Watercress (Nasturtium officinale L.). Sowing, or pinnate

Abdullah bin Abbas reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
ماذا في الأمرين من الشفاء: الثفاء والصبر
“The guarantee of health is in two: in and cress”

Watercress- a storehouse of vitamins. It contains vitamins A, C, D, E, K and almost everything in group B. In addition, the plant is rich in trace elements, especially iodine, iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, as well as lepidin, propsoline, essential oils , in small quantities it contains protein and sugars.

Chemical composition

The smell of lettuce is due to the presence of alyl mustard essential oil in the leaves. In addition, they are rich in salts of iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iodine, contain protein, thiamine, riboflavin, up to 165 mg /% ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and up to 3.8 mg /% carotene (provitamin A). The seeds contain a lot (up to 50 and even 60%) of fatty oil.

Al-Kahhal bin Tarhan said:

“Khurf, he is a suffa, and the people call him “khabbur-rashad” - watercress. It warms, softens the stomach, removes worms and increases libido. If cooked with soup, it will banish curiosity from the chest and prevent hair loss. If you make a dressing with watercress, water and salt, it will dry out the boils. It is useful for asthma, difficult breathing, clears the lungs and promotes the onset of menstruation. If you drink it in the form of a five dirham weight powder with hot water, it will act as a laxative, relieve gas and help with colic. If crushed into a powder and drunk, it will be beneficial in leprosy. Watercress also helps with white lichen (if smeared on it) and headaches due to colds and mucus.

Among the names of watercress (“al-suffa”) are rashad (as it is called in Syria) and bakdunis hadd (“spicy parsley”). It is eaten raw, adding its fresh leaves to salads, soups, meat and fish dishes as an appetite enhancer and aid in the digestive process. You don't need to add salt to it to get the full benefit of its natural properties. The chlorophyll contained in it promotes the absorption of odors from the body. Also, its leaves increase the amount of milk in lactating women.

Watercress is the richest plant in iodine, so it is easy to digest. It also contains iron, sulfur, lime, phosphorus, manganese and arsenic. It is rich in vitamin C. It also contains a small amount of vitamins A, B, PP and carotene. Modern research indicates that watercress contains antibiotics that kill bacteria.

Dr. Jean Falina believes that watercress is an invigorating, restorative and appetizing agent. It is useful in the treatment of anemia and dental diseases, has a diuretic and sedative effect, lowers blood pressure, activates the hair follicles, and its juice is used as a remedy for hair loss and for the treatment of abrasions and wounds on the skin.

In folk medicine, cress is used as a tonic, vitamin, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, expectorant, antidepressant, antisclerotic, antioxidant agent. It well removes toxins from the body, normalizes blood pressure and blood composition, improves digestion and sleep. Recently, doctors have come to the conclusion that regular consumption of watercress in food or taking preparations made from it helps reduce the risk of cancer and prevent eye diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

Traditionally, watercress is used for the prevention and treatment of wounds, ulcers and burns, skin, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and colds (especially cough and bronchitis with difficult sputum discharge) diseases, cholelithiasis, vitamin deficiency, anemia, increased nervous excitability, depressive conditions and insomnia, to improve appetite, relieve swelling and reduce pain in inflammation of the joints. As an aid in the treatment of cancer and prostatitis. The use of unripe watercress seeds or their tincture helps to increase potency in men. Watercress leaves are used as a lotion to treat an enlarged prostate gland.

The sulfur found in watercress plays an important role in protein absorption, blood purification and cell building, and is essential for healthy hair and skin. Watercress leaves or juice are also used for cosmetic purposes - to cleanse the skin, eliminate acne and pimples.

Thanks to its valuable chemical composition, watercress leaves are a good antiscorbutic agent. With the constant use of greens for food, general well-being and digestion improve, sleep normalizes, and blood pressure decreases. The juice squeezed from the leaves is used for anemia, as a diuretic, for cholelithiasis, for the prevention of thyroid disease. Powder from crushed watercress seeds is used as mustard plasters. A folk remedy for diathesis, scabies, non-healing wounds is an ointment of dried seeds or herbs of a plant mixed with melted butter in a ratio of 1: 5.

In folk medicine, freshly squeezed watercress juice is used to treat cervical polyps. Take this remedy 1 teaspoon 3 times daily with meals. To improve the effect of polyp treatment, honey is added to the juice.

When hair falls out, cress juice is rubbed into the head, and mixed with honey, the juice heals dandruff. Juice treats toothache. Fresh watercress, ground with yeast, as a medicinal dressing, treats carbuncles. Lettuce grass and seeds expel the premature fetus. Seed powder mixed with grape vinegar expels helminths from the body. If the juice is often drunk with vinegar, diseases of the spleen can be cured. If you mix grass or watercress seeds with flour and vinegar and put it on your sore feet as a bandage, you can get rid of pain in them.

In folk medicine, various preparations from the leaves, roots and seeds of watercress are used - infusions, tinctures, decoctions, oil. For this, both freshly picked and dried plants are used. But preference is given to fresh herbs, since watercress is easy to grow at home in winter, and you can use it already 7-10 days after germination.

The simplest option for using watercress for medicinal purposes is to eat fresh herbs daily (2-3 times) or drink 1-2 teaspoons of juice. At the same time, the regularity of the use of watercress is important, only it will help to obtain the desired healing effect.

The recipe for a green watercress smoothie is very simple: a cup of watercress, one banana, a cup of water.

For some diseases, watercress is applied externally. In the treatment of inflammation of the joints and skin, wounds, ulcers, boils, scabies, pustules, acne, dandruff, greens crushed into gruel are used for dressings and compresses or the inflamed areas are rubbed with fresh juice. For skin diseases, fresh juice is added to baths when bathing. Green compresses, along with ingestion of juice, are used to treat edema, prostatitis, mastopathy, skin cancer, as well as redness and flaking of the skin with allergies. Grass and cress seeds in the form of herbal infusion and decoction are used for heart disease and hypertension.

In some cases, instead of juice, decoctions or infusions can be used. For their preparation, they usually take 2 tablespoons of dried leaves or three tablespoons of fresh leaves in a glass of boiling water. To obtain an infusion - stand for 2-3 hours in a thermos or in a warm place. To obtain a decoction - bring to a boil, stand for 5-7 minutes on low heat or a water bath, then allow to cool. Usually they drink 1/3 cup before meals, and for insomnia and depressive states, additionally at night. When coughing and bronchitis drink a hot infusion or decoction between meals.

For external use, oils and ointments can be used. Real oil, obtained by pressing from the seeds of watercress, cannot be prepared at home without special equipment. But there are alternative options when seeds, dry leaves or watercress roots are insisted on vegetable oil (olive, sesame, etc.) in a ratio of 2 to 1. To obtain an ointment, one part of dried raw material ground into powder is mixed with three parts of fat or vaseline. In both cases, the mixture is kept for at least a week in a warm, dark place before use.

To remove worms and against poisoning, you need to take the juice of the leaves (about 60-150 grams) and mix it with water or stew. Watercress is also recommended for people who feel tired and weak, pregnant, breastfeeding, and those who suffer from airway and skin sensitivity, such as eczema. It is also useful for bleeding hemorrhoids.

As for the way in which worms come out of the belly of a bewitched person, I tested it on one bewitched, not yet knowing that watercress can remove them. I intended to make his body just get stronger. We were surprised how the patient reacted to watercress. Subhanallah… And I do not treat, but simply apply what came from the guidance of our noble messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم in hadiths, and the result, by the grace of Allah, was very good.

How to use watercress against witchcraft

Prepare 2 kilos of good quality ajwa dates.
- Grind the cress seeds.

1. Open the ajwa dates, remove the pits from them.
2. After removing the seeds, stuff the dates with watercress.
3. Make as many stuffed dates as you need for 7 days.
4. Take them on an empty stomach. By fasting, we mean the first and second hours after Fajr salat, not any hour when the stomach is empty, according to the hadeeth: من تصبح بسبع تمرات
“Who will eat 7 dates in the morning ...”, i.e. right in the morning.
One should eat 7 dates stuffed with watercress for seven days in a row.
After that, a person with a lack of weight and exhaustion of the body, which happened after the evil eye or witchcraft, with the permission of Allah, will gradually return to health.

As for the seeds, they are used after they have been boiled, soaked or ground into a powder. They are used in the treatment of dysentery, diarrhea, skin diseases and splenomegaly. In powder form, it is used as an analgesic in the treatment of abdominal pain, lung and other pains. Its ingestion increases sexual desire and induces menstruation in women.

Watercress has a general tonic effect, stimulates appetite, is used as a diuretic and sedative, expels gases, lowers blood pressure, strengthens libido, helps with asthma, and cleanses the chest of mucus and nicotine. It is effective in crushing stones and sand, fights cancer, rheumatism, diabetes and tuberculosis, helps with skin diseases, purifies urine and removes poisons, is used against bronchitis and headaches.
A glass of boiled watercress in the morning and in the evening with the addition of honey, by the will of Allah, kills bacteria.
Watercress contains the beneficial substance squalene, which is used to kill bacteria, as an antitumor agent, and to boost immunity.

Dosing

In general, watercress is taken in medium doses and at regular intervals. You can take a teaspoon daily for 30 days. It is best used without any additives or with bee honey, freshly squeezed juices or milk. We advise not to take it during the first months of pregnancy, as the benzoyl isothiocyanate found in watercress is very strong and especially dangerous for women in the early stages of pregnancy, so a pregnant woman should refrain from taking watercress in the first months in order to there was no miscarriage.

"Benzoyl isothiocyanate" stops the growth of cancerous tumors in animals and humans. This substance resists bacteria and fungi. But if you consume it too much, it can cause thyroid disease.

Since this juice is a strong bowel cleanser, it is good to use it mixed with other juices, such as carrot juice.

Juice squeezed from the above-ground shoots of watercress is drunk 3 times a day for 1 tsp. within 3-4 weeks for the prevention and treatment of beriberi and anemia.
Watercress juice to drink 1 tsp. 3 times a day for 2-3 weeks with meals as a diuretic and for cholelithiasis.
Watercress juice, squeezed in June-September, drink 50-100 ml with 1 tbsp. l. honey for 2 weeks 2-3 times a day for metabolic disorders.
Outwardly, lotions with lettuce juice can successfully treat purple spots on the skin, while taking it inside.

Dried lettuce powder and crushed seeds ointment: mix equal amounts of herb powder and watercress seeds, then thoroughly mix 1 part of raw materials and 5 parts of ghee. Lubricate sore spots with the resulting ointment for the treatment of scrofula, scabies, purulent wounds.

We used watercress for a sick or malnourished person because it strengthens the body and increases immunity.
I remember one of our relatives had a camel, and he was emaciated and could not bear weight because of his weakness. One man suggested that watercress be given to him, and he fed it to a camel in large quantities. One day we came to him and saw that he was going to the market, and with him a camel, which he tightly tied. We said, "What's wrong with him?" He said: “By Allah, I cannot sit on it because of its strength, I cannot handle it, and now I am going to sell it.” Subhanallahilazim.

One bewitched tried watercress when he found out that it belongs to the medicine of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and when we told him about the hadeeth, he stuffed ajwa dates with watercress. Then he said that worms were coming out of his stomach and he couldn't believe his eyes, subhanallah.
As for the weakness that befalls a person in the body and limbs due to the evil eye or witchcraft ... It is known that cress strengthens the body, organs and is still used in bone-cutting.

There are several ways to use watercress, among them:
- As a filling for dates.
- Or it is heated in milk, and honey is added to it, and the seeds stick together with each other, so do not leave them on fire for a long time.
- Either it is used with water, without adding anything, and all this is curative and works well with the permission of Allah Almighty. And Allah knows best.

cooking

Watercress is widely used in cooking, both for preparing independent dishes from it - salads and soups, and as a seasoning for cold appetizers, first and second courses, sauces and gravies. Watercress goes especially well with meat and fish.
Fresh watercress leaves are used as food. It is an excellent herb for salads and side dishes, as well as a spicy seasoning for soups, gravies, meat and fish dishes. Chopped leaves are sprinkled with boiled potatoes, scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs. The leaves have a tart taste and a characteristic smell reminiscent of the aroma of horseradish, which is why the plant is called in some places horseradish and horseradish.

Watercress soup

Ingredients:

Watercress
- 2 big bunches
- 2 potatoes
- petiole celery 3 pcs
- leek (white part) 2 stalks
- garlic 2 cloves
- olive oil
- salt pepper

Leek cut into rings, rinse, dry. Rinse watercress, remove stems. Peel potatoes, cut into small cubes. Chop celery and garlic. In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, heat 3 tbsp. l. oil, put the leek and garlic, after 2 minutes. celery, after another 2 min. potato. Pour 1 liter of boiling water, close the lid, cook for 15 minutes.

Growing watercress is not difficult, it can be done even in a city apartment, in just a few days you get fragrant greens that will help cure diseases and make food tasty, healthy and varied.

Chicken sandwich with watercress

Ingredients:

* 12 pieces of toast bread
* 2 tbsp. l. butter
* 2 boiled chicken fillets
* 0.5 cup natural yogurt
* 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice
* small bunch of green onions
* 1 medium pickled cucumber
* 2 boxes of watercress
* 0.5 tsp red hot pepper
* salt, pepper to taste

Cooking:

1. Rinse watercress, pat dry with paper towels. With scissors, cut the leaves almost under the root. Wash green onions, dry and chop. Peel the cucumber, finely chop. Mix yogurt, lemon juice, onion and cucumber, add hot pepper and salt to taste; 2 tbsp. l. set the mixture aside.
2. Cut the chicken fillet into thin slices. Grease each slice of bread on one side with butter, then with the prepared mixture.
3. Divide chicken fillet between 6 slices of bread. Cover with the remaining pieces and press lightly. Cut off the peels. Cut each sandwich in half diagonally.
4. Brush one side of each sandwich with remaining yogurt mixture and dip in watercress.

This is because its leaves contain mustard oil. But still, the taste of cress is much more tender.

In European cuisine, watercress is more often used raw: for example, in Germany it is added to unleavened salads to add spice, young leaves are placed on sandwiches with meat and fish. In the East, it is customary to blanch it and pour it with oil. In China, watercress is served with sugar.

In Russia it is called garden cress, crap or pepper list, in Ukraine it is known as watercress, in Georgia - tsitsmati(tzitzmat), in Armenia - kotem(kote), in Afghanistan - tertizak. And this is one of the most precocious and most unpretentious green crops.

Watercress there are three varieties. At curly watercress the rosette is small, up to 17 cm in diameter, semi-raised or raised, the leaves are strongly indented. Plants are early and mid-season. This variety includes the variety " Openwork".

Whole leaf watercress has a large, 19-21 cm in diameter and 5-6 cm high, horizontally arranged rosette of whole leaves. Plants are late. One of the best varieties - " Ducat".

Sowing variety occupies an intermediate position between the first two: rosette semi-raised, large, leaves with large lobes, slightly dissected. Plants are early. Varieties belonging to this cultivar include: Danish", "Curled" And " Fun".

The color of the leaves of watercress is green, sometimes with a bluish tinge, or yellowish green.

You can grow watercress almost all year round. In winter and early spring, fresh herbs can be easily obtained at home. Seeds are densely sown in a shallow container, sprinkled a little with earth, lightly pressed. Water every other day, in small portions. Two weeks later, the first crop is cut with scissors. Plants do not recover, but this is not important - as the greenery is cut, the seeds are sown again.

You can make it even easier - sow cress seeds on a damp cloth. Similarly, on wet felt, greens were obtained in winter and 200 years ago.

And even faster and easier to get sprouts. Many experts believe that it is in them that the unprecedented potential and strength of biologically active substances lies. Seeds are poured onto damp filter paper or gauze. On the third or sixth day, hatched sprouts are added to salads.

From April, watercress seeds are sown in open ground, to a depth of 0.5-1 cm. Seeds germinate at 6-8 ° C. It is better to sow them in rows, spaced 20-40 cm apart. Plants are large and squat. And then you can sow lettuce every 10-15 days.

Minimal care: weeding and loosening row spacing. Watering is required - frequent and plentiful in hot, dry weather, without this, a flowering stem will quickly form, the leaves will be crushed and coarsened.

Most greens, from 200 to 500 g per square meter, can be obtained by sowing watercress in August.

Relatively shade tolerant. Moisture-loving.

Not picky about the soil, but prefers light.

The optimum temperature is 15-18 °C.

Pests - cruciferous fleas.

Syn.: common watercress, key cress, bruncress, rezuha, medicinal watercress, etc.

Perennial (annual in cultivation) plant with pinnately dissected leaves. As a food plant, promising, rapidly developing.

Ask the experts

flower formula

In medicine

Watercress is not included in the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation and is not used by official medicine, but is a valuable and dietary product, is actively used for food purposes in many countries, and also has healing properties that are actively used in traditional medicine.

Due to the balanced content of biologically active substances (high content of vitamins and minerals, especially iron and iodine), watercress exhibits very useful, valuable dietary properties, which are intensively used in therapeutic dietology. In this regard, nutritionists recommend including it in food for patients during the rehabilitation period after long-term serious illnesses, complex operations to restore and maintain metabolism in general, as well as to improve appetite. It is useful to include the plant in the diet for obesity and diabetes.

Meanwhile, the biological activity of watercress is of great interest to many researchers, especially foreign countries, and important results have been obtained to date, which will be very promising in the treatment of many diseases. For example, the experiment showed that the watercress extract and polyphenol complex have antioxidant properties, the extract has hepatoprotective properties (Martinez-Sanchez et. , Yazdanparast, 2008). Watercress juice enhances the activity of ethoxyresofurin-O-diethylase and NADP-H-quinoreductase (Lhoste et.al., 2004). Watercress extract also exhibits antibacterial activity (Camacho-Corona at.el, 2008).

The German Commission E recognized watercress as a good remedy for respiratory colds, especially runny nose and cough.

In Europe, watercress is included in a number of herbal choleretic preparations. Watercress tablets and capsules are used as biologically active food supplements. It is supposed to use a dry extract (powder) of watercress for the manufacture of tablets and hard gelatin capsules as a dietary supplement with a wide spectrum of action.

Contraindications and side effects

Watercress for medicinal purposes should be used as prescribed by a doctor. In case of an overdose, irritation of the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract is possible. Contraindication is individual intolerance.

In cooking

Watercress is a well-known valuable food plant, it is used only in its raw form (fresh young leaves and tops of shoots). In cooking, watercress is used as an independent dish - a salad with a spicy, spicy mustard taste as a spicy seasoning for various dishes and salads. Watercress is a good addition to green vegetable soups, improves the taste of fish, some meat dishes, sauces, and toppings. Combined with mint, rosemary, watercress forms a savory mixture that is used in cooking in many dishes. It goes well with mayonnaise and vegetable oil. Due to the mustard taste, it is added to sandwiches (fish, ham, cheese).

Seeds, as well as a spice, can replace mustard, they are used to produce edible oil, close in quality to mustard. Watercress is widely used (especially in Europe and the USA) in mixed salads, in cold green sauces, for sandwiches, while the inflorescences are also used as food.

In areas where watercress grows wild (especially along the banks of water bodies), it is harvested for use as food.

Watercress can be used for indoor cultivation, especially during the winter season when vitamins are deficient. It develops very quickly, reaches a height of 30-90 cm. Leaves, stems and tops of young shoots of cress are excellent, as noted above for salads and as a seasoning for many dishes (meat, fish, etc.).

Classification

Watercress or medicinal watercress (lat. Nasturtium officinale) is a species of the genus watercress (lat. Nasturtium) of the cruciferous or cabbage family (Cruciferae, or Brassicaceae). The genus includes 6 species growing mainly in Eurasia, North and East Africa and North America. In the former USSR - 1 species (in the Caucasus and Central Asia). Watercress is cultivated in Western Europe and the USA.

Botanical description

Watercress is a perennial plant with a maximum height of up to 60 cm or more. Moisture-loving, relatively cold-resistant and shade-tolerant plant. The stem is hollow, furrowed, creeping, usually rooting at the base. The leaves are green, alternate, simple, without stipules, pinnately dissected, with wide petioles and 2-7 pairs of oblong or oval leaflets with a larger and rounded ovate apical leaflet. Bracts and bracts are absent. The flowers are bisexual, small, white, bilaterally symmetrical, arranged in short racemes. Perianth double, 4-membered. Petals with marigolds, sepals in 2 circles. There are 6 stamens, 2 of them are short and 4 are long; nectaries are located at the base of the stamen filaments. Ovary superior of 2 carpels. The watercress flower formula is *CH4L4T2+4P(2). The fruit is a pod, opened with two valves, with a remaining partition. Vegetative organs and inflorescences are characterized by receptacles of myrosin. Blooms in May - August.

Spreading

It is found in the European part of Russia (central and southern regions) and in the Caucasus. It grows along the banks of rivers, near streams and springs, sometimes in slowly flowing water, less often in swamps.

Distribution regions on the map of Russia.

Procurement of raw materials

For medicinal purposes, only the aerial part is used. Grass is harvested during rapid flowering, while it can be cut about forty days after planting. It is recommended to use it only fresh, as in this case it retains all the necessary chemical compounds. Dried grass almost completely loses its medicinal properties.

Chemical composition

The chemical composition of watercress has been studied quite well. Flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin, hesperetin, narigenin, quercetin), anthocyanins (pelargonidin, cyanidin, delphinidin) were found in the aerial part and fruits of watercress. In the aerial part and roots - glucosinolates (gluconasturcin, glucobrassinocin, neoglucobrassicin, etc.). Watercress also contains other nitrogen-containing compounds (phenylpropionitrile, phenylacetonitrile, etc.). The seeds contained higher fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, erucic, palmintic, steric, linolenic) and fatty oils - up to 24%.

Pharmacological properties

Watercress has some medicinal properties, in particular, blood-purifying, expectorant, antiscorbutic, diuretic, tonic, etc. Watercress improves appetite and metabolism, lowers blood pressure and blood sugar levels in diabetes, calms the nervous system, acts as a mild laxative. In addition, the herb (extract) of watercress has a disinfectant effect on burns, skin diseases (dermatosis, lipomas, chronic skin rashes, itchy skin eczema, trophic ulcers, etc.), as well as inflammation of the oral mucosa and periodontal disease. It has an anti-inflammatory effect in colds, especially with a runny nose and cough.

German medicine recognizes cress as a good remedy for the treatment of respiratory diseases, especially the common cold and cough. In China, this plant is used to treat gingivitis. It is also traditionally used for lethargy, problems with joints, blood vessels, bronchitis, scurvy and goiter. In Europe, watercress is found in a number of herbal choleretic preparations.

Application in traditional medicine

Watercress, or common watercress, due to its medicinal properties, is much more widely used in folk medicine. The beneficial properties of watercress are used by folk healers as a blood purifier, expectorant, antiscorbutic, diuretic, tonic for the treatment of many diseases.

In folk medicine, watercress is used for improper metabolism, for cleansing and improving the condition of the blood, as well as for various inflammatory diseases.

Watercress herb infusions are used as a diuretic in kidney diseases (nephritis); anti-febrile and sedative - for nervous diseases and fever; decoction - for diseases of the thyroid gland, liver, cholelithiasis and urolithiasis, anemia, rheumatism, gout, diabetes, gastritis, colitis, duodenitis, cystitis and gynecological diseases. Freshly squeezed watercress grass juice is effective in some pathological processes in the liver and gallbladder, as well as in metabolic disorders, in general, as a general tonic. Watercress is known in folk medicine and as a tonic. Watercress juice in folk medicine is used externally as a disinfectant for burns, various skin diseases, in particular dermatoses, lipomas, warts, polyps, chronic skin rashes, itchy skin eczema, trophic ulcers, as well as inflammation of the oral mucosa and periodontal disease. , diabetic foot syndrome.

Historical reference

Watercress has been introduced into culture since the Middle Ages. In many countries, in particular France, Germany, Canada and the USA, this is a widespread vegetable garden. In the 17th century, special artificial reservoirs were even built for watercress. In England, watercress was introduced into culture in the 19th century, and then in many other countries.

Even ancient healers used the herb watercress for fever and scurvy. In ancient Rome, it was believed that watercress (with vinegar) calms and heals people with a confused mind. In China, it was used to lower blood pressure and as a laxative. According to legend, many preachers (Irish) ate watercress and dry bread all their lives and kept healthy.

Literature

1. Biological encyclopedic dictionary / Ch. ed. M. S. Gilyarov) 2nd ed., corrected. M.: Sov. Encyclopedia. 1989.

2. Girenko M.M., Zvereva O.A. Green vegetables: A guide for amateur gardeners. Moscow: Niola-Press; Union-Public, 2007. 176 p.

3. Dudchenko L. G., Kozyakov A. S., Krivenko V. V. Spicy-aromatic and spicy-tasting plants: a Handbook / Ed. ed. K. M. Sytnik. K.: Naukova Dumka, 1989. 304 p.

4. Kutachek M., Oplishtilova K. 1964. Distribution of glucobrassicin, a precursor of indolylacetoitrile, ascorbigen, and thiocyanate ions in plants, Plant Physiology. T. 11. Issue. 5. S. 867-870.

5. Plant resources of Russia / Wild flowering plants, their composition and biological activity / Ed. editor A.L. Budantsev. T.2. St. Petersburg; M.: Association of scientific publications KMK, 2009. 513 p.

6. Bahramikia S., Yazdanparast R. 2008. Effect of hydroalcholic extracts of Nasturtium officinale leaves on lipid profile in high-fat diet rats // Ethnopharmacol. Vol. 115b N 1. P. 88.

7. Camacho-Corona at.el, 2008. Activity against drug resistant-tuberculosis strains of plants used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases // Phytother. Res. Vol. 22, N1. P. 82-85.

8. Lhoste et.al., 2004. The activities of several detoxication tnzymes are diferentially unduced by juices of garden cress, water cress and mustard in human HepG2 cells //Chem Biol. Interact. Vol. 150, No. 3. P. 211-219.

9. Martinez-Sanchez et.al., 2008. A comparative study of flavonoid glycosides, vitamin C, and antioxidant properties of baby leaf Brassicaceae species //J. Agric. food chem. Vol. 56. No. 7. P. 2330-2340.

10. Yazdanparast R., Bahramikia S., Ardestani A. 2008. Nasturtium officinale reduces oxidative stress and enhances antioxidant capacity in hypercholesterolaemic rats // Chem. Biol. Interact. Vol. 172, No. 3. P. 176-184.

Nowadays, people are very biased towards traditional medicine, its advice, recipes, because we are civilized people, we have invented many medicines, methods of treatment. Nature for us is just a place where you can spend time on the weekend after a hard day, and weeds in the country are terribly annoying, and everyone wants to get rid of them. Few people now think about the fact that herbs can heal without being harmful, and they are available to all of us. Watercress - have you heard of it?

If not, then it's time for you to find out the very necessary information, because the plant has a whole range of possibilities, and yes, someone considers it a malicious weed, but there are countries where grass is grown for purely medicinal purposes. In addition, its possibilities were discovered many centuries ago. We advise you to get acquainted with watercress and you, you already see the photo.

Description of the plant and location

First, it is worth noting that the herb has more than one beautiful name, perhaps you know watercress under the name of brun-cress, spring or medicinal watercress, gulyavnik, lettuce, water horseradish. This family is cabbage, and there are eight more species of other plants in it. The habitats are very diverse, but everywhere the watercress will choose a territory where there is a lot of moisture and water. At the same time, it grows like wild grass, and as domesticated by summer residents. Most often you can find plantations in the mountains of the Caucasus and central Russia, Asia, a number of African countries, in the USA, South America and Europe, as well as on different islands.

To grow a plant like watercress at home, you need to create certain conditions and water is the main one. Most often, they dig a moat half a meter deep, equip it with material so that water can be poured, and it does not leave, after which the watercress is settled here. You can create such a mini-garden even on the windowsill. In some countries, the plant is grown on a large scale, where there are entire plantations for further processing, by the way, watercress is used not only as a medicine for folk healers, but also in cooking recipes, for making spices, in cosmetology and so on.

If you describe the plant, then it looks like this.

• The grass is perennial.
• The stem grows up to half a meter or a little more, it is dense, but hollow.
• There are shoots that hang down, which gives the weed, which many people unfairly believe to be watercress, an ornamental appearance.
• It blooms with white flowers, collected in an umbrella, from May to the end of summer.
• The leaves have a pleasant green color and heart shape, their structure is dense.
• The herb is useful, while suitable for those who suffer from excess weight.
• Unpretentious plant, grows on different types of soil, in the shade, in the sun, grows quickly in the presence of water. If cress is planted in ordinary soil, the grass changes shape, its beneficial properties are lost.
• The taste of grass is spicy, tart, there is bitterness. For our person, it is easiest to compare watercress with radish or traditional horseradish, which is why the plant often goes as a seasoning for various dishes.

This is interesting! Surprisingly, the watercress was treated with indifference for centuries, although it was very much appreciated in ancient Rome, also in medieval Europe, but it was recognized as a culture only in the 19th century.

Application of watercress in our life

If we talk about the plant as a whole, then it is useful from the roots to the leaves and seeds, all parts are used for one purpose or another. Fresh leaves of grass are put as a spicy additive in meat, fish, soup, they prepare sauces, salad, they are used for preservation and marinade, they make a mixture of spices. You can make juice from the green mass, which will have a number of beneficial effects on the body, about them a little later. Of course, raw materials can be dried to make infusions, decoctions.

If we compare watercress with radish, then it is most like a young growth, which is widely used in cooking. The seeds can form the basis of a good oil that can be used in place of mustard oil and has its own health benefits. The root part of the plant is more of a therapy for ailments, a raw material for traditional medicine.

For information! The roots are collected in the fall, after which they are cleaned, crushed and dried in an oven or dryer. As for the aerial part, the maximum benefit from the plant is when it is fresh, and not processed or dried.

Watercress officinalis and its beneficial properties and contraindications

About the benefits

The grass has a lot of different possibilities, if we talk about ailments.

This is interesting! Watercress is known and appreciated in many countries, in Foggy Albion it is sold in supermarkets, festivals are held, and there is even the capital of watercress in the country - the city of Alresford. The plant was discovered by one gardener in 1808, who grew a plantation, and since then the grass has spread. There is also a watercress capital in America.

Separately, we would like to tell you about the benefits of watercress juice:

• cleans and normalizes the work of the circulatory system;
• it helps very well with hemorrhoids, up to the removal of nodes, which can protect against pathological processes, oncology;
• shown to everyone who suffers from anemia;
• helps to get out of bed after serious illnesses, that is, during periods of rehabilitation, juice will be a good addition to therapy;
• for the skin, juice is like a balm with a rejuvenating and cleansing effect. It can be drunk inside and used as a tonic for washing - acne disappears, scars become less noticeable, burns heal;
• beneficial effect on the condition of the kidneys and liver, joints. The use of watercress can relieve diseases such as pyelonephritis, jaundice, gout, rheumatism.

For information! Watercress juice can be mixed with the juices of other vegetables, so it will be even more healing and nutritious. For example, a cocktail is often made from the juice of watercress, carrots, potatoes, celery. The components can be used both together and making a recipe for yourself.

It turns out that weeds, which we can consider as malicious grass, can be useful to us. Very often, healers regret that we are so thoughtless in our plots, dachas for plants that we remove from the beds, throwing out dandelions, horsetail, knotweed and other herbs, each of which is unique in its own way and can heal. Also, many traditional healers believe that it is precisely the grass, fruits, and trees that grows next to a person that he needs for treatment, in each region these are their own plants.

Advice! Do you want a great seasoning for meat and fish to surprise your guests? Then mix watercress with rosemary and mint to make an unusual spicy spice with your own hands.

About harm

Recipes for all occasions

Most often, medicinal herbs are used to prepare infusions, decoctions and tinctures. In the case of our watercress, the recipes would be:

• to make an infusion, you need to steam 1.5-2 tablespoons of fresh leaves in boiling water with a volume of a liter. After that, the infusion stands for 2 hours, it is filtered and taken per day, 500 grams, pouring them in half into two doses. One liter is enough for two days;
• a decoction is made using a water bath, in which a spoonful of leaves and flowers are simmered for 30 minutes, combined with a glass of boiling water. The decoction is taken after meals, two tablespoons in the morning, afternoon, and evening;
• alcohol tincture is prepared on the basis of rhizome 1:5. Insist two weeks in the dark and cool. Then they drip 30-40 drops into water with a volume of 50 grams, drink at a time.

Now you understand that weeds are useful plants for the most part, they perceive watercress in different ways, but the essence is the same - it helps health, and the appearance will be more attractive.

Aubrieta flowers are also commonly known as Aubretia. It is a genus with twelve species of flowering plants in the Cabbage family (four petals speak of their belonging). The genus is named after Claude Aubriette, a French florist. Aubrieta flowers originate in Southern Europe east to Central Asia, but are now distributed throughout Europe.
Obriet flowers are used for decorative purposes. Most varieties are garden plants, probably derived from Aubrieta deltoidea, a species that has been found in the Balkan Peninsula, near the Aegean Sea and southwestern Europe. This undersized plant is great for rock gardens and front garden borders.

Description of shaving flowers and their photos

This species is characterized by bright flowers, which are available in white, pink, purple and blue shades. Aubrieta flowers are usually no larger than one centimeter in size and have small green leaves with colored gold trim. These plants can grow up to 25-30 centimeters from the ground, but, as a rule, they are decorated under a living carpet (spread over an area of ​​30-35 centimeters). Aubrieta blooms from about April to June. Grows on low rocks and banks.
This page contains numerous photos of shaving flowers of various varieties and varieties:

Flowering time - from mid-spring to early summer. The small, elliptical or obovate foliage with entire or serrated margins is grey-green in color and slightly hairy.
The flowers are very small with four petals with a total diameter of not more than one centimeter. The plant blooms profusely and for a very long time. There is a fruit in the form of a pod with oblong brown seeds (up to two thousand seeds in one gram of the fruit). The method of growing shaving from seeds by seedlings is used, as well as pre-winter sowing in the soil.

All species are the same in behavior, in growth and general appearance - they differ only in the length of the pistil and the structure of the fruit. When wintering, obrieta retains its foliage - and this is one of the main advantages of the flower (they are not damaged even in severe frost).

Care and cultivation of shaving

When caring for shaving, you should first take care of its location in a sunny place (but also tolerates partial shade) with thin, preferably alkaline soil with good drainage. It is best to prefer well-drained but moist soil (rocky or sandy areas) rich in lime. They are tolerant of varying soil acidity and do not require much time and care. During the season, it is recommended to carry out the mulching procedure at least two or three times with a layer of two to three centimeters.
After flowering, in the process of caring for shaving, the bush should be cut, and in autumn it will bloom again. This contributes to more efficient and at the same time compact flowering.
Despite the incredible resistance to winter frosts, in the most severe cold, some varieties are likely to fall leaves. Many, in order to avoid this trouble, cover the shaving with dry foliage for the winter in order to keep warm at least a little.

Growing and planting seedlings of shaving from seeds

To plant shaving, seeds should be planted in the ground in spring or before winter. Acquired ones breed easily, but there is a high probability of stumbling upon another variety of shaving. A plant planted in this way produces a flower in the second year after planting. The planting process is no different from the standard procedure - the seeds are allowed to dry, then they are laid out in the soil from a mixture of loam, sand and clay. After that, they are watered and covered with polyethylene or glass. Periodically air the sprout, and when the first shoots appear, you can transplant them into a wider dish. When the bush significantly increases in growth, you can transplant the flower into open ground.

It is also possible to plant the shaving immediately on open ground, but this procedure should be carried out in winter, when various weeds can in no way damage the growing flower. Mulching should be carried out necessarily, about 2-3 centimeters.

Shaving seedlings are grown in early February. In this case, you can get a magnificent flowering of the plant at the end of May. Planting shaving for seedlings is carried out in flat containers with well-structured soil. In phase 2 of these leaves, a pick should be made. A week later, fertilizing with mineral fertilizers begins, which are carried out every 10 days and combined with watering.

Propagation by cuttings is also very popular. The shaving is planted in the following way - semi-ripe sprouts are separated from the parent bush and the lower leaves and roots in the sand are removed. To speed up the rooting process, you can hold the sprout for a couple of weeks in a mixture for rooting, after which the future flower is placed in guys with sand and peat soil. The rooting rate of species is significantly higher than that of varieties (approximately 95 and 20 percent). Planting cuttings (provided that they have taken root) should be in August. When planting shaving, be sure to keep a distance of at least 13-15 centimeters. I would like to note that over the years, obrieta is becoming more and more capricious and vulnerable, so cuttings are recommended to be carried out every year.
It is not recommended to divide the bush - this method is used only as a last resort, when the stalk simply did not have time to cut it on time or a transplant to a new place is required. This procedure is very painful for shaving, so you should only do it if you have enough experience, as the flower is very sensitive and it is very easy to damage it.

Shaving varieties popular in floriculture

Next, we offer you a description and photo of obrieta varieties, which are the most popular in individual gardening. All of them have certain decorative properties and may differ according to the rules of agricultural technology and care. Choose for yourself the most suitable varieties of shaving flowers for landscaping and decorating your garden and backyard.

Aubrieta cascading

Aubrieta cascade is a popular spring-flowering perennial rock garden. It forms a low carpet of evergreen leaves that literally suffocate the flowers for several weeks. This variety has single flowers of blue and red shades of four petals with a tiny yellow eye. Aubrieta cascade is well planted along the edge of trails, rocky walls or on alpine containers. The plant should be pruned immediately after flowering to encourage denser growth.
Flowering time is the beginning of summer, as well as the middle and end of spring. The color of the foliage is gray-greenish. The flower has a very small head. The height of the shaving can reach 15 centimeters in height.
The optimal conditions for the growth and development of cascading shaving are a place in a sunny place or in partial shade on almost any alkaline or acidic soil (neutral is also suitable). It is necessary to maintain an average level of humidity. Begins to bloom later than any other species.

Aubrieta hybrid

Aubrieta hybrid has long been recognized by gardeners as a greeting to spring. Clusters of flowers above compact, evergreen foliage. It creates the illusion of a carpet of small flowers in your garden. A classic plant for rock gardens, hybrid shaving looks especially charming, tucked into cracks in rocks or walls. Falls beautifully over rocks, slopes and balconies. Produces good small-scale ground cover.
The shade of the plant can be pink, purple, red or white. Flowering time is spring. At the peak of growth, the height of the hybrid shaving reaches ten centimeters and occupies a space of 50-60 centimeters around. The plant tolerates temperatures of 29 ̊ and -5 ̊С. It is recommended to grow a flower in an open, sunny place. Looks good with daffodils and Iberian.

Aubrieta "Charming Morocco"

Aubrieta "Charming Morocco" is a variety of hybrid obrieta (or cultural obrieta). The plant is a mixture of large-flowered shaving and a variety of colors: from blue to red. This variety forms curtains up to ten centimeters high, and the flowers have an average diameter of one and a half centimeters.
Flowering time is late spring and early summer. Be sure to place the flower in a sunny place, otherwise the shaving will simply stop growing.

Aubrieta "Deltoid"

Aubrieta "Deltoid" is one of the flowering plant species. Common names are lilac bush, purple rockcress and rainbow rockcress. The natural habitat is southeastern Europe, but is grown worldwide as an ornamental plant and grows wild in some areas as a garden runaway. This small herbaceous plant forms carpets of spoon-shaped flowers due to the oval-shaped leaves, some of which are lobed. The showy inflorescence bears small flowers with four lavender or dark pink petals.

Aubrieta 'Deltoid' is cultivated as a ground cover, but also produces a plethora of vibrant flowers during the spring in rock gardens or in wall crevices. The cultivars listed under the hybrid name A. x cultorum are also found in lavender, lilac, and rose, but are often offered as a mixture of seeds.