Asparagus officinalis (Asparagus officinalis L.) is a perennial herb with a powerful rhizome. It has long been cultivated as a medicinal, ornamental and vegetable plant with high taste qualities. It contains valuable proteins, including the amino acid lysine, which is very important for the human body. It has valuable medicinal properties: blood purifying, soothing, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, etc. Herbaceous perennial plant 50-150 cm tall with a powerful horizontal rhizome, densely covered with adventitious roots. Cross-pollinated dioecious plant. The stems are erect and strongly branched. The leaves are underdeveloped, in the form of small filmy scales, from the axils of which special assimilative leaf-like organs develop – modified shoots-phyllocladia. The flowers are greenish-yellow, numerous, small, unisexual (functionally male and female), solitary, axillary, on hanging pedicels 5-12 mm long. The perianth is simple, corolla-shaped, bell-shaped, deeply-six-separated. Staminate (male) flowers are about 5 mm long, with 6 stamens. Pistillate (female) flowers with an upper three-nest ovary, they are much smaller than the staminate ones. The fruit is a spherical red berry (5-8 mm in diameter). The seeds are also spherical, black, wrinkled. Blooms in May-July. The seeds ripen in August-September. In its wild form, medicinal asparagus is found throughout the European part of Russia (except for the north), especially in the Caucasus, Western Siberia and the Far East. It grows in flood meadows, mixed-grass steppes, in thickets of shrubs. In the middle and southern part of European Russia and the Crimea, it is cultivated as a vegetable plant. For medicinal purposes, rhizomes with roots, young shoots, grass and fruits are used. The rhizome with the roots is harvested in late autumn or early spring – during the beginning of their growth. First, they are cleaned from the ground, washed in running water and cut into pieces. The grass is harvested during flowering, usually cut off the young tops (about 30 cm). The fruits are harvested in the phase of full maturity. The raw material is dried in the open air under a canopy or in a well-ventilated room, spread out in a thin layer on paper or fabric. It can also be dried in dryers at temperatures up to 45-60°C. Store the finished raw materials in paper bags, wooden or glass containers. The shelf life of raw materials is 1-2 years. When harvesting, it should be taken into account that allergic reactions on the skin are possible, so it is better to collect raw materials in gloves.