Official name: St. John’s wort

Latin name: Hypericum perforatum L.

Description: St. John’s wort (Hypericum Perforatum) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Hypericaceae family. In Bulgaria, it is found in dry places, hills, bushes, roadside and uncultivable lands, above 1000 – 2000 m above sea level. The rhizome has a strongly branched main root. The stem is up to 100 cm tall, bare, woody at the base, strongly branched towards the top. The leaves are oval-elliptic, opposite, light green, glabrous. The flowers are yellow, located in thyroid inflorescences on the top of the main stem or on its branches. The fruit is a bursting box. The seeds are very small, oblong, dark brown. The medicinal plant blooms in summer from May to September.

Part of the herb used: The upped leafy flower-bearing stem parts of the plant (Herba Hyperici)

Harvest time: In June and August during flowering, the leafy stems of St. John’s wort (Herba Hyperici) are cut about 20 cm from the top. The collected material is dried in bundles in dry and ventilated rooms without direct sunlight.

Chemical composition/Content and properties: St. John’s wort includes coloring substances (hypericin and pseudohypericin), catechin tanning substances, flavonoid glucosides (hyperoside, rutin and quercitrin), essential oil, ascorbic acid, resinous substances, a lot of carotene and traces of nicotinic acid.

Medicinal action and application: The herb has anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, immune stimulating, blood-stopping and anti-ucler effects. Thanks to the choline, hyperforin and hypericin contained in it, St. John’s wort acts as an antidepressant in mild to moderate depression without the side effects and supports the activity of the nervous system. The medicinal plant supports the detoxification of the body and the liver, helps with diseases of the bile ducts and kidneys, with peptic ulcer disease of the stomach and duodenum, with acute and chronic gastritis and is used as a diuretic, sedative and anthlelmintic. Applied externally, in the form of an ointment, compress or paws, the healing bell has a regenerative effect, neutralizes inflammatory processes, accelerates wound healing, stimulates blood circulation and prevents bacterial infections.

Possibilities to offer at the customer’s request:

“Vesselino” LTD offers its customers the herb in the following varieties:

• Stalks (Herba Hyperici) – dried whole, crushed, cut to a certain size at the customer’s request, ground into powder/flour