Official name: Mursalski tea

Latin name: Sideritis Scardica L.

Other names: Pirin tea, Greek mountain tea, Mountain tea

Description: Mursalski tea is a beautiful, herbaceous, perennial plant of the family Labiatae. In Bulgaria, it can be found growing freely in the dry, stony, calcareous places of the Rhodope and Pirin mountains, in places with an altitude of 1400 to 2200 m., but it is also grown cultivated. Grows well on light, permeable, calcareous soils. The rhizome and stems are woody at the base. Flowering stems are straight or erect, unbranched or branched, up to 50 cm. long. The leaves are opposite, slightly toothed or entire. The lower ones are oblong, blunt, with short stems, narrowed to the base, slightly filed, and the upper ones are broadly heart-shaped, sessile. The stem is bipartite at its apex, one lobe being wider and with its base enveloping the other shorter and blunter lobe. The whole plant is white-fibrous, covered with whitish down.

Part of the herb used: For medicinal purposes, the upper lobes of the stems are used, together with the leaves and flowers of the Mursalski tea (Herba Sideritis Scardicae).

Harvest time: Sideritis is harvested from June to August, cutting off all the leafy aerial part of the plant during flowering.

Chemical composition/Contents and properties: Mursalski tea contains flavonoids, trace elements, the minerals sodium, potassium, zinc, manganese, calcium, iron, silicon, selenium, etc., essential oils, phenols and a small amount of caffeine. The medicinal plant has high antioxidant properties and a rich composition of polyphenolic compounds, terpenoids, phenolic acids.

Medicinal action and application: Sideritis has a proven antimicrobial and antiviral effect. Its significant flavonoid content helps the body to provide protection against various diseases by contributing to overall antioxidant protection. Mursalski tea stimulates brain and muscle activity, acts as a diuretic for gastrointestinal disorders and digestion problems. Its healing effect is strongly expressed in colds, lung problems and diseases, anemia, in kidney diseases. Taking Sideritis tea helps the liver to deal with toxins.

Possibilities to offer at the customer's request:

Vesselino Ltd. offers their customers the plant in the following varieties:

• Stalk/Stem  (Herba Sideritis Scardicae) - dried whole, crushed, cut to a certain size according to the customer's request, ground into herbal powder/flour