Ramson is an amazing plant that looks like a lily of the valley, tastes like young garlic, and biologically belongs to the genus onions. This is one of the earliest plants that has many other names, but most importantly, wild garlic has many beneficial properties for the human body. In addition, both adults and children.
This leafy plant is practically the first to occupy the market shelves after a long winter period. And other vegetables that take some time to accumulate many valuable substances cannot be compared with it. In addition, lovers of garlic do not have to use an already dried product, but introduce fresh leaves into their dishes, giving off a garlic smell and aroma.
What kind of plant is it?
Ramson has been known to mankind since the Paleolithic period (that is, 5 thousand years ago).
The ancient Germans, Celts and Romans more often called it as a bear’s bow, because the bears that woke up after hibernation eagerly searched for and ate wild garlic in order to replenish the lost vitamin and mineral reserves of the body.
Today, bear onion has several additional names – victory onion, flask, wild garlic, levurda. It is often harvested in the month of April in the forests. But in addition to collecting wild garlic, it became possible to grow perennial wild garlic from the genus of onions and the lily family in personal plots. The main thing is to choose a shaded area with well-moistened soil.
In the wild, wild garlic prefers the banks of rivers, streams, near swamps, as well as on flooded meadows. She feels great in cool shady places. The favorable temperature for plant growth is 17 degrees.
A suitable climate for wild garlic is the Ural, Siberian, Far Eastern, Caucasian. Wild onions also feel great in Belarus, Ukraine, Southeast Asia, and the USA.
The flowering period begins in June. Wild garlic blooms with small greenish-white flowers, collected at the top of the stem, 15 to 50 cm high, in dense umbrellas or balls. A distinctive feature is elliptical leaves with pointed tips. When fully ripe, the fruits acquire a conical-cylindrical shape and are covered with a gray-brown fibrous membrane.
It should be borne in mind that the leaves emit poisonous essential oils, therefore experienced gardeners recommend collecting the flask with gloves, and no other plants (including weeds) will grow nearby. In addition, at home, you will have to wait 4-5 years after planting for the plant to take up all the nutrients.
Useful properties and composition of wild garlic
Despite the chemical composition that is quite familiar to many plant products, wild garlic is characterized by the presence of:
- water (up to 90 g);
- essential oils;
- vital amino acids (eg lysozyme);
- carbohydrates;
- protein fractions;
- fat (only 0.1 g);
- fiber (or dietary fiber);
- ash products;
- organic acids (0.1 g);
- phytoncides;
- vitamin A and beta carotene;
- elements of group B (in particular, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin and folic acid);
- a huge amount of ascorbic acid (that is, vitamin C);
- minerals represented by fluorine, sulfur, calcium, potassium, trace elements such as zinc, manganese, selenium, fluorine, iodine, boron, copper, iron.
Wild onions are low-calorie foods. Its calorie content per 100 grams of fresh herbs is 35–36 kilocalories. True, such a calorie content is deceptive and does not mean at all that wild garlic can be eaten in any desired quantities. Excessive infatuation with this first spring green can irritate the digestive system.
In terms of its beneficial properties, wild garlic closely resembles the properties of regular garlic. Ramson also increases the secretion of gastric juice, improves appetite and stimulates the digestive tract, has mild diuretic and laxative properties.
Due to the high content of vitamins, and primarily vitamin C, minerals, it can be used to replenish vitamins and minerals that the body did not receive significantly during the long winter months. Ramson is an excellent remedy for vitamin deficiency. Since ancient times, wild onions have been used as an antiscorbutic plant, to protect against such terrible diseases as cholera and plague.
The benefits of wild garlic
The benefits of wild garlic were noticed by the ancient Romans. The healing effect that it has on the human body can hardly be overestimated. Ramson has such properties as:
Hemostatic;
Bactericidal;
Anthelmintic;
Anti-sclerotic;
Antiscorbutic;
Toning;
Diuretics.
At the moment, modern “healers” have defined such a healing effect on the human body:
- antihelminthic action;
- cleaning the intestines from “bad” microflora;
- effective fight against spring vitamin deficiency;
- lowering blood cholesterol;
- improving the quality of the blood composition;
- increasing the body’s immune resistance against viruses (previously it was cholera and plague, today – various strains of influenza);
- useful for improving appetite;
- relieves fatigue and fatigue;
- tones up the body during the period of “hibernation”;
- stimulates the work of the heart muscle;
- prevents the development of atherosclerosis;
- lowers high blood pressure;
- protects the nervous system from depressive conditions;
- helps in metabolic processes, which is why it is recommended for patients with diabetes mellitus;
- heals pustular rashes on the skin, boils, warts and lichens (externally applied grass gruel and juice);
- as a pain reliever for rheumatism, radiculitis, neuralgia (tincture is used).
Wild garlic improves intestinal motility, normalizes metabolism, prevents the accumulation of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, reduces inflammation in the body, and stimulates the heart.
Ramson is useful for atherosclerosis, various infectious intestinal diseases, fever, sciatica, rheumatism, otitis media.
To reduce pain associated with rheumatism, gruel from a fresh plant, mixed with a small amount of vegetable oil, is wrapped in gauze or cotton napkin and applied to painful areas for one and a half or two hours.
To reduce fever, a decoction is prepared from fresh or dried leaves of wild garlic: a tablespoon of the plant is poured with boiling water and insisted. The same broth is used for rubbing into sore joints for rheumatism, gout and other joint pain.
Alcohol tincture of wild garlic leaves is used in the form of rubbing for the treatment of bronchitis, sciatica. For oral administration, it is used in the treatment of cough. Alcohol tincture can be used as a mild diuretic. Who does not tolerate alcohol, in this case, you can make a decoction or infusion of wild garlic.
Eating fresh bear onions helps with thyroid diseases, hyperthyroidism, as the prevention of typhoid fever and cholera.
To relieve inflammation in the oral cavity, it is enough to chew a fresh leaf of the plant for 2-3 minutes. Wild onions release phytoncides, which have a detrimental effect on the pathogenic flora.
To treat rhinitis, crushed wild garlic bulbs are wrapped in a bandage and inserted into the nose.
For purulent otitis media in children, use the juice of a fresh plant, which is instilled 2 times a day into the sore ear, 6 drops. After 15 minutes, be sure to dry the ear with a cotton swab.
For eczema of the palms of the hands, wild garlic is used with apple cider vinegar. To do this, mix 1/3 cup of dry wild garlic with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1/3 tablespoon of sea buckthorn oil. Stir well and lubricate the affected skin. It is better to do this procedure at night, wearing cellophane gloves, and cotton gloves on top. The course of treatment lasts for 2-3 weeks. 
The use of wild garlic in cooking
Culinary practitioners strongly recommend that consumers eat fresh, raw bear onions, adding to spring salads (a cucumber, boiled egg and chopped wild garlic are combined) and soups (carrots and potatoes are boiled first, and bear onions are boiled 15 minutes before readiness). They are filled without fail with fatty vegetable oil and high-fat sour cream.
This onion goes well with fatty meat dishes and poultry, especially game, due to the garlic shade of an unpleasant odor and giving the meat a softer structure.
If you want to feast on healthy vitamin onions throughout the year, it is best to pickle or pickle the leaves and bulbs. In the Caucasus, it is customary to dry wild garlic, later using it as a spice (it is customary to mix dried wild garlic with red pepper).
Read on the topic: How to prepare wild garlic for the winter
Harm of wild garlic
No matter how useful the victory bow may seem, it also has some contraindications, because of which doctors do not recommend its use for:
- stomach ulcer;
- pancreatitis;
- individual intolerance to garlic;
- increased acidity of gastric secretion;
- liver disease;
- epilepsy;
- pregnancy (although this fact is still debated).
It is also forbidden to get too carried away with the plant so as not to get insomnia, headache, exacerbation of gastritis, arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm) and indigestion (due to the laxative effect). Therefore, it is best to eat a maximum of 20 fresh leaves a day.
See more about the beneficial properties of wild garlic in this video of the program “Living Healthy”
And in this video, a recipe for a delicious salad with wild garlic
