What is Litsea cubeba

Litsea cubeba is also known as Mountain Pepper, and is also a Chinese medicinal material that is frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, the oil content of Litsea cubeba is relatively high, so Litsea cubeba oil can also be extracted from Litsea cubeba. The medicinal value of Litsea cubeba oil and Litsea cubeba itself are similar. For example, Litsea cubeba can be used to strengthen the stomach, aid digestion, and treat dysmenorrhea. People who don’t know much about Litsea cubeba should get familiar with the relevant knowledge about it.

Litsea cubeba, the name of a traditional Chinese medicinal material. This product is the fruit of Litsea cubeba, a plant of the Lauraceae family. Harvested between August and September. Functions and indications: Strengthening the spleen, drying away dampness, regulating qi, and promoting digestion. Treats stomach cold, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and food stagnation and fullness. ① "Guizhou Folk Medicine": Strengthens the spleen and dries dampness, aids digestion, and treats sores externally. ② "Chongqing Herbal Medicine": Expels cold, relieves pain, strengthens the stomach, and relieves fullness and bloating. It is used to treat cold pain in the heart and stomach, cold bone wind, chills caused by cold food, and dysmenorrhea. ③ "Hunan Pharmacopoeia": dispel wind and relieve cold.

Function and indications

Strengthen the spleen, dry out dampness, regulate qi, and help digestion. Treats stomach cold, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and food stagnation and fullness.

① "Guizhou Folk Medicine": Strengthens the spleen and dries dampness, aids digestion, and treats sores externally.

② "Chongqing Herbal Medicine": Expels cold, relieves pain, strengthens the stomach, and relieves fullness and bloating. It is used to treat cold pain in the heart and stomach, cold bone wind, chills caused by cold food, and dysmenorrhea.

③ "Hunan Pharmacopoeia": dispel wind and relieve cold.

Dosage

For internal use: decoct in water, 3-5 qian; or make into powder. For external use: mash and apply.

Pharmacological Action

1. Antiasthmatic effect The in vitro tracheal smooth muscle test showed that 10 μl/ml of Litsea cubeba oil (volatile oil extracted from the fruit of Litsea cubeba) can relax the normal tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pigs and the tracheal smooth muscle induced by acetylcholine or histamine spasm. The addition of volatile oil in advance can block the contraction caused by acetylcholine and histamine. Perfusion with Locke solution containing 1 μl/ml volatile oil can increase the perfusion volume of normal guinea pig isolated lung starting from the 3rd minute. Oral gavage of 300 μl/kg and intraperitoneal injection of 170 μl/kg to guinea pigs have a significant protective effect on bronchospasm caused by 5% acetylcholine spray. In the rat passive skin allergy test, guinea pig anaphylactic shock and guinea pig isolated ileum anaphylactic contraction test, its volatile oil showed obvious anti-allergic effect, and at the same time had a significant antagonistic effect on the contraction of guinea pig intestinal segments caused by slow-reacting substances. This indicates that its antiasthmatic effect, in addition to bronchial dilation, is also related to the formation and release of anti-allergic mediators.

2. Antiarrhythmic effect: Gavage of 0.3 ml/kg of Litsea cubeba oil to mice for 3 consecutive days can significantly reduce the incidence of ventricular fibrillation caused by chloroform, and can counteract arrhythmias caused by barium chloride. It can quickly restore the bidirectional tachycardia arrhythmia of rats induced by barium chloride to normal sinus rhythm, and increase the dose and lethal dose of arrhythmias caused by aconitine, but the statistics are not significant. It has no antagonistic effect on arrhythmias caused by scutellaria baicalensis.

3. Antifungal effect: 0.005%-0.01% of Litsea cubeba oil can inhibit 9 types of dermatophytes in vitro, including Trichophyton tonsurans, Epidermophyton floccosum, and Gypsum gypseum. 0.033%-0.1% can also inhibit Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Sporothrix and several skin-pigmented fungi (Pei's pigmented fungus, Cladosporium carinii, Fusarium solani, Trichoderma glaucoviride, etc.). However, its antibacterial effect on Aspergillus is weak, and it can only inhibit Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus when the concentration is increased to 1%. In addition to its antibacterial effect, Litsea cubeba oil also has a certain degree of bactericidal effect. It is preliminarily believed that the antibacterial active ingredients are citral and others.