The efficacy and function of wooden hoof

In daily life, people are not only very familiar with various foods, but also come into contact with a lot of medicines in daily life. Among them, wood hoof is a relatively common Chinese medicinal material. Given that there are still many people who don’t know much about wood hoof, let’s take a detailed look at it below.

【Other name】 Birch mushroom

[Source] Medicinal material source: The fruiting body of the Polyporaceae fungus Facies polypore.

【Original morphology】 The fruiting body is perennial. Wood, hemispherical to horseshoe-shaped, or bell-shaped, (5-20) cm × (7-40) cm, about 3-20 cm thick. Sessile, lateral. The cap is smooth, hairless, with a hard cortex, mouse-gray, gray-brown to gray-black in color, dark brown in cross section, shiny, with obvious concentric ring ridges. Lid margin obtuse, yellowish brown. The flesh is dark yellow to rusty, reddish brown, stratified, corky, 0.5-3.5cm thick, and dull. The tubes are multi-layered with distinct layers, each layer is 0.5-2.5cm thick, the tube walls are thicker and gray-brown; the tube openings are round and relatively small, with 3-4 openings per 1mm. The mouth of the tube is gray to cinnamon and concave. The spores are oblong to prismatic, smooth, colorless, (10-18) μm × (5-6) μm.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Grown on polluted standing trees and rotten wood of birch, maple, oak and poplar.

【Properties】 Characteristic identification: The fruiting body is sessile. The cap is horseshoe-shaped, with a long diameter of 3-40cm, a short diameter of 2-27cm, and a thickness of 2-18cm. The surface has a thick horny skin, which is gray, light brown or black, smooth, and has obvious concentric ring ridges. The tube mouth surface is light brown or gray, the tube mouth is round, and there are 3-4 of them every 1mm. Multiple layers of bacterial tubes can be seen in the longitudinal section, with each layer 5-25 mm thick. Corky. Slight odor, light taste.

【Chemical composition】 Contains 7,22-ergosta-7,22-dien-3-one, coenzyme Q9, acetyloleanolic acid, ergosterol, 5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol, betulin, 4,6,8(14),22-tetraene-3-one, 5,6-dimethoxyphthalide, and 6-carbomethoxyphthalide.

[Pharmacological action] Muti can significantly improve the tolerance of experimental mice to decompression and hypoxia, prolong their survival time, and has anti-fatigue and anti-hyperthermia effects. It can also affect the flow rate and flow state of the mesenteric microcirculation of the hypoxic body, and improve the microcirculation.

【Nature and flavor】 Slightly bitter; neutral

【Functions and indications】Dissipating accumulation; removing blood stasis; anti-cancer. Staple food accumulation; esophageal cancer; gastric cancer; uterine cancer

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoction, 12-15g.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

In the above article, we analyzed the wood hoof and knew that the functions and effects of the wood hoof are very wide-ranging. As long as we know more about the medicinal properties of traditional Chinese medicine, we will not panic when we encounter diseases.