Chamomile

CHAMOMILE, Matricaria chamomilla L., German chamomile; a variety of Matricaria suaveolens L. (scented chamomile) and Anthemis nobilis L. (Roman chamomile), plants of the family Compositae. The Pharmacopoeia VII considers only the flowers of the common chamomile, while Roman chamomile is a folk remedy in our USSR. Common chamomile is an annual herbaceous plant. The marginal flowers of M. chamomilla are ligulate, white, female, and deflect downwards, while the central ones are funnel-tubular, yellow, and bisexual; the receptacle is bare, conical in mature flowers, and hollow inside; the fruit is a bare achene without a pappus, the seed is exalbuminous, and the radicle of the embryo faces downward. M. suaveolens is distinguished by a greater aroma and the absence of marginal flowers; the flowers are yellow and funnel-tubular. The homeland of chamomile is Europe, with the exception of the extreme north, Siberia, Persia, and India (Kashmir); it has been introduced to America and Australia as a weed. It is cultivated in the USSR in the south of Ukraine; the developed flower heads are collected in May and June. The whole flower heads of chamomile, dried in the shade and used in medicine, contain deposits of essential oil. The essential oil is contained in an amount of about 0.25% in freshly dried flowers; it has a thick consistency, a beautiful blue color, and a strong, characteristic chamomile odor; under the influence of light and air, chamomile oil oxidizes, turns brown, and resinifies quite quickly. Fresh oil gives 3 absorption bands in the red and orange colors of the spectrum. In addition to the essential oil, chamomile flowers contain traces of tannin, a bitter substance, malic-calcium, potassium, and other salts, and a mucilaginous substance.

In medicine, chamomile is used in the form of an infusion internally and for therapeutic enemas (see Enema), as a gargle, lotion, eye wash, poultice, and for baths. The significance of chamomile in therapy is determined by the action of its essential oil and tannins, and when taken internally, also by the action of bitter substances. The essential oil and tannins of chamomile, introduced internally in the form of an infusion, produce a disinfectant effect in the stomach and intestines, reduce the formation of gases, reduce stomach pains and intestinal colic, weaken inflammatory phenomena (essential oil), and, in addition, promote sweating by being excreted through the skin and thus irritating the sweat glands. Applied externally, a chamomile infusion acts by reducing the blood supply to the small vessels and capillaries of the skin, as well as mucous membranes, where the astringent effect of chamomile tannins is especially manifested, in addition to the antiseptic influence exerted by the essential oil and the tannin of chamomile. Most often, chamomile is used as a folk remedy for menstruation and intestinal colic. The essential oil of chamomile was proposed by Camerarius against intestinal colic; the name Matricaria, introduced in 1735 (Haller), indicated the healing effect of chamomile for uterine ailments. Roman chamomile grows wild in Western Europe; the double-flowered variety is cultivated mainly in Saxony, Belgium, and England. The odor of Roman chamomile flowers is peculiar, strongly aromatic, and spicy; the taste is bitter-spicy and pungent. It contains 0.2–1.0% of liquid essential oil, of a light blue-green color, which turns brown during storage. Roman chamomile contains: anthemol (Anthemol, C₁₀H₁₆O), which has the odor of camphor, resin, fatty oil, a bitter substance, traces of tannin, and mineral salts. Roman chamomile is used as a folk diaphoretic, anthelmintic, and emmenagogue. Roman chamomile is used especially often in England, where common chamomile is almost never used.