period. In the aerial parts of the plant were found:
- betaine;
- saponins;
- carotene;
- vitamin C;
- routine;
- essential oil;
- cellulose;
- proteins (up to 30%);
- mineral salts.
Spreading quinoa: useful properties and description of medicinal compounds
Due to the content of a large number of medicinal substances, the plant has calming, expectorant and anti-inflammatory properties. Pectin and fiber help cleanse the body of toxins. The wound healing properties of the plant allow its use in the treatment of certain skin diseases.
Spreading quinoa, the medicinal properties of which have been known since ancient times, have been successfully used in folk medicine. Lotions and poultices are prepared from it for the healing of ulcers, wounds, and inflammations of the skin. Quinoa helps to normalize the digestive tract, relieve debilitating dry cough, headache, cure jaundice and forget about stomach cramps. Infusion of quinoa is used for thrush and long, heavy menstruation.
Quinoa juice (from worms)
To get fresh juice, you will need young, not coarsened stems and leaves of the quinoa. Pass them through a meat grinder or grind with a blender. The resulting mass must be squeezed through cheesecloth, folded in several layers. The resulting juice is recommended to be taken half an hour before a meal, one spoonful (tablespoon) three times a day.
Gout decoction
This composition is prepared quickly and easily. You will need a spreading quinoa - two tablespoons (dry and chopped leaves). Pour them with 0.1 liter of boiling water. Put the composition on low heat for fifteen minutes. Now the broth must be filtered and the resulting amount of liquid brought with boiling water to the initial volume. This broth should be taken before meals in a tablespoon three times a day.
Decoction with thrush
Thirty grams of finely chopped (fresh) herbs, pour 250 ml of water, put the container on a slow fire for about twenty minutes. Squeeze out the raw materials, and add 500 ml of boiling water to the resulting broth. Cool and use for douching (twice a day).
A decoction for stomatitis
Grind three teaspoons of dry grass to a powdery state. Pour it with 300 ml of boiling water and set aside for an hour in a tightly closed saucepan, so that the broth is infused. Then the composition can be filtered, and the grass - squeezed. Broth should rinse the mouth in the morning and evening.
Tea
Spreading quinoa - a unique plant. Its leaves can be used to brew tea, which will help with coughing. It will relieve thick, difficult to separate sputum.
Cooking use
Quinoa salad is a delicious and very healthy dish. It is recommended to people in a stressful condition with a disease of the lungs and bronchi.
From the fully ripened seeds of the quinoa, they cook a delicious, nutritious porridge that tastes like semolina. In addition, flour is prepared from seeds, having previously got rid of impurities, hammers. This flour is an excellent additive for baking bread.
Spreading quinoa is an excellent seasoning for second fish or meat dishes. The leaves of the plant are well dried and then ground.
Harvesting raw materials
In folk medicine, almost the entire plant is used: leaves, flowers, unrooted stems and seeds. Medicines based on quinoa can be prepared both from a fresh plant and from raw materials harvested in the summer. This should be done during the flowering period. Dry it, like most herbs, under a canopy, in the air. You can use a well-ventilated room for this purpose. Seeds are harvested as they ripen.
The green part of the plant in dried form retains its beneficial properties for a year, and the seeds for three years.
