Coltsfoot

Scientific Name: Tussilago farfara L.
Synonyms: Tussilago radiata Gilib.
English Name: Coltsfoot
Other Names in English (UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand): Colt’s foot, Cough Wort, Farfara
Family: Asteraceae

GENERAL DATA

Plant parts: Flowers, Leaves, Stems
Cultivation mode: Wild Collection\Cultivated
In manufacturing: Pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and confectionary.
In food: Tea, syrup.

🍃 Industries That Use Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara L.)

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara L.) is a perennial herb from the Asteraceae family, traditionally used in respiratory herbal medicine across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. In Persian, it’s known as Pay-e Khar (پایِ خَر) or more precisely by its function as a lung remedy. Its yellow dandelion-like flowers appear before the leaves, giving it symbolic and medicinal importance.

🌿 What Is Coltsfoot?

Coltsfoot is prized for its mucilage, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, making it a soothing herb for respiratory tract irritation, dry coughs, and throat inflammation.

Traditionally used in infusions, syrups, lozenges, and smoke blends, Coltsfoot has long been a go-to herb for lung and throat support.

1. Pharmaceutical & Herbal Medicine Industry

Coltsfoot plays a key role in cough-relieving and mucolytic formulations, especially for dry or irritating coughs.

Medical Applications:

• Herbal cough syrups and expectorants for sore throat, laryngitis, and bronchitis

• Anti-inflammatory teas and infusions for respiratory irritation

• Lozenges or gargles for vocal strain and hoarseness

• Topical applications for minor skin inflammation

✅ Used in traditional European, Persian, and Chinese medicine
✅ Often combined with Thyme, Licorice, or Violet leaves

⚠️ Note: Contains trace levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs); regulated in some countries for internal use

2. Nutraceutical & Wellness Supplement Industry

Though limited by PA content in some regions, purified extracts or PA-free Coltsfoot are used in natural lung-support blends and detox herbal systems.

Applications:

• Seasonal respiratory support capsules

• Herbal smoking alternatives or detox blends

• Immune teas for throat and bronchial comfort

• Voice and vocal cord support formulas for professionals

✅ PA-free certified extracts increasingly used in nutraceuticals
✅ Suitable in formulations for singers, speakers, and smokers

3. Cosmetic & Personal Care Industry

Coltsfoot is incorporated in traditional and natural skincare formulations for its anti-inflammatory and healing properties.

Applications:

• Soothing creams or ointments for irritated or cracked skin

• Herbal facial steam and rinses for acne-prone skin

• Botanical shampoos or conditioners for itchy scalp and dandruff

• Salves for minor rashes or dry elbows/knees

✅ Gentle on sensitive skin
✅ Common in folk remedies for skin repair

4. Ethnic & Traditional Herbal Practices

Used for centuries in Persian, European, and Chinese medicine, Coltsfoot is a cooling, moistening herb associated with lung and throat health.

Applications:

• Damnoosh (herbal tea) for dry cough, post-infection dryness

• Burned and inhaled (traditional method) for wheezing and asthma

• Syrup made with honey or Dates for sore throat

• Infused oil used for chest rubs in folk medicine

✅ Long-standing use in Middle Eastern and European apothecaries
✅ Known in rural Persian herbalism for “softening” the chest

5. Academic & Botanical Research

Scientific studies explore mucilage-rich and antioxidant properties of Coltsfoot, as well as safety and standardization of PA-free extracts.

Research Areas:

• Demulcent and expectorant activity

• Anti-inflammatory compounds in leaves and flowers

• Identification and detoxification of pyrrolizidine alkaloids

• In-vitro antioxidant potential of Coltsfoot extracts

✅ Focus on respiratory herbalism and phytotoxicology
✅ PA-free standardization gaining research momentum

✅ Summary of Key Applications

🌟 Key Features

• Rich in mucilage, flavonoids, and phenolic acids

• Traditionally used for dry cough, throat irritation, and lung relief

• Found in teas, syrups, lozenges, and skin ointments

• Known across Persian, European, and Chinese medical traditions

• ⚠️ Must be PA-free for safe internal consumption in modern herbalism

PRODUCT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Persian Name: پای خر/ Pay-e-Khar
German Name (Deutschland, Austria, Switzerland): Huflattich
French Name (France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec): pas d’âne, Tussilage, Filius ante patrem, herbe de Saint-Quirin, Tussilage pas d’âne

HARVEST CALENDAR

 

To order Coltsfoot in bulk, please contact us.

 

 

About Tussilago Farfara It is a plant of the Asteraceae family, perennial, the lower part of which is thick fleshy and creeping, from which a number of vertical stems emerge. The stems of Coltsfoot are cotton white with flakes that are purple in color and the leaves are broad, close to the ground and attached to the roots. The leaf plate which is facing the soil is cotton white and the upper leaf plate is green and heart-shaped with wavy edges that usually appear after flowers.

The flowers are single and yellow, appearing in early spring. This plant grows in wet and humid places and is found in Iran in most areas, including northern of Iran.

 

To order Tussilago farfara dried leaves, please contact us.

 

Coltsfoot Temperament

Hot and dry.

 

Coltsfoot Chemical Constituents Approximately 150 phytochemicals have been isolated from the coltsfoot. Previous studies of Colt’s foot have identified the presence of chemical constituents such as sesquiterpenes, triterpenoid, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, chromones and its derivatives, alkaloids, and other phytochemicals. Among these compounds, TSL and caffeoylquinic acid derivatives are the main bioactive components in coltsfoot.

Coltsfoot Health Benefits

Colt’s foot flower

1. Drink a cup of Coltsfoot brewed tea every morning, noon and night. It is tonic, laxative, diaphoretic, diuretic and emmenagogue.

2. Its dry incense or inhalation of its smoke is useful for treating shortness of breath, chest ulcers, relieving cough and eliminating chest gas.

Colt’s foot leaves

1. Boil twenty to forty grams of Colt’s foot leaves in one liter of water and strain the tea and drink it three to four cups a day. It is useful for treating skin diseases, bladder inflammation and preventing scrofula, it is useful for treating chest disorders, chronic bronchitis and asthma.

2. Wrap it like a cigarette and smoke. It is useful for relieving cough and shortness of breath and treats lung disorders.

3. If you put Coltsfoot in the form of a suppository in the vagina, it will remove the living and dead fetus.

4. Brew five grams of its leaves and flowers in a glass of boiling water, then sweeten its strained tea with honey and eat it gradually during the day. It is a sedative for asthma, it is also very useful in cases of bronchitis.

5. The poultice of the leaf along with its flower, dwindle the swellings, opens it and heals the wounds.

Colt’s foot buds

1. Brew 20 to 40 grams of its fresh or dried buds in a liter of boiling water and drink its strained tea three cups a day. It is effective for relieving cough and treating bronchitis, softening the chest and relieving severe inflammation of the chest, treating asthma, lung cancer and removing blood clots from the lungs. It is a very useful medicine for severe colds, for treating tuberculosis, sudden paralysis caused by cerebral hemorrhage and influenza.

2. Eating it mixed with honey is good for healing lungs wounds.

Colt’s foot rootstock 1. Brew five grams of it in a liter of boiled water and strain a cup of water every morning, noon and night, and drink it. It is effective in cases of chest disorders, chronic bronchitis and asthma. 2. Keep it in your mouth. It is useful for relieving chronic cough, shortness of breath, chest ulcers and dwindle chest gas.

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