Black nightshade is a medicinal plant, the fruits of which, when unripe, can cause severe poisoning. Nightshade helps with many diseases, but it should be used with caution.
Black nightshade (funnel / crow, common nightshade) is an annual plant with small, black, round fruits. The plant belongs to the Solanaceae family. The fruits of this plant are harvested from August to October, and the leaves and grass from July to September.
Black nightshade berries have an unpleasant odor and sweet and sour taste. When properly dried, the berries, grass, flowers and leaves of the plant can be stored for up to eight years. Also, nightshade fruits can be stored frozen.
Nightshade grows in America, Australia, Ukraine, and also in Russia. In gardens and orchards, it is considered a weed. It will not be difficult to find this plant - nightshade often grows on the banks of reservoirs, in fields, in ravines.
In addition to black nightshade, there are also other species of this plant, for example, red nightshade (bittersweet), yellow nightshade, prickly nightshade.
Useful properties of black nightshade
This healing berry contains vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, sugars, manganese, as well as tannins and carotene. Fresh nightshade is used as a laxative and antiparasitic agent.
Also, black nightshade relieves pain and cramps, has anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, choleretic and diuretic effects. The berries of this plant help with high blood pressure, problems with the gastrointestinal tract, and diseases of the nervous system.
Black nightshade harm
Eating nightshade berries should be extremely careful and only ripe. Unripe fruits and leaves of this plant are poisonous and can cause severe poisoning, especially if consumed in large quantities for a long time.
The main symptoms of black nightshade poisoning:
- diarrhea,
- vomiting
- convulsions
- dizziness,
- deterioration of vision.
In case of poisoning with black nightshade, you should immediately seek medical help! If a child has eaten a nightshade berry, but there are no symptoms of poisoning, you need to give the baby plenty of clean water and visit a doctor with him as soon as possible. If it is not possible to seek help from specialists, it is recommended to induce vomiting in the child, and then give him water.
Contraindications
This dangerous medicinal plant is forbidden to be consumed by children, nursing women, as well as during pregnancy.
Nightshade is highly discouraged in the following cases:
- with diarrhea,
- with a tendency to allergies,
- low blood pressure (hypotension),
- severe liver disease,
- flatulence.
Nightshade in folk medicine
The plant is used in folk medicine for many diseases. Black nightshade will help with the following ailments:
- eczema,
- angina,
- hypertension,
- hemorrhoids,
- enterocolitis,
- infectious diseases (viral and bacterial),
- increased nervous irritability,
- diseases of the urinary tract,
- liver and gallbladder diseases,
- diseases of the respiratory system,
- epilepsy,
- rheumatism,
- dropsy,
- anorexia,
- swelling
- constipation,
- conjunctivitis,
- stomatitis,
- lichen,
- psoriasis.
When used correctly, black nightshade dilates blood vessels, can relieve inflammation of the oral cavity, bronchitis and bronchial asthma. With atherosclerosis, nightshade will help cleanse blood vessels, if you eat 5 g of ripe medicinal berries fresh every day.
And in case of ulcers on the body, wounds and abscesses, nightshade lotions promote rapid healing, thanks to the antiseptic properties of the plant. A bathroom with the addition of nightshade decoction will help to cope with pain in sciatica, neuritis, radiculitis, gout. In some cases, black nightshade is taken for leukemia.
For medicinal purposes, decoctions, juices, tinctures, ointments are made from nightshade. However, it is highly undesirable to take any remedies based on black nightshade without medical advice. Only an experienced specialist will be able to prescribe the exact dosage of taking this or that folk remedy in order to achieve a positive effect in treatment and not cause poisoning.
Folk recipes with nightshade
- To make a diuretic tincture from black nightshade, you need to pour two teaspoons of flowers with two glasses of boiling water and let it brew for two hours. Take this remedy half an hour before meals, a tablespoon.
- With angina, the juice of their nightshade helps. To do this, ripe berries must be scrolled through a meat grinder and squeezed. Then 6 tbsp. Dissolve tablespoons of the resulting juice in a liter of warm water and leave to brew for half an hour. The resulting product should be gargled 3-5 times a day.
- For purulent wounds, ulcers and eczema, lotions from the infusion of nightshade leaves will help. This requires 4 tbsp. Pour tablespoons of dry leaves with a liter of boiling water and stand for four hours. When the product is infused, you need to moisten a cotton pad in it and apply it to the sore spot for 10-15 minutes.
- For diseases of the stomach and intestines, it is recommended to take an infusion of nightshade leaves, 1 tbsp. spoon half an hour before meals. The infusion is prepared as follows: four teaspoons of the leaves are poured with three glasses of boiling water and insisted for two hours.
- To prepare a medicinal drink from black nightshade, which helps to rejuvenate the body and protect against cancer, you will need 2.5 kg of nightshade berries, a liter of clean drinking water and 0.5 liters of liquid honey. Ripe clean nightshade fruits are passed through a meat grinder and squeezed out. Then honey and water are added to the resulting nightshade juice. The mixture is stirred well and poured into sterilized containers (glass jars, bottles). You need to store the product in a cool, dark place, take 1 tbsp in the morning. spoon on an empty stomach. Also, this drink can be used for viral infections.
- Black nightshade can be used for a cold. To do this, you need to scroll the nightshade leaves through a meat grinder, squeeze out the juice and bury it in the nasal sinuses, two drops at a time.
- When coughing, it is necessary to pour 10 g of nightshade herb with two glasses of boiling water and leave for half an hour. The infusion should be taken warm twice a day for 1/2 cup, adding 1/2 teaspoon of honey.
- To get rid of insomnia, you need to mix 4 tbsp. tablespoons of nightshade fruit juice and 2 tbsp. tablespoons of warm boiled water. You need to take such a remedy twice a day, two tablespoons.
- If there are diseases of the nervous system, then nightshade is recommended to eat 5 ripe fresh berries daily.
- With deprivation, you can make lotions from black nightshade grass. To do this, take four teaspoons of dry crushed raw materials and pour two glasses of boiling water. The tool is insisted for 5 hours, after which it must be filtered, moistened with white cotton cloth, gauze or cotton pad and treated several times a day the affected areas. Also, this infusion can be used for compresses.
Important: before using folk remedies, you must consult a doctor.
Nightshade in cooking
Nightshade berries are edible only when ripe (black berries), green nightshade is poisonous. Sweet preparations for the winter are made from the fruits, for example, jam. Also, black nightshade can be used to make jelly or use it as a filling for baking.
Before using the nightshade for culinary purposes, it is recommended to scald the fruits with boiling water to get rid of the unpleasant smell of the berries.
A simple nightshade jam recipe
For nightshade jam, you need three glasses of water, a kilogram of washed and scalded ripe nightshade berries and a kilogram of sugar. All ingredients are mixed in an enamel saucepan and cooked over low heat. The jam is done when the nightshade is soft. After that, the jam is cooled and poured into sterilized storage jars.
