The efficacy and function of winter mallow fruit

I believe many people are familiar with the Chinese medicinal material Dongkui fruit. As a common Chinese medicinal material, Dongkui fruit is rich in nutrients. Let us learn about it in detail below.

【English name】 FRUCTUS MALVAE

【Other name】 Winter Melon Seed

[Source] This product is a traditional Mongolian medicinal material. It is the dried mature fruit of Malva verticillata L., a plant of the Malvaceae family. The fruits are harvested when they are ripe in summer and autumn, impurities are removed and dried in the shade.

[Properties] This product is in the shape of a flat spherical disk, with a diameter of 4 to 7 mm, and is covered with a membranous persistent calyx. The persistent calyx is bell-shaped, yellow-green or yellow-brown, sometimes slightly purple, with 5 teeth at the apex, the lobes are rolled inward, and there are 3 linear-lanceolate bracts outside. The fruit stalk is short and thin. The fruit consists of 10 to 12 lobes, arranged in a whorl around the conical central axis. The lobes are oblate, 1.4 to 2.5 mm in diameter, yellow-white or yellow-brown in surface, with raised circumferential fine veins. Seeds are kidney-shaped, brown or dark brown. Slight smell, bitter taste.

【Identification】 (1) Surface observation of the persistent calyx of this product: the stellate hairs on the lower epidermis are composed of 2 to 8 (mostly 4 to 8) cells, each cell is 50 to 1140 μm long, about 75 μm in diameter, and has a slightly thick wall; the glandular hairs have an oval head, 5 to 7 cells, and a diameter of 25 to 38 μm. The upper epidermis is unicellular and non-glandular. The hairs are slender, curved or straight, up to 1190 μm long, with thin or slightly thick walls. The stomata of the upper and lower epidermis are unequal. The mesophyll thin-walled cells contain clusters of calcium oxalate crystals, 6 to 25 μm in diameter, with sharp edges.

【Nature and flavor】 Sweet, astringent, cool.

【Functions and indications】 Clears away heat, promotes diuresis and reduces swelling. Used for urinary retention, edema, thirst; urinary tract infection.

【Usage and Dosage】 3～9g.

【Storage】Keep in a cool and dry place.

[Remarks] (1) It is used to treat painful and dribbling urination, and is often used together with Plantago seed and Lycopodiella cava. It can also promote diuresis and relieve stranguria, and is used to treat edema, and is often used together with Poria cocos and other drugs. It is often used together with Akebia and Tongcao to treat symptoms such as scarce milk and breast pain in postpartum women. It can also treat dry stools.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Pharmacopoeia

I believe that the above introduction to the knowledge about winter melon fruit will give you a better understanding of it. We can eat winter melon fruit in our daily life to regulate and improve our body.