Tarhun: useful and medicinal properties, contraindications
This plant, which has many names (dragon grass, tarragon, dragon wormwood, Mary's gold), is known to us as tarragon. This name has its roots in the countries of Asia Minor, where tarragon has been widely used for many centuries. The tarragon began its triumphal path from the steppes of Mongolia, from where it spread throughout Asia, Europe and America. Treatment of scurvy and tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, epilepsy and seizures, strengthening of blood vessels - all these conditions were successfully treated by ancient healers with the help of tarragon. Its amazing taste is due to the rare set of useful properties and components of this spicy plant.
The aroma of tarragon resembles both the smell of mint and the pungency of anise. Having felt it at least once, this smell cannot be forgotten. Tarragon can be found in the wild and as a spicy crop grown in personal plots. It can be prepared for future use by drying the tops of the leaves, tied in small bunches. Dried tarragon is stored in glass jars with ground-in hermetically sealed lids.
Content:
The benefits of tarragon
- Composition and calorie content
- Useful properties of tarragon
- The healing properties of tarragon
- The healing properties of tarragon
- Tarragon use
- Tincture on tarragon
- How to make tarragon drink at home?
- Contraindications to the use of tarragon
The benefits of tarragon
Due to its composition, tarragon is successfully used as a medicinal plant in folk medicine in many countries of the world. It enhances potency and appetite, relieves nervous tension, fights insomnia, heals the oral cavity, the state of the digestive tract.
Composition and calorie content
Complete chemical composition ➤
Useful properties of tarragon
Tarragon action:
- Fortifying,
- Toning,
- Antiscorbutic,
- Pain reliever,
- Diuretic,
- Stabilizing the work of the nervous system,
- Normalizing digestion,
- Stimulating appetite
- Regenerating,
- Normalizing the menstrual cycle,
- Antispasmodic,
- Anti-inflammatory,
- Antihelminthic,
- Improves potency.
In addition, tarragon is used for fortifying feed for farm animals.
The healing properties of tarragon
Traditional medicine could not ignore this valuable plant.
Tarhun successfully normalizes the human condition under the following conditions:
- Lowered immunity;
- Amenorrhea and hypermenorrhea, unstable menstrual cycle;
- Headaches, migraines;
- Puffiness of various origins;
- Scurvy, gum disease;
- Lack of digestive activity;
- Smell disorders;
- Decreased potency;
- Arthritis and arthrosis.
Tarhun is a component not only of traditional medicine recipes, but also homeopathic medicines for the treatment of diseases of the upper respiratory tract, pneumonia, cystitis, urolithiasis.
Folk recipes based on tarragon:
- Neurological disorders - an infusion of 200 ml of boiling water and art. l. dry tarragon herbs are divided into 2 doses and drunk half a glass before meals;
- Radiculitis - sore spots are smeared with cow oil mixed with chopped tarragon or dried grass powder;
- Eczema - the affected skin is smeared with honey mixed with 1 tbsp. l. herbs;
- Inflammation of the gums - an ointment of 100 g of butter and 1 tbsp. Is rubbed into the base of the teeth and into the gums. l. tarragon;
- Toothache - chew on a leaf of the plant, providing yourself with anesthesia;
- Varicose veins - insist a handful of tarragon herb in half a liter of yogurt, soak gauze with this mixture and make a compress on the sore vein, wrapping it on top with compress paper or oilcloth;
- Fatigue - drink half a glass of broth from 200 ml of water and Art. l. tarragon herbs;
- Insomnia - make a compress from a decoction of 1 tbsp. l. herbs in a glass of boiling water, put on the forehead;
- Lack of appetite - brew 1 tbsp in a teapot. l. tarragon herbs, 3 tbsp. l. green tea and pomegranate peel, use the infusion as a tea infuser to prepare a drink.
Tarragon use
Although tarragon is used in medicine as a medicinal plant, the cuisine of many nations of the world would lose a lot without the use of this spice. It is seasoned with salads and vegetable dishes, set off with an unusual aroma of soups and cottage cheese dishes, added to marinades and sauces.
Tarragon's ability to destroy pathogenic microorganisms is used in the preservation of mushrooms, vegetables and fruits. Fish and meat dishes benefit from the proximity to this spice, it is included in sauces for dressing dishes. The aromatization of alcoholic and carbonated drinks with this original spice is very common, to which it gives a noble taste and aroma.
Tarragon plays an important role in diets designed for weight loss. Its use allows you to decorate the taste of kefir or salt-free diets, give them a spicy touch, and partly replace salt. Chewing fresh leaves of tarragon, you can successfully fight hunger during therapeutic fasting.
In cosmetology, tarragon juice is used as part of various products for the care of the skin of the hands and face. Lightening of pigmentation, regeneration of the skin after damage, relief of inflammation, mild analgesic effect - properties manifested in tarragon infusions.
Cosmetic recipes:
- Toning infusion - 1 tsp. dried or fresh herbs are poured with a glass of boiling water, insisted for a while, rubbing the skin of the face, hands and neck.
- Rejuvenating lotion - a mixture of cucumber juice and fresh tarragon juice, mixed in a 1: 1 ratio, with the addition of 2-3 drops of this plant's essential oil, will support the aging skin of the face and neck if wiped twice a day.
- Tarragon essential oil is used in the preparation of baths for relaxation and combating melancholy, aroma massage to relieve neuralgia and rheumatic manifestations.
Tincture on tarragon
There are several options for creating tarragon-based alcoholic beverages.
To create a tincture with an original taste and unusual aroma, you need the following ingredients:
- Tarragon greens, fresh and coarsely chopped - 50 g;
- Vodka - 0.5 l;
- Honey - 1 tbsp. l.;
- Sugar - 1 tsp
The herb is mixed with sugar for 30 minutes, after a while the juice will be released from it. All ingredients are sent to a bottle, sealed and infused for 3-4 days in a cool dark place. Then filter the resulting tincture by passing it through a charcoal filter. To preserve the wonderful emerald hue of the tincture, it is stored in the dark, away from sunlight.
Mint and tarragon - another tincture
The following components are mixed in a 3-liter jar:
- Tarhun - 100-150 g (large bunch);
- Mint - 20 g;
- Juice and zest of ¼ lemon;
- Sugar - 2 tbsp. l.;
- Vodka to fill the jar to the brim along with all the ingredients.
The drink is infused for a week in the dark at room temperature. The filtered drink is cooled and used for its intended purpose. All the beneficial properties of tarragon are preserved in tinctures from this herb in full.
How to make tarragon drink at home?
The benefits of the homemade drink far exceed the beneficial properties of its counterparts purchased in the store - there is no sugar or preservatives.
Recipe number 1 - step by step preparation of a tarragon drink at home:
- In 1.5 liters of water, you need to dissolve 7 tablespoons of sugar.
- Heat a saucepan with syrup over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved.
- At the same time, chopped stalks of tarragon are placed in the syrup, the leaves are left for now to add them later.
- After boiling water, remove the pan from the heat, lay the chopped leaves in order to preserve the maximum vitamins in the drink.
- After half an hour of infusion, the drink is filtered, diluted with a liter of water with gas, adding juice from 1/2 lemon.
- We pour it into glasses and enjoy a refreshing and delicious drink.
Recipe number 2 (prepared very quickly, no need to cook):
- Wash and coarsely tear a large bunch of tarragon.
- Add lime juice, lemon juice and 0.5 cups of boiled water, grind the grass mass in a blender, or just knead everything thoroughly.
- Strain the juice, squeeze it from the chopped greens.
- Dilute the resulting liquid with cold water in a ratio of 1: 4, add ice cubes. Sweet lovers can add sugar syrup to taste.
This amount of the resulting drink is enough for 2 servings. The color of lemonade will not be as bright as the drink we are used to, produced in an industrial environment, but its taste and benefits will undoubtedly win.
Contraindications to the use of tarragon
With all its advantages, tarragon should not be consumed in large quantities and for a long time, since in excessive quantities it can cause poisoning with all the accompanying symptoms: headache, convulsions, nausea and vomiting.
Medical contraindications:
- Pregnancy due to the threat of miscarriage;
- Lactation;
- Ulcers of the stomach and intestines;
- Individual intolerance in the form of an allergic reaction;
- Acidic gastritis.
Widely using tarragon in cooking, in the preparation of drinks and medicines, you need to observe a sense of proportion, remember about contraindications.
The author of the article: Sokolova Nina Vladimirovna | Phytotherapist
Education: Diploma in "General Medicine" and "Therapy" received at the Pirogov University (2005 and 2006). Advanced training at the Department of Phytotherapy at the Peoples' Friendship University of Moscow (2008).
