Inula Helenium L

INULA HELENIUM L A HEENIUM., s. Enula Helenium {Inula Helenium, elecampane, tall elecampane, nine-leaf elecampane, wild sunflower, bloodwort}, a perennial herbaceous plant of the composite family. In the wild state, it is found in damp places, near streams, in ditches and along riverbanks throughout middle and southern Europe, in the middle and southern part of the RSFSR, in Siberia (former Tomsk province, Altai); it is cultivated in Western Europe, Japan and North America. The medicinal application is for the two to three-year-old rhizomes and roots of the plant, which are sold in the form of hard, irregularly shaped pieces of horn-like consistency, with a characteristic aromatic smell, spicy, slightly bitter taste. Rhizoma el, |

1-basal leaf, flowering top; 2 tubular flower; 3 ligulate flower; 4 fruit.

containing: up to 44% inulin (C₆H₁₀O₅)_x - a carbohydrate that replaces starch in many composite plants; alantol C₁₀H₁₆O - a liquid boiling at about 200°; alantolactone, anhydride of alantolic acid, C₁₄H₂₀O₂, melting point ^xCO 75°; alantol camphor - helenin, first isolated by Dumas; opinions regarding the composition and properties of helenin differ: some authors attribute to it the formula (C₉H₈O)_x and melting point 110°, others consider it to be the anhydride of isoalantolic acid, melting point 115°; a third group considers it to be the anhydride of alantolic acid; according to Schmidt and Thorns (Schmidt, Thorns), commercial helenin represents alantolactin. Alantol and alantol camphor, which have antiseptic properties, are prescribed 0.1 to 10 times a day. The root of elecampane, an old folk remedy, is included in some 'chest' collections; decoctions from 5.0-15.0 in 200.0 are prescribed as an expectorant and for washing in scabies and ringworm; unofficial Extractum and Tinctura Helenii are also prescribed as expectorants. Due to its high inulin content and absence of starch, elecampane root was proposed for making bread for diabetics.

L. Medvedayev.