The efficacy and function of ground pepper

Ground pepper is a traditional Chinese medicine. It has high medicinal value and has a good health-care effect on some diseases. In our lives, many medicines use ground pepper as the main ingredient, but there are still many taboos that need to be paid attention to when taking ground pepper.

[Other names] Ground Zanthoxylum bungeanum (Famous Prescriptions on the Sea), thyme (Dictionary of Botany), mountain pepper (Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicinal Plants), mountain pepper (Economic Flora of Liaoning).

[Source] It is the whole herb of thyme, a plant of the Lamiaceae family. Harvest from June to July, dry in the shade or use fresh.

[Original form] Perennial small shrub-like herb. The stem is creeping, rooting everywhere, with many branches, woody at the bottom, reddish brown, and the flower branches are straight up, 3 to 15 cm high, with a strong aroma. Leaves are opposite; small, oblong or ovate, up to 15 mm long and 7 mm wide, entire, obtuse, with bristles at the base and short petioles. The flowers are small, purple-red, clustered at the ends of branches to form cymes: calyx green, calyx tube bell-shaped, 5-lobed at the apex, hairy at the throat; corolla lip-shaped, lower lip 3-lobed; stamens 4, 2 strong; pistil 1. The nutlets are oval and located at the bottom of the persistent calyx. Flowering period is from June to July.

[Habitat distribution] It grows on sandy, dry hillsides. Distributed in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Northeast China and other places.

[Chemical composition] Contains flavonoid components such as baicalin glucoside, luteolin-7-glucoside, apigenin, and volatile oil 0.8-1.33%. The volatile oil contains 53% carvacrol, 17% p-cymene, 8% γ-terpinene, 5% α-terpineol, 4% zingiberene, borneol, etc. It also contains ursolic acid, tannin, gum, resin, fatty oil, thymol, etc.

[Properties and flavors] "Jiayou Materia Medica": "It tastes spicy, warm, and slightly toxic."

【Functions and indications】Warms the middle and dispels cold, drives away wind and relieves pain. It is used to treat vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, bloating, cold cough, swollen throat, toothache, body pain, and skin itching.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoct in water, 3 to 4 qian; grind into powder or soak in wine. For external use: grind into powder and sprinkle or decoct in water and wash.

[Additional prescription] ① To treat colds, take one qian of whooping cough ground pepper and decoct it in water. (Ningxia Chinese Herbal Medicine Handbook)

【Clinical application】 ①Treatment of arthritis

[Note] Wild thyme, a plant of the same genus, is also used for medicinal purposes. Its characteristics are: the stem is sparsely covered with curled soft hairs. The leaves are elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 10 mm long and 3 to 5 mm wide. The flowers are small and purple-red; the sepals have white hairs on the edges and throat; the corolla is longer than the sepals. The nutlets are about 1 mm long.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

【Source】 From "Jiayou Materia Medica"

The above is an introduction to ground pepper. Through this introduction we can understand that ground pepper has high medicinal value and can effectively relieve many diseases, but remember not to take it indiscriminately.