Birsalm – Cydonia vulgaris Pers.

Description of Birsalm:

Cydonia vulgaris Pers. Rosaceae – Rosaceae vulgaria vulgaris vulgaris vulgaris – Rosaceae Quince is said to be native to the island of Crete; a shrub 2-3 m tall or a tree 4-7 m tall. Its leaves are short-tongued, blunt-tipped, ovate and entire. Flowers solitary, rose-white. The fruit of the quince is apple-shaped or pear-shaped. The quince is better for medicinal purposes, while the quince fruit is better for preserving, flavouring and cheese-making. The inside of the quince has 5 compartments and contains many seeds. The seeds become slimy when put in water. The quince fruit has a strong, pleasant smell and a sour, tart, less sweet taste, and is not eaten raw, only steamed. In medicine, both the fruit and the seed(semen cydoniorum) are used. The quince fruit is picked when ripe and dried in the sun. The quince can be delivered either fresh to the pharmacist or sliced and roasted over a fire. The quince is used as a flavouring and a decoction for diarrhoea, vomiting and dysentery. The seeds are wedge-shaped or inverted-egg-shaped, with reddish-brown edges, and are usually stuck together with several seeds as they dry. The seed is odourless, becoming slippery when placed in the mouth; it has a mild oily taste. The mucilage that develops on the seed when it is put in water has a soothing and cooling effect, and also acts against eye sores and barley. The quince seed is sold in limited quantities, as it is rarely used in medicine nowadays. Other medicinal uses include apples, and even sour apples, raspberries and the fruit of mulberries or blackberries, but these can only be sold fresh. They do not require any special treatment and are usually only available in small quantities from pharmacists.

Occurrence:

Found in the Caspian Sea region, Caucasus and Arabia, in addition to southern and central Europe. In our country it is planted in gardens, but in some places it is wild.

Part of the plant to be collected:

The quince seed, which is about 1 cm long, shrivelled, twisted, crushing, is known as semen cydoniae.

Active ingredient:

Tannic acid, fructic acid and sugar.

Harvesting and drying:

The seeds are collected in October-November and sun-dried.

Processing and marketing:

Mucilago cydoniae seminis is prepared from it and used as an astringent in medicine. Source: Dr Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses Béla Páter, Wild medicinal plants, their production, use, distribution, and marketing