Rathany

The dye is found in the dried roots of the kind that are reddish brown and very thick not thin crust. The plant is native to the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes, so called "Rathania of Peru. " Scientific Name: Krameria triandra Ruiz et Pavon. Famila: Krameriaceae
Common names: Rhatany, rattan, Rathania Peru.
Botanical description: It is a small shrub that grows to knee height, with leafy branches exposed, turned downward, hairy, with leaves covered with silvery hairs and stalked axillary red flowers with 4 sepals and 4 petals. The fruit is globose, ornamented with prickles hooked. Has a high tannin content catechists located mainly in the cortex. Oligomeric proanthocyanidins are formed by a variable number (2-14) of propelargonidina and procyanidins.

These macromolecules tend to condense during the storage of the substance, becoming insoluble compounds called pink phlobaphenes which are precisely those responsible Rathania called red. The Rhatany is a mountain plant. Its powerful root, reddish brown, is abundantly branched and is making headway in the rocky terrain of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes.

Uses: For their power antibacterial, astringent and antioxidant used for inflammations of the throat. The "signature" of this plant shows at once that its therapeutic action is addressed to the head and neuro-sensory area, where fighting too intense inflammatory processes.

The lesions of the oral cavity and throat, sores, inflammation, gingivitis,

The significant increase in demand for Ratania on the world market of cosmetics and oral care products has endangered the sustainability of wild harvesting of the species. Natural Resources Institute of Peru (INRENA) and the german company Weleda develop a sustainable harvesting project. Below you can download the paper by Maximilian Weigend and Nicolas Dostert, Botconsult company.