Probably, each person had to see the wild rose, growing in many forests. Looking at his small but attractive flowers, it is hard to believe that he is the ancestor of the exquisite rose. But it is so. And the dog rose has a number of useful properties, due to which it is used in many areas of human life.
External description
To begin with, we give a short description of the wild rose. In general, according to various estimates, from 300 to 500 species of this valuable plant exist. Of course, they are significantly different from each other. Therefore, we give an average description that most fully reveals the picture.
It is a shrub. Usually the height of the wild rose is about 2-3 meters. Lives up to 50 years. However, this can be very different - depending on the growing conditions. On arid, depleted soils, some bushes do not grow more than 25-30 centimeters. And with enough moisture and nutrients in the soil, real giants grow up to a height of 6-8 meters. The oldest known dogrose grows in Germany, near the Hildesheim Cathedral. His exact age is unknown, but experts estimate it for more than five centuries! Its height is 13 meters, and the trunk at the base has a girth of 50 centimeters. Of course, such a structure of wild rose is not the rule, but an extremely rare exception.
The leaves are not too large, about 1x3 cm. Collected in groups of 5-7 on one branch.
The root system of wild rose is quite powerful, which allows it to survive even on arid soils - moisture is extracted from a depth of several meters.
The flowers are not too big, about 4 centimeters in diameter. The color varies greatly - most often there are shrubs with white and pink flowers, but you can also see mixed and yellow flowers.
After flowering, the ovary and berries appear - first green, later red or orange. There are also bushes with black berries. The fruits themselves are a thin shell of pulp covering several tens of small seeds.
Giving a morphological description of the wild rose, one can not help but mention the spikes. Not too large, but surprisingly sharp, they cover almost the entire stem, which makes picking berries a very dangerous activity - one careless movement and hand, or even the picker's face, will be covered with deep scratches.
Distribution area
To begin with, the Latin name for wild rose is Rosa canina or dog rose. Yes, from a scientific point of view, this is also a rose, although between the beauties familiar to most people and these noticeable, but still modest flowers, hundreds of years of purposeful selection.
The plant received the Russian name thanks to spikes. Which is not surprising - a cautious person first of all will pay attention to thorns before picking berries.
It is quite difficult to establish the homeland of the wild rose. This unpretentious plant, easily tolerating wind, heat, drought and cold, is found almost throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It usually grows in forests and steppes, near water. Moreover, as they said, it easily withstands drought, which can destroy other shrubs - thanks to a powerful root system - it deepens to 5 meters.
You can meet in the entire post-Soviet space, as well as in most countries of Europe. However, it also grows in North America, and in North Africa, and India. Sometimes bushes come across even in the Philippine Islands. But the local varieties are very different from the ones we are used to - they are more reminiscent of creepers than shrubs. Therefore, only an experienced botanist will be able to understand that in front of him is a representative of the genus of wild rose.
What does it contain?
Surprisingly, almost every part of the shrub is useful and medicinal - from the roots to the fruits.
The fruits contain a huge amount of vitamin C - 50 times more than in the usual lemon! In general, the content of ascorbic acid largely depends on the variety and place of growth. In most of our country there are bushes, the fruits of which contain up to 1.5% of this valuable vitamin in their pulp. In the valley of the Irtysh River in Kazakhstan, bushes grow, in which this figure reaches 4 percent. They also include vitamins B2, P, K, and E. Some experts generally consider it to be the most medicinal plant of the existing wild rose!
The essential oil contained in the petals is highly regarded. Rose oil has always been very expensive at all times - not only due to its great aroma, but also to its benefits. Petal oil contains flavonoids, anthocyanins, glycosides and a number of other substances. Yes, although the flowers of the wild rose are quite unpretentious, they are the raw material for the preparation of these oils.
The leaves are also very useful - they contain not only essential oils and vitamin C, but also tannins, flavonoids, catechins and phenolcarboxylic acids.
The branches, primarily the rosehip bark, can boast of the presence of vitamin P, sorbitol, saponin, and catechin in their composition.
Finally, even the roots are healing! They include triterpenoids, flavonoids, catechins and tannins.
Benefit and harm
As you can see, the wild rose, whose photo is attached to the article, is a very useful plant that can heal many diseases. But he also has shortcomings, contraindications, which are very important to know in order not to make mistakes.
Fruits are actively used in medicine - both in pure form (rosehip tea), and in the form of complex derivatives - they make various medicines. They are prescribed both with conventional vitamin deficiency, and with deadly diseases. Due to its unique composition, drugs can help cure various diseases or, at least, alleviate their symptoms.
We will talk about all this a little more in detail later. Now back to the possible harmful effects of consumption.
To begin with, high levels of vitamin C with constant use can damage tooth enamel. Therefore, you need to drink tea through a tube, avoiding contact with the teeth, or simply rinse your mouth after taking.
It is quite understandable that people with an allergy to vitamin C should abandon such drugs. Diabetes and gallstone disease are also diseases in which it is not worth taking medications from rose hips. With gastritis and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, one should also refrain from taking fruits and preparations made on their basis.
Use in medicine
Now we’ll talk in more detail about how rose hips are used in medicine.
The oil prepared from its seeds is actively used for dermatoses, ulcers, bedsores. It will become a real find for nursing mothers suffering from cracks in the nipples.
By influencing bone marrow function, rosehip can help treat whooping cough, diphtheria and scarlet fever.
Sorrow, hemophilia, hemorrhagic diathesis and anticoagulant poisoning are also included in the list of diseases that are successfully cured by rosehip infusions. In fact, these are far from all diseases that can be successfully combated with the help of rosehip berries and derivatives thereof. This list is really huge and includes many dozens of items.
Simple tea from it perfectly supports the immune system. It is no coincidence that it is recommended to drink it with pneumonia, hyperthyroidism, constant nervous and physical exertion. In the absence of contraindications, the infusion will be a good choice for a pregnant mother, positively affecting the intrauterine development of the child.
It is from the wild rose that a number of widely known medicines are made.
- "Holosas" - a condensed aqueous solution of the extract. It is used as a diuretic and choleretic agent.
- "Carotolin" is a wound healing product extracted from seeds. Contains tocopherols and carotenoids.
- "Galascorbin" - used for burns and cracks in the skin. It is a compound of salts of ascorbic and gallic acids.
In traditional medicine, mainly fruits and seeds are used. But traditional medicine appreciates every part of the bush - connoisseurs are able to prepare various drugs that can successfully fight a variety of diseases.
Cooking Application
Rosehip is also widely used in the food industry. Of course, the simplest is tea from its dried fruit. But from the pulp it is often made pastille and mashed potatoes, which have a high concentration of vitamin C. One teaspoon is enough to satisfy the daily rate of ascorbic acid.
Petals can become a raw material for the most delicate pink jam - one of the most valuable. Berries are often used when brewing kvass.
Rosehip petals are used in Slovenia - a soft cocktail drink is made from it. And in the Caucasus, young shoots are consumed as ordinary vegetables - raw or when preparing various dishes.
However, the petals and fruits of some varieties are much more beneficial than others. Therefore, it is worth studying the classification of wild rose, before you go to the forest to collect valuable raw materials.
Place in industry
Rosehip is also used in industry.
Of course, first of all, petals are used to make essential oil - refined and surprisingly fragrant, capable of becoming the basis for perfumes. The oil content in the petals is very small, so to get one kilogram of the finished product, you have to process about three tons of raw materials!
In the USSR, the industry aimed at producing rose oil was actively working. Today, alas, it completely ceased to exist. Instead of a high-quality product used for the manufacture of expensive cosmetics and flavoring food products, a synthetic analogue is imported from other countries.
Fruit seeds also found application - they turned out to be very suitable raw material for drying oil.
Optimal growing conditions
Of course, rosehip grows best on nutrient-rich chernozem soils with regular watering or rainfall. In this case, he does not have to develop the root system, which means that the crown and fruits are more actively developing.
But also the bush grows well on poor soils - both loamy and loamy. Even in dry years, it can produce the necessary moisture from great depths. Of course, under such conditions, the number of fruits, their size and quality are significantly reduced.
Thanks to many years of selection, modern cultivars can boast not only larger and more beautiful flowers, but also a large number of fruits, the sizes of which will pleasantly surprise any connoisseur. High-quality care - regular watering, cleaning the site of weeds, loosening the soil for the penetration of oxygen - can achieve an even more impressive effect.
Collection and storage
Fruit picking usually occurs in early to mid-August - depending on the climate in the area and the weather in a particular year. If drying and long-term storage are planned, then it is enough to wait until the berries turn red and immediately begin collecting. In cases where the procurer plans to use the fruits as raw materials for making jam, marshmallows or marmalade, it makes sense to wait another week or two. Then the overripe flesh will become more tender, supple. It is much easier to clean from impurities - seeds and sepals.
But still, drying is most often used as the simplest method, providing a significant shelf life of the product and not destroying valuable trace elements and vitamins.
You can use a conventional vegetable dryer, which is sold in many stores.
Also a good choice would be ordinary drying on a hot day. The collected berries (along with the sepals) are poured onto metal corrugated pallets and placed in a warm, dry, but shaded place. The iron tray heats up quickly after which the berries are actively dried. But still, it takes up to a week for complete drying - depending on the temperature and humidity.
Putting pallets in the sun is not worth it. On the one hand, this speeds up the drying process. But on the other hand, efficiency is sharply reduced. The top layer dries completely due to strong heating and can no longer pass moisture. And inside, in the seeds, she will remain. And it will be almost impossible to get rid of it - you will have to break the berries so that the moisture can calmly go away after further drying.
It is very important to dry the berries well - even a small amount of moisture can lead to the development of fungus and mold, making the fruit completely unsuitable for eating. To check this, it is enough to knead several berries from different parts of the pallet between the fingers. If the particles crumble, then the drying was successful. If the flesh or seeds are smeared at least a little, it is necessary to continue drying to prevent spoilage.
If you plan to dry a small amount of fruit, you can use the oven. It is heated to a temperature of about 70-80 degrees Celsius, after which baking trays with berries are placed there. Then the door closes - only a small gap is left for ventilation and removal of excess moisture. Drying lasts about two days - plus or minus 12 hours. It depends on the initial moisture content in the fruits and their size. After this period, it is necessary to check the readiness of berries in the manner described above. If they have not dried - it is worth returning the pan to the oven.
After that, the dried berries are poured into canvas bags and put away for storage - in a dry, preferably cold, dark and well-ventilated place. As such, they may well be stored for several years without losing useful properties, for which experts highly value them.
