Phytolacca

PHYTOLACCA, American grape, kermes, lacunos, imerituli separsi (Georgian), Phytolacca americana L., s. Phytolacca decandra L., perennial herbaceous plant (family Phytolaccaceae), up to 3 m in height, with a thick, multi-headed root. The stem is smooth, branched, with entire, large, pointed, smooth leaves of ovate or lanceolate shape, with short petioles. The root is primarily harvested. The color of the root is brownish-gray on the outside, pale-yellowish on the inside. The odor is absent. The taste is first sweetish, then acrid. The constituent parts of the plant are insufficiently studied; a poisonous alkaloid, phytolaccin, and a saponin glycoside have been found. The fruits contain coloring and tanning substances. Research on the root of the Batum harvest in Transcaucasia showed: moisture 8.78%, extractive substances soluble in water 13%, the same in alcohol 17.2%, ash 10.79%. According to the All-Union standard (OST #7911), moisture should not exceed 13%, ash not more than 11%. Homeland of P.-USA, northern districts. Distributed along the Mediterranean coast. In the USSR-in western Transcaucasia, in Kakheti, in Lenkoran. Grows on wastelands, along roads, on cultivated forest plots. The black juice of the berries of this plant was used for coloring wines, spirits, pastries, and during fruit cooking, but this application has been abandoned due to the non-indifference of all parts of the plant. Medical use is made of the root of Phyt. decandra as an emetic and cathartic; it has been included in the American, Japanese, and British pharmacopoeias. Also used in chronic rheumatism, scurvy, syphilis, etc. Preparations Succus inspissatus and Extr. fluid. Doses of the fluidextract: from 0.06 to 0.3 (laxative); as an emetic from 0.6 to 1.2. In folk medicine, the root of P. is used as a laxative. A piece of root the size of a fingernail is crushed into a flat cake. This cake, stirred in half a glass of water, acts as a strong laxative 10 minutes after ingestion. In Imereti, the root is also used as an anti-cestode agent. Ointments are made from it for skin diseases. Berries, together with madder and alum, in the form of a decoction, are used in Kakheti for dyeing silk in burgundy color. The leaves of P. are sometimes mixed with the leaves of belladonna, e.g. Atropa belladonna.