Hawthorn (Crataegus species)

Hawthorns belong to Crataegus, a large genus of the Northern Hemisphere and are found in the eastern United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia.

Hawthorn is used for diseases of the heart and blood vessels such as congestive heart failure (CHF), chest pain, and irregular heartbeat. It is also used to treat both low blood pressure and high blood pressure, “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis), and high cholesterol.

Hawthorn fruit has been widely consumed as food, prepared a syrups and jams, and eaten fresh and is considered to have a safety profile similar to commonly consumed fruits.

In Chinese tradition the hawthorn fruit are used to improve digestion, eliminate stagnated food and blood stasis, in the treatment of dyspepsia, lack of milk secretion, fullness in the stomach, abdominal distention, menorrhagia, post-partum abdominal pain due to blood stasis and hyperlipaemia.

A Mediterranean hawthorn (C. azarolus), is mentioned by Al-Samarqandi (1210) as being ‘useful for the stomach and yellow gall’.
Hawthorn (Crataegus species)