The efficacy and role of Xiao Guanzhong [picture]

Xiao Guanzhong [picture] is a very nutritious and precious medicinal material. Eating Xiao Guanzhong [picture] regularly can have very good effects and functions. So how should we consume Xiao Guanzhong [picture]? What specific benefits can consuming Xiao Guanzhong [picture] bring to our body? We need to understand some professional knowledge of Xiao Guanzhong [picture] to answer these questions.

[Other names] Guanzhong, chicken head, chicken head, chicken head, breast pain grass

[Source] It is a plant of the genus Cyrtomium in the Dryopteris family, Cyrtomium fortunei J. Smith, and its rhizome and petiole residues are used as medicine. It can be harvested in all seasons, but autumn is the best time to harvest. Remove the fibrous roots and part of the petioles, and dry them for later use.

[Original form] Perennial herb, 30 to 80 cm tall. The rhizome is short, erect or obliquely ascending, and together with the base of the petiole, is densely covered with large broad ovate-lanceolate brown scales. The leaves are odd-pinnate compound leaves, densely clustered by rhizomes; petioles are 15-25 cm long, straw-colored, covered with ovate and linear scales; leaf blades are broadly lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, papery, 25-45 cm long, 10-15 cm wide, with a few fibrous scales along the rachis and petiole, 10-20 pairs of pinnae, alternate, with 3 unequal lobes at the tip, pinnae on both sides sickle-lanceolate, slightly ear-shaped and proudly convex on the upper side of the base, rounded cuneate on the lower side, with notched serrations on the edges, and reticular veins with 1-2 internal veinlets. The sporangium groups are scattered on the back of the leaves, attached to the top of the internal veins, and arranged in 3 to 4 irregular rows on both sides of the main vein. The sporangium cover is large, round shield-shaped, and entire.

[Habitat distribution] Growing on hillside forest edges and rocky wetlands. Distributed in southern Shaanxi and provinces south of the Yangtze River.

【Chemical composition】 The rhizome and petiole contain flavaspidic acid. The leaves contain two flavonoids, cyrtomine and cyrtopterin. The former is hydrolyzed into cyrtominetin, and the latter is hydrolyzed into cyrtopterinetin.

[Pharmacological action] The decoction of this product can expel pig ascaris and enhance the contraction of the uterus of rabbits in vitro and in vivo.

【Nature and flavor】 Bitter, slightly cold, slightly toxic.

【Functions and indications】 Clears away heat and soothes the liver, detoxifies, kills parasites and stops bleeding. Used to prevent measles, influenza, colds, epidemic meningitis; treat dizziness, hypertension, dysentery, hematuria, bloody stool, metrorrhagia, leucorrhea, and hookworm disease.

【Usage and Dosage】 0.3～1 liang.

【Note】 Pregnant women should not take this medicine.

【Excerpt】 National Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicines

[Source] This product was first recorded under the name of Guanzhong in the "Illustrated Catalogue of Plant Names and Realities" in the category of mountain grasses. Looking at the attached figure, its original plant is consistent with this species. However, the records of "Guanzhong" in herbal books of past dynasties are quite confusing. Currently, very few of the Guanzhong available in commercial products involve this type, and it is only used among the people in some areas.

After understanding some of the effects and common knowledge of Xiao Guanzhong [Picture], I hope that everyone can use scientific methods in the process of consumption to make it play a greater role.