But jasmine flowers provide not only aesthetic pleasure, but also have an exciting effect on the functions of the brain, improve the condition of a person and put his thoughts in order. No wonder jasmine oil, which is used for flavoring tea and in perfumes, is so valued on the international market and costs a lot of money.

Jasmine Properties

• Jasmine relieves mental stress well, so it is recommended for neurosis and chronic fatigue.
• Jasmine normalizes blood pressure.
• Increases efficiency.
• Supports immunity.
• Jasmine oil has an antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic effect.
• Jasmine tinctures are used externally for skin rejuvenation and for skin inflammatory processes. The tincture recipe. One hundred grams of dried jasmine flowers pour 100 ml of alcohol and leave for seven days. For external use, dilute two teaspoons of tincture in a glass of water.
• Thanks to its strong aroma, jasmine has a calming effect not only on the nervous system, but also on the respiratory system. Therefore, it helps well with asthma, bronchitis.
• It is believed that jasmine helps with frigidity, as well as with the extinction of sexual desire - both in women and in men.
• Jasmine flowers have essential oils, salicylic, benzoic and formic acids.
• Jasmine helps with colds.
• Jasmine reduces the risk of cardiovascular and oncological diseases.
• Jasmine tea improves the circulatory system, and is also a good remedy for atherosclerosis.
• Jasmine helps with insomnia. A good effect is given by the combination of jasmine and lavender in the form of an aromatic bath. Recipe for a bath. Take a tablespoon of fresh jasmine flowers and mix with two tablespoons of dry lavender. Pour the mixture with a liter of boiling water and insist for half an hour. Then strain the infusion and pour into the bath. Take a bath for no more than 15 minutes.

How and when to harvest jasmine flowers

Jasmine blooms almost all summer, capturing the end of spring and the beginning of autumn.

The peculiarity of jasmine is that its fragrant flowers bloom not at sunrise, but, on the contrary, at night. Therefore, jasmine flowers are harvested during the mass opening, which occurs in the early morning. At this time, all the beneficial substances are collected in the flowers, and their concentration is quite high. As the sun rises, the jasmine essential oils disappear, many flowers crumble, and unopened buds wait for the next night to replenish the area with a wonderful aroma.

How to Dry Jasmine Flowers

The flowers are not tamped, stacked in baskets or other bulk containers.

Then they are laid out on paper or fabric and dried in a warm room for several days, preventing the sun from reaching the petals. As the upper layer dries, the flowers need to be carefully turned over, at the same time removing foreign impurities or spoiled, browned petals.

You can dry the flowers in a dryer or oven (with an open door) at a temperature of no higher than 35 °, so that the essential oils are not destroyed. To dry the petals is not recommended, as their appearance and quality will become worse.

The petals are dried in the fresh air, and then stacked in glass jars with screw caps so that the aroma and essential oils do not evaporate.

Jasmine Tea

The best option is a mixture of green tea and jasmine flowers. Such tea improves well-being, normalizes blood pressure, dulls appetite, which creates the prerequisites for weight loss. Also, green tea with jasmine removes toxins, salts and harmful cholesterol from the body.

But if you still want to enjoy only the taste and aroma of jasmine tea, then with its concentration you can not overdo it. Better to make fewer petals than suffer from allergies or headaches.

Recipe 1. Put 5-7 jasmine flowers in a cup and pour hot water (90 °). Cover with a saucer or use a special cup with a lid. Insist 5-10 minutes.

Recipe 2. Take 1 teaspoon of jasmine petals and 2 teaspoons of green tea. Pour into a heated kettle and pour two glasses of hot (90 °) water. Insist 5-10 minutes. You can put a spoonful of honey in tea.

In moderate doses, jasmine is harmless. Contraindication may be individual intolerance, which manifests itself in the form of allergic reactions.

When to collect jasmine - secrets of products on the site

Jasmine tea is extremely popular in China. Its subtle aroma won the hearts of all who have tried it at least once. There are many recipes for making jasmine tea, but all of these recipes certainly use dried jasmine flowers. The matter is complicated by the fact that all teas are sold ready-made, and it is simply impossible to find separately dried jasmine flowers.

In our latitudes, jasmine is not something completely exotic. It is widely cultivated in the middle and southern latitudes as a decoration of the garden. In the south, jasmine blooms from May to October and is an evergreen shrub, and closer to the north, deciduous jasmine grows, with a shorter flowering time. But this does not greatly affect their aroma and drying method.

In China, the collection of jasmine is divided into certain periods of time, and each such collection is called differently, and is used for certain types of tea:

• Chun-hua Xun - spring gathering from May to June
• Xia-hua Xun - early summer gathering in July
• Fu-hua Xun - late summer gathering in August
• Qiu-hua Xun - autumn collection from September to October

Traditions are traditions, and in each region you have to adapt to your weather and your flowering period.

It is believed that you need to collect flowers when they are fully bloomed. Jasmine begins to blossom at sunset and by dawn its flowers fully open their petals. After sunrise, when the sun begins to bake, the essential oils begin to evaporate, and drying such flowers will give not very high quality raw materials.

Carefully tear off the flowers, folding them in a basket, and trying not to damage the petals too much.

How to Dry Jasmine Flowers

Go through the collected jasmine flowers, remove the twigs and leaves. Sprinkle them in a thin layer on a newspaper, or on a cloth, and leave to dry naturally in a well-ventilated area.

Turn flowers from time to time and immediately decisively reject flowers with darkened petals. Properly dried jasmine flowers retain their white color and delight the sense of smell and look no less than fresh flowers.

Forced drying in an oven or electric dryer is not recommended. Jasmine petals are too tender, and you risk to dry them, getting dust.

How to brew jasmine tea, look at the video:

Jasmine tea, whose properties have been known since ancient times, is considered one of the most popular teas in the world. This is not surprising, but few know the benefits of green tea with jasmine. And the benefits of jasmine in tea are colossal - it has soothing and analgesic properties, normalizes the production of sugar and hormone, and has an anti-allergic effect. Green tea with jasmine can be consumed during pregnancy, contributes to the healthy bearing of the fetus.

How to collect and dry jasmine for tea?

Usually, it is customary to collect jasmine flowers as medicinal raw materials, which appear for quite some time - somewhere from May to October, however, traditional medicine experts say that it is best to do this in July-August, and the optimal time of day for blanks - four to five in the morning. At this time, the raw material contains the maximum amount of essential oils and other highly useful elements. Also, the collection must be carried out exclusively in dry weather, folding the flowers in a rather bulk container.

Having prepared the raw materials, you can begin to dry it. Flowers should be carefully laid out on paper that has absorbent abilities - on paper or matter. Place them in a thin layer and dry in ovens, heating them to a temperature of forty degrees. This mode allows you to save the maximum number of useful elements. Make sure that the flowers do not dry out, otherwise they may fray in dust and become unusable. Home-dried raw materials will easily become jasmine tea, or you can add jasmine flowers to the tea!

History

From this article you will learn:

Modern historians have received documentary evidence that jasmine green tea was popular in China when Emperor Song ruled the country. It is about the 13th century. However, many researchers of the past agree that tea was widely used in the culture of the ancient Persians, thanks to which this drink appeared on the territory of China. This happened in the era from II to V century.

To date, the production of green tea with jasmine has been established in several Chinese provinces - Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangsu. Fans of the fragrant drink agree that the best product is tea grown and processed in Fujian.

Where and how is jasmine harvested?

In China, jasmine grows for several months, from late spring to late autumn. Lovers of tea art prefer the summer gathering. This is due to the fact that it is the summer flowers of the plant that boasts a pronounced aroma. The collected flowers are pre-dried, evenly laying out on the prepared surface.

Taste Features

After the jasmine flowers finally dry, they are added to the leaves of green tea. There are 2 known ways of aromatizing tea: tea leaves and jasmine flowers are treated thermally for 1 day. This method has one significant drawback - the leaves of tea bushes almost lose their taste characteristics.

As for the second method, its essence is to shift the tea leaves with jasmine flowers, and then leave it for up to 4 months. Then the jasmine is removed. In this case, tea does not lose its positive properties and is saturated with the aroma of a flower.

Second way   more expensive in labor and time, therefore, the cost of such tea is often somewhat higher in comparison with tea obtained by the usual method. Tea itself boasts a sweet and very delicate aroma.

What is the use?

For several centuries, jasmine tea has been used as a medicine in China. There is nothing surprising in this; even a superficial study of the components of this drink and its beneficial properties become more than obvious:

1. jasmine tea contains a huge mineral and complex;
2. helps strengthen the human nervous system;
3. normalizes sleep and effectively relieves nervous tension;
4. reduces manifestations of hypertension;
5. lowers the level of glucose in the human body;
6. helps to increase vitality.

Recipe

  If you are engaged in the preparation and collection of components yourself, pay attention to the fact that the flower buds are not sluggish, since such plants are not suitable for brewing tea. Flower petals should be dried in a warm place, but not in the sun.
  Home-made tea is brewed, after mixing 4 parts of green or 1 part of the petals, in a cup the volume of which does not exceed 250 ml.

Chinese recipe (if there is a certain temporary stock):

•   Mix tea leaves with jasmine flowers and let them mature for 3 months (the process should take place in a dry room).
•   During this period, tea is sufficiently saturated with jasmine aroma.
•   The petals are separated from the tea by hand.
• They are filled with water (temperature should not exceed 85 ° C).
•   Thus, expensive varieties of jasmine tea are made.

Whatever recipe you choose, remember that tea should be prepared exclusively in porcelain or glassware. It must be preliminary.

Contraindications

The main contraindications for drinking jasmine green tea:

1. idiosyncrasy of jasmine;
2. in the presence of gastritis (especially when it comes to high acidity);
3. sores;
4. hypertension.

The listed contraindications should be taken into account without fail. Strong green tea is not recommended for women in position. In large volumes, it can cause headaches or even severe dizziness.

What can I drink jasmine tea with?

Professionals do not recommend drinking jasmine tea with other ingredients such as lemon, or sugar. Jasmine has its own and unique taste, which should not be bred by other components. Only in this case you can feel all the richness of natural green tea with jasmine. It should be remembered that the ingredients of tea should be stored in a separate tank, since the plant perfectly absorbs odors from the surrounding space.

If plants collected the names that their people awarded, then the most titled would probably be jasmine. The queen of the night, the bride, the king of smells and even the moonlight of love - it's all about a bush with emerald green leaves and small fragrant white flowers that resemble stars in shape.

Tatars have a belief that a person who is at a crossroads between hell and paradise, they ask if he raised in his life. A positive answer may outweigh the scales, symbolizing paradise. And an old legend says that jasmine is an angel who came down to Earth to decorate people's lives. Well, I must admit - he succeeded: this plant is not only beautiful and has a pleasant aroma, but also very useful.

Jasmine for the soul ...

First of all, jasmine has a beneficial effect on - stabilizes it, soothes, relieves stress, helps to find peace of mind, fight stress and insomnia, and relieves bad thoughts, pessimism and depression. It is enough to simply pick flowers (now jasmine is blooming) and, after drying them, make a sachet - putting it next to the pillow, you will very soon notice that you began to fall asleep faster, and the dream itself has become stronger and deeper. Baths with a decoction of jasmine flowers give a good result and, taken in equal quantities, they must be taken before bedtime.

... and bodies

The aroma of jasmine also lowers blood pressure, which makes it indispensable, relieves spasms of the muscular system and various kinds of colic and even normalizes the menstrual cycle, so it is impossible to overestimate its effect on the female body. This plant also helps those who have problems in the intimate sphere - it increases sexual activity not only in men, but also in women.

Jasmine is also indispensable for those who suffer - for example, with a variety of bronchitis and bronchial asthma. It also alleviates the condition with influenza and respiratory infections, especially if the course of the disease is burdened by high temperature - this is due to the fact that jasmine, along with other useful substances, includes acetylsalicylic acid. One teaspoon of the flowers and leaves of the plant needs to be poured with a glass of boiling water, insisted for an hour, filtered and taken one tablespoon before meals.

This plant is also an excellent antibacterial agent - in order to disinfect the room (this is especially important if there is a patient in the house), it is enough to drop three drops of jasmine essential oil into the aroma lamp or light a jasmine stick - one of those that are sold in large quantities in pharmacies .

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Creative Assistant

If we talk about the effect of jasmine on the type of human activity, it is shown to people creative - the smell of the essential oil of this plant not only improves cerebral circulation, but also arouses imagination, allows you to find original and non-standard answers to creative questions. If you have to solve a difficult task at work, drop a drop of essential oil on your wrist - good ideas will not keep you waiting long.

Jasmine for beauty

In perfumery, jasmine is used not only because of the smell, although it can enrich any cream or shampoo - just drop a few drops of essential oil there. The plant has a beneficial effect on the skin - cleanses and tones it and smoothes small wrinkles, and hair - restores the damaged structure, rejuvenates, promotes their growth.

With jasmine petals, you can also soften and. To do this, you need to connect its petals with rose petals and linden blossom in the same ratio, pour olive or corn oil and insist in a dark place for two weeks - as a result, you will get a miraculous cream-balm that will make your skin soft and velvety.

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Jasmine tea

Jasmine tea, which you make yourself, is in no way inferior to what famous firms sell in beautiful boxes in our stores, but in some respects it may turn out to be better - you will, at least partially, use home-made raw materials , and it, as you know, is much more useful than imported. It is very simple to make: you tear young leaves and jasmine flowers, wash them, mix them in a ratio of 1: 2 with black or green tea and make boiling water - in a few minutes a tasty and aromatic drink will be ready. Well, if you want to please yourself with it in the winter, the flowers and jasmine leaves must first be dried.

How to collect and dry jasmine

Of course, you can go to the garden or go to the park and pick jasmine flowers there, but they will bring you much more benefit if you remember the simple rules. So, it is better to collect the petals in the early morning, late evening or at night - in the afternoon, under the influence of sunlight and heat, they are in the form of fumes! - lose too much essential oil along with those flavonoids and alkaloids that this plant is so rich in. However, a cloudy and cool day is also well suited for collecting flower raw materials.

Jasmine flowers are dried in a dark, cool and well-ventilated room or in an oven at a low temperature, the second method is preferable: the faster the petals dry, the less nutrients they lose.

Alexandra Voloshina