Properties and uses of Common Buckthorn

Properties and uses of Common Buckthorn

Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica L., 1753) is an arboreal species of the Ramnaceous family, with origins in an area between Europe and Asia. This plant is found in hedges and at the edge of the submontane woods, above all in the north, and prefers calcareous soils, even poor and gravelly and tends to be dry.
It is a bushy shrub or tree, with a twisted trunk, branched from the bottom and irregular foliage. High from 1 to 4 (6) m, with opposite branches, paired and almost perpendicular to the trunk. The tips of the branches are hardened and form some thorns. The bark is rather rough, reddish brown in color that over time darkens and crackles in plaques. The leaves are deciduous, with opposite but also alternating insertions, with rounded oval shape of 3 – 5 x 3 – 9 cm, with 2 – 4 arcuate ribs towards the tip, almost parallel to the central rib, slightly toothed margin, long petiole.

The tip is rounded but sometimes mucronata (with a protruding needle). It emits small flowers of about 0,5 cm, of green-yellowish color with 4 petiolate petals collected in groups up to 8, umbrella-shaped, to the axils of the leaves along the branches.
In this sheet we will see properties and uses of Common Buckthorn and the active ingredients contained in it.
The fruits, both fresh and dried, contain anthraquinones, ramnoxanthin, ramnoemodine, bitter principles, ramnocatartin, coloring substances (bladder green), crisoramnina, ramnonigrina, quercetin, glucose, succinic acid, calcium succinate, resin, fatty oil and other substances.
This fruit is used in infusions or syrups for laxative purposes and also with diuretic effects. Overdosing produces side effects such as vomiting, abdominal pain and violent diarrheal discharges. The very hard wood to be worked, is used in the work of lathe and cabinet making.
Remember that from the point of view of edibility it is a toxic plant.