Herbal Encyclopedia

Common Medicinal Herbs For Natural Health

Potato

By

PotatoBotanical Name

  • Family Solanaceae
  • Solanum tuberosum

Common Names

  • Potato

Cautions

  • Do not use the aerial parts of the plant as they are poisonous.
  • Some people may be sensitive or allergic to the Nightshade Family of plants.
  • Do not drink the juice of more than one large potato per day.

Description

Native to Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, the potato plant has been developed into hundreds of varieties that grow around the world today. The perennial grows to about three feet in height, producing branching stems with compound leaves, white or purple flowers, green berries, and swollen tubers, which are harvested in the fall to early spring.

History

Many different potato species and varieties have been cultivated by the Quechua and Aymara peoples of the central Andes. By the early 16th century, the potato was introduced into Europe by the Spanish, who found them in the New World. However, it was not until the 18th century that it became a staple foot in Europe.

Although potato water has no established medicinal benefits, it does make a good silver cleaner.

Key Actions

  • heals internally and externally
  • nutritive

Key Components

  • starch
  • vitamins A, B, C, and K
  • minerals (especially potassium)
  • atropine alkaloids (trace amounts)

Medicinal Parts

  • Tubers

Traditional Uses

The main therapeutic use of the potato is for healing wounds. Internally, potato juice is taken to treat peptic ulcers, bringing relief from pain and acidity. Externally, poultices are made from the mashed pulp and applied to painful joints, headaches, backaches, skin rashes and inflammations, hemorrhoids, and to draw out foreign objects such as slivers.

Potato skins are used in India to treat swollen gums and to heal burns.

The root of the Brazilian, S. insidiosum, is used as a diuretic and stomach-supporting remedy.

Avocado

By

Sliced AvacadoBotanical Name

  • Family Lauraceae
  • Persea americana

Common Name

  • many variations

Cautions

  • The leaves and bark can stimulate menstration, as well as inducing abortions, so should not be taken during pregnancy.

Description

Native to Central America, the avocado is cultivated mainly for its fruit in tropical and subtropical regions which include Israel, Spain, and South Africa. It is an evergreen tree growing to seventy feet, with dark green, leathery leaves and white flowers. The fruit is picked when fully grown, and the leaves are harvested as needed.

History

The Maya of Guatemala have long used the avocado to stimulate hair growth, repel worms, and treat diarrhea. The fruit pulp is often used as a baby food there and in South Africa.

It was widely used throughout the Aztec empire for both food and medicine. All parts of the avocado tree was used medicinally.

Key Actions

(a) Leaves and Bark

  • astringent
  • carminative
  • diuretic
  • relieves coughs
  • promotes menstrual flow

(b) Fruit Pulp

  • carminative
  • emollient
  • nutritive

(c) Rind

  • antiparasitic

(d) Seed

  • antibiotic

Key components

(a) Leaves and Bark

  • flavonoids
  • tannins
  • volatile oil (methylchavicol, alpha-pinene)

(b) Fruit Pulp

  • protein (25%)
  • sesquiterpenes
  • unsaturated fats
  • vitamins A, B

Medicinal Parts

  • Leaves, fruit, bark, seed, peel

Remedies

  • Oil from the seed is of good quality and is used for food, as well as for the skin.
  • Decoction of the leaves or bark is used to treat diarrhea or dysentery.
  • The fruit pulp is a nourishing food, as well as being useful in treating wounds and helping them to heal quickly.

Traditional Uses

The leaves and bark have long been used to treat diarrhea, gas, and bloating, as well as to relieve coughs, liver obstructions, and clearing out uric acid, which causes gout.

The rind is useful in expelling worms.

The fruit is used externally to soothe the skin, help heal wounds, and to stimulate hair growth. Consumption of the fruit is encouraged because of its essential fatty acids and protein.

Alder

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Botanical Name

  • Family Betulaceae
  • Alnus glutinosa and other Alnus species

Common Names:

  • Black Alder, Common Alder, Owler, Tag Alder

Cautions

  • Not to be confused with another plant called Black Alder (Rhamnus frangula syn.Frangula alnus Family Rhamnaceae) which is closely related to Cascara.

Description

Indigenous to the damp regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, alder is a small tree with fissured, orangey bark, growing as high as seventy feet and producing notched, oval leaves which can be very sticky when young. The male flowers are arranged in stemmed catkins, while the female flowers form ovoid fruits which turn woody and remain on the tree the entire year. Thriving in damp places along riverbanks, it now grows in much of the Northern Hemisphere. It is almost identical in appearance to the oak. The bark and the leaves are gathered in spring or fall and best used fresh or from recent collections.

History

Water resistant, the tree was used in the construction of Venice. Wooster Beech (1794-1868), founder of the Eclectic healing movement, used a decoction of the bark to purify the blood.

Key Actions

  • antimicrobial
  • astringent
  • heals wounds
  • stops bleeding

Key Components

  • anthraquinone (emodin)
  • flavonoids (including hypericin)
  • glycosides
  • lignans
  • tannin (10-20%)

Medicinal Parts

  • Bark, leaves

Remedies

  • Decoctions are used as a tonic and to treat intestinal bleeding.
  • Gargles from the decoctions are used to treat streptococcal throat infections.
  • Compresses soaked in decoction are used to stauch wound bleeding and to help heal them.
  • Washes are used for scabies.
  • Poultices from the leaves are used to help reduce breast engorgement of nursing mothers.

Traditional Uses

Alder is most often used as a mouthwash and gargle for tooth, gum, and throat problems. Its drying action helps to contract the mucous membranes and reduce inflammation.

Since the bark is high in tannin, it can be used in all situations where astringency is needed, including diarrhea, gum inflammations, and sore throats.

For external use, it is good as a wash for cuts, hives, poison ivy, swellings, wounds, and sprains.

In Spain, the leaves are smoothed and placed on the soles of the feet to relieve aching.

The PDR for Herbal Medicines mentions an ophthalmic powder, but gives no further information.

Agave

By

Botanical Name

  • Family Agavaceae
  • Agave americana

Common Names

  • Century Plant
  • Spanish: Maguey, Lechuguilla, Mescal
  • Nahuatl: Metl, Tlacametl, Teometl

Cautions

  • Do not use during pregnancy.
  • Do not exceed prescribed dose as it may cause digestive irritation and lead to eventual liver damage.
  • External use can cause irritation in those with sensitive skin.

Description

Native to the deserts of Central America, agave is a succulent perennial with large rosettes of thirty to sixty fleshy, sharply-toothed leaves that reach a height of six feet. It produces clusters of yellow flowers, growing to three inches across and bloom on a polelike stem after ten years or more. It is also grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas around the world.

History

Plentiful in the arid areas of Mexico, agave is considered to be one of the most useful plants on earth. For as long as man has travelled the deserts of Mesoamerica, the plant has provided food, drink, and medicine. It is most famous as the source of tequila, pulque, and mescal. Long fibers from the leaves of some species are the source of sisal hemp woven into hammocks, fishing nets, and baskets. The heads, with the leaves trimmed off, are roasted and eaten. The tall stalks are chopped into pieces and chewed like sugar cane and some species are used to make soap.

According to legend, the plant lives for hundreds of years before it flowers, which is why it acquired the name of “Century Plant”. In reality, the plants live no more than thirty years, but the fatal flowering can be spectacular. In some species, a shoot two stories high, will produce an enormous cluster of white or yellow flowers.

Unlike the Europeans at the time the Spanish conquest of the New World, the Aztecs and Maya were very skilled in wound healing. They used the agave sap, often with egg white, to bind powders and gums in pastes and poultices to be applied to wounds.

The Bandianus Manuscript of 1552 was the first herbal to list the plants of the New World, describing an Aztec treatment for diarrhea and dysentery. In it, agave juice, combined with freshly-ground corn and extract of bladderwort was given as an enema, using a syringe made from the bladder of a small animal and a hollow bone or reed.

The 18th century Spanish botanist, Luis Née, was so impressed with the usefulness of the plant that, in his report to the crown, declared that Spain should not be without it. The plant was soon taken there, where it can still be found growing.

The juice was often applied to cuts and knife wounds to ease the pain, but another unusal use was recorded. It was stated that a cowardly (or clever) man was about to be whipped for some crime and had coated his back with the juice in order to lessen the pain of the whip.

Key Actions

  • antiseptic
  • anti-inflammatory
  • demulcent
  • diuretic
  • laxative
  • resorative

Key Components

  • estrogen-like isoflavonoids
  • alkaloids
  • coumarins
  • vitamins pro-A, B, C, D, and K

Medicinal Parts

  • Sap

Remedies

  • poultices to treat skin infections and inflammations
  • infusions for internal healing
  • juice applied to cuts, sores, and wounds

Traditional Uses

It is used to treat many digestive ailments, including ulcers and other inflammatory conditions of the intestines, stomach, and mouth. Its soothing properties protect the mucous membranes and encourage healing. It is also used for eye inflammations, bronchitis, arthritis, menstrual problems, as well as for cuts and wounds.

In the past, being a fairly close relative of Aloe Vera and with its rosette of sharply barbed spears, the two are often substituted for each other, depending on availability.

Another species, A. sisalana, is cultivated in subtropical America and Kenya as a source of hecogenin, the substance that is the starting point in the production of corticosteroids. Its fiber is also used to make rope and hammocks.

Mixed with a yellow chili and gourd seeds, the mixture was a tonic for those suffering relapses after illnesses.

A beverage made with the juice, called aguamiel, which literally means “water honey,” is prepared by roasting one of the spears until it begins to turn brown. The liquid is then squeezed from it and simmered over a low flame, sometimes with the addition of a cinnamon stick for flavour.

For educational purposes only.
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.