Thuja

THUJA, Thuja occidentalis L., a plant of the pine family (Coniferae), a wild-growing tree in the swampy places of Canada and the United States. In the Caucasus, Thuja occidentalis grows, and in the Crimea, Thuja orientalis L. The tops (Summitates Thujae) and leaves (Folia arboris vitae) are collected. The odor of the preparation is strongly balsamic, the taste pungent and bitter. Thuja contains a fatty oil somewhat similar to turpentine, resin, sugar, citric acid, tannin, the glycoside thujin (C₂₀H₃₂O₁₂), lemon-yellow plates soluble in water and alcohol; thujic acid (C₁₂H₁₂O₃), insoluble in water and alcohol; thujigemin, thujetin (C₁₄H₁₄O₆), and a volatile substance, pinipicrin (C₂₂H₃₆O₁₁), contained in amounts from 0.5% to 1%. The essential oil is yellowish-green in color, with a camphoraceous odor and a bitter taste. It contains: d-alpha-pinene, l-fenchone (C₁₀H₁₆O), l-borneol, and d-thujone (C₁₀H₁₆O). The yield of essential oil from fresh leaves is 0.12–3.07%. According to Hildebrandt, fenchone and thujone have an excitatory effect on the heart muscle. The leaves of Thuja, formerly used against fever and rheumatism, are no longer used as such; the liquid extract or tincture prepared from them (from 100 parts to 120 parts of wine alcohol) is used externally for condylomas, epitheliomas, etc. (juice against warts). There is evidence that taking the tincture internally for enuresis and menstruation produced an effect similar to Hydrastis (dose 1–3 g). The essential oil is used against worms. F. K. Bailey notes a case of poisoning with convulsive phenomena after taking 16 drops of the essential oil. PUMPKIN, Cucurbita pepo L., a garden annual plant cultivated throughout the USSR except for the extreme north. The fruits are widely used in culinary practice and in the food industry (especially in confectionery and canning), contain a significant amount of vitamin C, and are therefore especially recommended as food for scurvy patients, as well as for prophylactic purposes. Medical application is found in the seeds of Thuja—Semen Cucurbitae, Semen Pepo—which are white or yellow flattened seeds, oval-pointed in shape with a prominent "rim"; length 1–2 cm, width 0.6–1.2 cm. The kernel is usually green in color, with a pleasant oily taste, containing up to 27% fatty oil, protein, the free amino acids leucine and tyrosine, sugar, etc. Fresh seeds contain a resinous substance that kills various worms, which is why it is used as an anthelmintic. Active substances could not be found in dry seeds. It is possible that the strongly reducing fatty oil (up to 45% linoleic acid glyceride) participates in the action of the seeds. Dosage: up to 200 kernels (without shells) per single dose (chewed); 6–10 hours later, a laxative.