Plantain (Greater or Common)

General description
History
Applications
Chemical properties
Precautions
Culinary
Other variants
Remaining images

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There exist three kinds of Plantain that are used the most. Rough Plantain Plantago media, Narrow Plantain Plantago lanceolata and Large Plantain Plantago major (Plantago major spp. major L.).

The large Plantain can get 15 cm high, but the large varies dependent on the growth circumstances.
The leaves are oval and stand in a rosette the root. On the long subdivided stem small brown-green flowers do not stand. The large Plantain flowers from June to October. The plant is to be found in road sides, graze and is seen vague as a general occurring weeds.

The large Plantain is fertilized by the wind. The flowers have for that also long flour threads and stem press and have also no crown leaf. The position of the crown leaf is through their colour insects at to pull for the fertilization. This is not for the Plantain necessarily.

It are produced many seeds, to 20,000 seeds per plant. The seeds are small and oval (0.4 by 0.8 by 1.5 mm) and have a light bitter taste. The seeds are sticky by damp weather, this because the polysaccharide in the outside layer of the seeds swell. In this way, the seeds can be spread by men and animals.

Cultivate Plantain yourself.

It is not difficult to cultivate Plantain yourself, it is more difficult to get rid off it. When you want to use Plantain you can best collect it from the wild.
You can harvest them the best from May till when the seeds ripen.

Plantago major was found about 4000 year ago in Europe for the first time. This was wanted to cultivate then the man for the first time the ground.
Plantain was spread from Europe through the whole world. The Indians called the plant "The footstep of the white", because it everywhere was found where the Europeans been were. The kind name "Plantago" has been borrowed at this. Plantago comes "planted" from the Latin word, what soles meant.
Plantain is already for centuries known as a medicinal plant. In Scandinavia is the plant the best known its wound healing properties. The Norwegian and Swedish names for Plantain are Groblad what healing leaves means.
Plantain became also many used in the time of Shakespeare and also is named in the piece "Romeo and Juliet" Act I, Scene II of the period 1592 to 1609.
Romeo: Your Plantain is for that excellent for.
Benvileo: For what, tea?
Romeo: For your wound.
Studies demonstrated that different parts of plant in much different countries over the world became used for the curing of different illnesses as skin problems, infections, digestions disturbances, respiration problems, circulation problems, against pain and against fever.

Medicinal.

Qualities.
Calming, Curing, Contracting, anti-bacterial, against inflammations.

External.
- Fresh, bruised Plantain leaves are put on fresh wounds.
- As a compress or lotion by insect bites, allergic rash, eczema, lit wounds and by splinters.
- Decreased nerve pain and rash through belt rose.
- As a cream or ointment by bleeding haemorrhoids.
- As a mouth water by painful and bleeding gums, inflammations in the mouth and herpes bladders.

Internal.
- By asthma, bronchitis and cough.
- Course nose through allergies, irritation and cold.
- By a spastic colon and bladder problems.
- Tea works cooling by continuous fever.

An example of available drops of Plantain, is the plantago tincture of A. Vogel.

Recipe for Plantain lotion.
Cut sufficient fresh Plantain leaves fine a small pot to fill.
Join so many glycerine closed that the leaves its covers. Let the mixture two weeks stand and rudder finished and to. Sift the solution and keep it in a dark bottle. This lotion works calming and curing by damp, itching skin rash and insect bites.

In the plant present compounds.

Much different sugars, proteins and fats. Remaining (secondary) plant compounds are:

Alkaloids.
Indicaine and plantagonine.

Flavonoids.
Apigenine 7-glucoside, Baicaleine, Hispiduline, Hispiduline 7-glucuronide, Homoplantaginine, Luteoline 7-glucoside, Luteoline 7-diglucoside, Luteoline 6-hydroxy-4'methoxy-7-galactoside, Nepetine 7-glucoside, Plantaginine, Scutellareine.

Iridoid glycosides.
Asperuloside, Aucubine, Catapol, Gardoside, Geniposidic acid, Majoroside, 10-Acetoxymajoroside, 10-hydroxymajoroside, Melittoside.

Terpenoids.
Loliolide (terpenoid), oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, 18-beta-glycyrrhetinic acid and sitosterol (triterpenoids).

Vitamins (quantity per 100 g).
Beta-carotene (6 mg), Vitamin C (19 mg), Vitamin K1.

Organic acids.
Fumaric acid, Syringic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, gentisic acid. And travel by train from salicylic acid, benzoic acid and cinnamic acid.

No warnings are known for Plantain.

Two to three teaspoons of fresh pressed juice of Plantain fits well in soups or a sauces.
Some leaves of Plantain in the salad is a rich source of vitamin C. In the early spring, it became used especially for extra vitamin C for want of fresh vegetables.

Plantago lanceolata

The name for this variant is also Narrow Plantain. This form has elongated, narrow leaves. They are especially found next to road sides.

Plantago media

This variant is also called Rough Plantain.
The Rough Plantain has leaf the same form as the large Plantain.

Here a number of impressions / photographs of the Large Plantain (Plantago Major) are shown.

Literature

[1]. Dr. C. Norman Shealy; - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Healing Remedies - First edition; Element Books Ltd. (2000). ISBN 186204516X
[2]. Rüdt, U.; - Therapeutic and poisonous plants - First edition; Zutphen: B. V. W. J. Thieme & Cie (1973). ISBN 90-03 94630 , 2
[3]. Anne Roared Samuelsen - The traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities or Plantago major L. A review - Journal or Ethnopharmacology 71 (2000) 1-21



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