The efficacy and function of cardamom

Traditional Chinese medicine is very helpful in treating certain diseases, so you can feel free when choosing herbs. Cardamom is a medicinal material that is not unfamiliar to us. Do you know its effects and functions? Let's take a look.

【English Name】 Beautiful Galangal Fruit

[Other names] Amomum villosum, Amomum villosum

[Source] It is the fruit of the Zingiber officinale plant of the Zingiberaceae family. The fruits are picked when ripe and dried in the sun or at low temperature.

[Original form] Herbs in many places, 2-3m high, leaves lanceolate, 30-60cm long, 5-10cm wide, gradually pointed at the tip with a spirally curled small tip; leaves 0.5-1.0cm long, covered with hairs. Inflorescence is racemose, drooping, up to 30 cm long; bracts are white, with pink tips and bases; calyx is conformal, white, with pink tips; corolla tube is shorter than calyx, with oblong lobes. About 3cm long, milky white with pink tip; the lip is spoon-shaped and broadly ovate, about 2cm in diameter, covered with sparse coarse hairs with obvious stripes, and the top is often crowned with a persistent calyx, red when ripe. The flowering period is from April to June, and the fruiting period is from July to October.

【Habitat distribution】Grows in the shade of trees. It is mainly produced in Fujian and Guangdong.

[Properties] The capsule is oval, ovate or olive-shaped, 1.5-3 cm long and 1-2 cm in diameter; yellow-brown or reddish-brown, with slightly pointed ends, thick skin without thorns, raised longitudinal ridges, and cracked in bright brown to reveal the seeds. The seeds are not clustered together, but are irregular, multi-faceted, gray-brown or tan in color; covered with a white aril. Quality stem. It has a faint smell and a slightly spicy taste.

[Chemical composition] Contains palmitic acid, eucalyptol, pinene, caryophyllene, alpinetin, cardamonin, borneol, methyl cinnamate, etc.

【Nature and flavor】Warm in nature, spicy and astringent in taste.

【Functions and indications】 Drying, warming and dispelling cold, removing phlegm and stopping malaria, strengthening the spleen and warming the stomach. It is used for cold pain in the heart and abdomen, fullness in the chest and abdomen, intermittent accumulation of phlegm, indigestion, vomiting and diarrhea.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

【Source】 Guangzhou Army "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines"

I believe that friends who were not very clear about cardamom at the beginning should now have mastered the relevant knowledge about cardamom. I hope this article can be helpful to you.