Black turnip has many nutritional and healing properties - it has cholagogic and antibacterial properties in the digestive tract, helps with cough, urolithiasis, anemia and neuralgia. Inconspicuous in appearance - turnips are a real vitamin bomb. Therefore, it should not be missing from your table.

There is a reason why people say: he althy asturnips . The root of this plant - a tuber covered with a black peel, under which there is a white flesh with a pungent taste - has both nutritional and healing properties. Therefore,black turnip , also calledblack radish , is one of the oldest plants grown in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Black turnip - what's inside

Turnip root contains mustard glycosides, which are rich in valuable sulfur compounds. Glycosides are broken down when the tuber is crushed. Then, volatile compounds are formed - isosulfurocyanides, called mustard oils, with a specific taste and pungent smell. They have a very strong effect - they intensely increase the blood supply to the skin, stimulate the secretion of saliva, digestive juices and bile. Turnips also contain phytoncides, substances similar to antibiotics that inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Turnip tubers also contain raffanine and raffanol (sulfur compounds) with disinfecting and anti-seborrheic properties, as well as sugars, enzymes, large amounts of vitamins C, B1 and B2, PP and mineral s alts - mainly potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and phosphorus . This combination of valuable ingredients means that turnips can be used in numerous applications. It increases the secretion of digestive juices, has cholagogic and antibacterial properties in the digestive tract. It helps in coughing, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, urolithiasis and anemia, and the juice used for rubbing - in neuralgia and radiculitis.

Where there is black turnip

Wild black turnip is still quite common on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in Poland we only know its cultivars. The tubers are harvested in late autumn, just before frost, and stored in a cellar or mound covered with moist sand.

You must do it

Black turnip tincture

Grind the turnips on a fine grater and pour 40-70% alcohol in the proportion of 1 part turnip to 5 parts alcohol. Set asidefor 2 weeks, then filter. You can use the tincture to rub into the scalp in case of hair loss, to rub sore muscles and joints, in case of neuralgia, and to wash the skin in case of difficult-to-heal wounds.

Fresh black turnip juice

Squeeze the grated turnip through gauze. Drink a few tablespoons of fresh juice daily (you can combine it with carrot juice) as a tonic, regulating gastrointestinal, liver and gallbladder functions.

Healing properties of turnips

Black turnip root extract is an important component of many herbal preparations, especially those supporting the liver function (eg Raphacholin, Raphalamid). It can also be found in slimming aids (e.g. Turbo Slim) and in cosmetics, incl. for hair (e.g. Joanna, Ziaja, Barwa), which strengthen the hair bulbs, prevent seborrhea and dandruff.

Worth knowing

Did you know that …

  • Only turnips have a tuberous root. This wild-growing root has a thin root, but equally rich in all valuable compounds.
  • According to Herodotus, the workers building the pyramids 3,000 years BC were fed with black turnip, because it was already known for its strengthening properties.
  • Turnip quite easily absorbs harmful, carcinogenic nitrates. Therefore, whoever eats a lot of it or uses it as a medicine, should choose turnips from organic farming.

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