Oat

the fruit of oat (Avenae fructus)

The oat (Avena sativa) is an annual cereal with a branched panicle, sown here for fodder and for porridge. Herbalism uses not the grain for cooking but the green herb or the unripe fruit, that is the oat at what is called the milk stage.

The herb is mown while the plant is in flower and still green, and the fruit is gathered at the milk stage, when a whitish juice runs from the grain if it is pressed; that period lasts barely a week or two. It is dried quickly and in the shade, because slow drying heats the herb and it spoils.

In Ašič's collection the oat is a frequent ingredient of the evening and restorative blends: it appears in MirSIT, NočSIT, Strengthening Tea, MemoSIT and After Exertion.

Use and evidence

Oat grain and beta-glucans have a nutritional role under the precise conditions of the permitted claims, while the herb has traditional use for mild stress and for sleep. This does not amount to treating depression or diseases of the nerves. EMA 1, EMA 2.