Lettuce seed porridge benefits

Lettuce is an annual or biennial herb, 30-100cm high. The stem is thick and fleshy. The basal leaves are clustered, gradually getting smaller upwards, oblong-obovate, 10-30cm long, entire or curled and corrugated; the stem leaves are alternate, elliptical or triangular-ovate, heart-shaped at the base, and clasping the stem. The capitula has 15 florets, most of which are arranged in a corymbose panicle at the top of the stems and branches; the ligulate flowers are yellow. The achenes are narrow or oblong-obovate, gray, fleshy red or brown, slightly flattened, with 7-8 longitudinal ribs on each side, and the upper part has spreading soft hairs, the beak is slender, light white or brown-red, the same length as the fruit body or slightly longer, and the pappus is white. Flowering and fruiting period is May-July.

1. Diuretic effect: 0.2% aqueous solution of lettuce seed essential oil, dose of 0.1mg/10g, 0.5mg/10g intraperitoneal injection, and the mouse metabolic cage method showed that lettuce seed essential oil has a very significant diuretic effect, and there is a certain dose-effect relationship [1].

2. Anti-arrhythmic effect Total flavonoids from lettuce seeds can significantly counteract the amplitude and duration of ST segment shift. Total flavonoids from lettuce seeds can prolong the hypoxia tolerance time of mice. After the rabbits were injected with levofloxacin, 6/9 of them developed arrhythmias, while total flavonoids from lettuce seeds could reduce the incidence of arrhythmias to 1/9, and the duration of arrhythmias was significantly shortened. Total flavonoids can also significantly reduce ventricular fibrillation caused by chloroform. Experiments have shown that total flavonoids from lettuce seeds have a significant antagonistic effect on these experimental arrhythmias [2].

3. Toxicity: When mice were injected with a 0.2% volatile oil solution in a dose of 1 ml/20 g into the tail vein, none of the 10 mice died and the median lethal dose was not determined [1].