About.....Red Clover

  Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is also known as Meadow Trefoil, Sweet Clover, Cow Clover, and Purple Clover. The parts of the plant having therapeutic value are the flowers and the young leaves. Red Clover has been used historically as a blood purifier, an antibiotic, a relaxant, and an appetite suppressant.

The primary properties of Red Clover are considered to be alterative, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antitussive, diuretic, expectorant, nutritive, phytoestrogenic, and vulnerary. This herb is typically available as a tea, tincture, capsule, or syrup. Past topical applications have included use as a poultice for burns, wounds, sores, tumors and insect bites; a compress for pain from arthritis and gout; a salve for lymphatic swelling; an eyewash for conjunctivitis; a sedative for whooping cough; and a douche for vaginitis.

The primary chemical constituents have been documented as phenolic glycosides (salicylic acid), essential oil (methyl salicylate), sitosterol,  genistiene, flavonoids, salicylates, coumarins, cyanogenic glycosides, silica, choline, and lecithin. Because of its high content of several important nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, Red Clover has become a dependable nutritive supplement in all forms of degenerative disease. Antibiotic tests on Red Clover have shown it to possess activity against several bacteria.

Historical culinary uses have included the following: the young flowers & leaves have been consumed in salads and sandwiches in small amounts; older flowers & leaves have been served cooked; flowers & seeds have been added to bread; and roots have been eaten as a cooked vegetable. When cooked, Red Clover is better digested and less likely to cause bloating. And Red Clover has also been used in wine.

Red Clover also helps to calm coughs, reduce skin inflammations and improve general health.

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Last modified: December 12, 2006