Wormwood oil

Wormwood essential oil is a thick liquid of a rather dark yellow-green color, sometimes with a bluish tinge, which has a sharp bitter taste. In the composition of wormwood oil, which is obtained from plants by distillation with steam, taei substances are present, such as tuyyl alcohol, pinene, tuyon, cadinene, caryophyllene, fellandren, selinene, curcumen, bisabolene and hamazulenogen.

In the food industry, bitter wormwood extract is used to make absinthe - it is by adding this ingredient that the drink acquires its specific, unique taste. In addition, wormwood extract and oil often acts as one of the main components in vermouth and other alcoholic tinctures.

Wormwood itself, along with the essential oil of the plant, is sometimes used in culinary affairs as a seasoning, in particular in the preparation of fatty dishes. Many people like its characteristic bitter smell and taste, so wormwood as a seasoning is added to fried meat dishes, especially fried goose.

A person knows a lot of useful properties of wormwood oil, including pronounced bactericidal ones. However, in nature, this feature of the plant can have both healing and negative effects. For example, in the presence of wormwood, dahlias, cloves, sage, flax, cumin begin to grow poorly, pollen germinates more slowly, and seeds germinate worse.

In the middle of the 20th century, scientists began to be very interested in this plant - then santonin, a sesquiterpene lactone, which is inherent in many healing properties, was isolated from the citarna wormwood, which is most widespread in Central Asia. It is worth noting that this biologically active substance is present in many plants, but it is wormwood that is especially rich in it.

Due to the presence of santonin, the beneficial properties of wormwood oil lie in its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, immunomodulatory, exhilarating effect. In addition, wormwood essential oil can improve the blood supply to the heart muscle, as well as damage pathological cells and cause their death. One cannot but say about the favorable effect of wormwood oil on the work of the CNS: when it is used, the processes of excitation and inhibition are normalized, the blood supply to brain cells improves.

The essential oil of various types of wormwood is also characterized by other medicinal properties. It can stimulate the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, enhance the release of bile, improve appetite, normalize the reduced acidity of gastric juice. In the case of inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract, with influenza and ARVI, pertussis, bronchial asthma, cough, bronchitis, runny nose, wormwood essential oil can have an antiseptic effect. At the same time, it has a painkiller effect on muscle pain, rheumatism and arthritis.

Nevertheless, this concentrated natural product has its own contraindications. In particular, wormwood oil is prohibited from being used during pregnancy, and if used for medicinal purposes, the course should not exceed one month.