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WALNUT

Juglans regia L

Description

Walnut is a caducous, monoecious tree of 20 to 25 m in height, with a thick trunk of smooth and ash-grey bark. Later on, the bark turns grooved and brownish. Branches are erect and bulky. Leaves are long, alternate, compound and imparipinnate, with 5 to 9 folioles and a long petiole, as well. They are aromatic and bitter-tasted; reddish brown when just born and dark green at both sides when mature. Folioles are oval-shaped of 6-15 cm long, sharp of a kind of coriaceous texture, entire margins. The terminal foliole is longer than the others. Male flowers are in green catkins, cylindrical, hanging with numerous flowers might be isolated or in groups of three at 2-year-old branches. Female flowers might be solitaire or together in groups of 1-4 at same year branches, forming a spike at the end of the branch. Flowers and leaves sprout at the same time. Fruit is an oval-shaped drupe of up to 5 cm long, found in groups of 1-5 on a short peduncle. It has a greenish, smooth surface covered by whitish glands. It’s covered by a liquid (nogaline) which stains with a hard to wash substance. The inside is a hard, ligneous, rugose surface with two valves. The inside has one brain-like shape seed (which is why it was considered good to treat problems in the head). It belongs to the Juglandaceae family.

It is original from Persia was introduced in Rome through Greece then to all western Europe; finally it arrived to North and South America. It is cultivated in most of the Mediterranean and Atlantic region. It blooms in May-June. Fruits ripe at the end of summer and are harvested in autumn. The fleshy layer is peeled off and the walnut let to dry.

Part used

Mainly the leaves and in rare occasions, the fruits (walnuts) and the fruit pericarps.

Indications

*Leaves

  • Vein deficiency symptoms relief: hemorrhoids, varicose veins.
  • Diarrhea.
  • Diabetes.
  • Lack of appetite, hyposecretive dyspepsia.
  • Intestinal parasite infections, ascaridiasis, toxocariasis, trichuriasis, taeniasis.
  • Rheumatism, gout.
  • It is used in folk medicine as anticarcinogenic, as some authors believe corresponds to its acid fraction.
  • Light skin inflammations: seborrheic dermatitis, skin ulcers, chilblain, fissures, insect bites, diaper rash, itching, wounds, superficial sun burns, abscesses, furuncles, psoriasis, etc. applied in baths, poultices, compresses and washes.
  • Hemorrhages.
  • Excessive transpiration in hands and feet, hyperhidrosis.
  • Hair lotion (leaves) in case of itching and dandruff or scales in the scalp.
  • Eye disorders: conjunctivitis, blepharitis, tired and irritated eyes.
  • Tired, swollen and sweating feet, in baths.
  • Inflammations and mouth and throat ulcers: stomatitis, parodontopathy, pharyngitis, etc.
  • Vulvovaginitis as in vaginal infections.

*Fruit pericarp

  • Intestinal parasites.

*Oil

  • Dry skin, ichthyosis, dry eczemas, burns.
  • Nutrition: prevents atheromatosis.

Bibliography

- Real Farmacopea Española, Suplemento 1999.

- Real Farmacopea Española, Suplemento 2001.

- Pharmacopée Française IX Édition.

- Plantas Medicinales. Thérapeutique-Toxicité. Christiane Vigneau. Masson, Paris 1985.

- Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. Norman Grainger Bisset (Ed). Max Wichtl. CRC Press.1994.

- Plantas Medicinales y Drogas Vegetales para infusión y tisana. Edición española a cargo de: Salvador Cañogueral, Roser Vila, Max Wichtl.1998.

- Matière Médicale. RR Paris- H. Moyse. Masson 1981.

- The Complete German Commission E Monographs. Therapeutic Guide To Herbal Medicines. Mark Blumenthal. American Botanical Council 1998.

- Fitoterapia Aplicada. J.B. Peris, G. Stübing, B.Vanaclocha. Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Valencia 1995.

- Fitoterapia: Vademecum de Prescripción. Plantas Medicinales. Colaboran: Asociación española de médicos naturistas. Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Vizcaya.

- Plantas Medicinales. El Dioscórides Renovado. Pio Font Quer.

- Guía de Campo de las Flores de Europa. Oleg Polunin. Ediciones Omega S.A. Barcelona, 1977.

- Pharmacognosy 9th edition. Varro E. Tyler – Lynn R. Brady – James E. Robbers.

- Farmacognosia. G.E. Trease y W. C.Evans. CECSA.

- Plantas Medicinales. Margarita Fernandez y Ana Nieto. Ed Universidad de Navarra. EUNSA 1982.

- 100 Plantes Medicinales. Max Rombi. Romart 1998.

- Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants. Jean Bruneton. Lavoisier Publishing.

- Enciclopedia de las Hierbas Medicinales. Tina Cecchini. Ed. de Vecchi S.A. 1995.

- Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants. Jean Bruneton. Lavoisier Publishing.

- The Complete German Commission E Monographs. Therapeutic Guide To Herbal Medicines. Mark Blumenthal. American Botanical Council 1998.

- Blumenthal M, Goldberg A, Brinckmann J. Herbal Medicine, Expanded Commission E Monographs. Integrative Medicine Communications, Newton. First Edition, 2000; pp 401-3. 

- Bézanger-Beauquesne, L; Pinkas, M; Torck, M. Les Plantes dans la Therapeutique Moderne. 2ª. Paris: Maloine, 1986, pp. 260-1.

- Bézanger-Beauquesne, L; Pinkas, M; Torck, M; Trotin, F. Plantes Médicinales des Regions Tempérées. Paris: Maloine, 1980, pp.68-9.

- Wichtl, M. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceutical. A Handbook for Practice on a Scientific basis. Stuttgart: Medpharm Scientific Publishers, 1994, pp. 281-2.

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