English name: Ribwort, Plantain
Family: Plantaginaceae
Botanical characteristic: A perennial herb that grows to a height of 30 cm. The stem is bare, leafless. The leaves form a ground rosette, are lance-shaped, parallel-veined and have entire margins. The flowers are arranged in spikes, which are composed of white-yellow flowers. The fruit is a capsule.
Microscopic drawing:
Distribution: It grows in meadows, pastures, roadsides.
Drug: Plantaginis lanceolatae folium
Harvesting method: It blooms from May to September. Undamaged leaves are collected by hand or with scissors, at the time of flowering.
Drying: In a natural way, the leaves are dried in a thin layer in a dark, ventilated room. When drying with artificial heat in a drying oven, the temperature must not exceed 40 °C.
Active substances: The plant contains a large amount of mucilage and iridoid glycosides, of which aucubin is the dominant one. Other contents are flavonoids, tannins and organic acids (caffeic and ferulic acid).
Uses: The drug is applied as an antitussive in dry and irritating cough. The mucilage acts protectively on the mucous membranes of the oral cavity and pharynx. Due to the aucubin content, the drug is also said to have an antibacterial effect.
Traditional method of use in indications determined solely on the basis of long-term use:
– symptomatic treatment, alleviation of irritation of the mucous membrane of the oral cavity and pharynx caused by a dry, irritating cough.
Selected herbal preparations: APOTHEKE Plantain steam pouches 20×1,5 g, AGROKARPATY BRONCHY herbal tea 20×2 g, Mucoplant Cough syrup with plantain and honey 250 ml, Dr. Max Plantain Vitamin C Sugar-free 245 ml, MedPharma Herbal sugar-free pastilles with plantain, motherwort, vitamin C 12 pcs, TEREZIA PHYTOLAX cps 10 pcs, VIRDE Plantain with betaglucan with lemon flavour 200 ml, VINCENTKA SIRUP with plantain and motherwort 200 ml, VINCENTKA SIRUP with plantain and motherwort 200 ml