The efficacy and function of Prunella vulgaris

The environment is now seriously deteriorating and various diseases are emerging one after another. In order to prevent the occurrence of various diseases and ensure good health, many people choose to enhance their immunity through diet. As a food ingredient that can fundamentally regulate various functions of the body, Chinese medicinal materials have received widespread attention. Today I will introduce to you the medicinal herb Prunella vulgaris.

[Other names] Jinshuang grass (Compendium of Materia Medica), snow green, earth rhinoceros horn (Compendium of Materia Medica), see blood green, white head, tendon grass, lime vegetable, purple back golden plate, broken blood dan (Plant Names and Pictures), retreat blood grass, scattered blood grass (Classification of Herbal Properties, prone tendon grass (Jiangsu Plant List), white selfheal (Suzhou Native Medicinal Materials), scattered blood dan, white hair string, diphtheria, four-season spring grass, large-leaf knife-burning grass (Fujian Folk Herbs), green fish gall grass, bitter ground gall, bone-penetrating and eliminating (Guangxi Chinese Veterinary Medicine Plants), four-season spring (Southern Fujian Folk Herbs), ground dragon gall, blood-activating grass (Sichuan Chinese Medicine Records), snow flower, blue stone vine, friend flower, a lantern, wild deer holding flower, sky blue and red, leaves under red, creeping grass (Hunan Medicine Records), white spoon, and glue poison grass

[Source] The whole plant of Ajuga scabra of the Lamiaceae family. From March to April or from September to October, harvest the whole plant, sun-dry it, or use it fresh.

[Original form] Perennial herb, 10 to 30 cm high. The stem is square, creeping at the base, multi-branched, and covered with white soft hairs. The simple leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate, oblong or obovate, 4-11 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, with pointed apex, cuneate base, irregular wavy coarse teeth on the edge, green above, purple below when young, and pubescent on both sides. There are several flowers in the flower whorl, axillary; those at the top of the branches are gathered into multiple whorls of spikes; bracts are leaf-shaped and ovate, born below the flower whorl; calyx is campanulate, with 5 teeth, triangular teeth, with white long soft hairs on the outside and tooth edges; corolla is white or lavender, lip-shaped, with short soft hairs on the outside and a hair ring on the inside, the upper lip is semicircular, very short, and the lower lip is folded outward and 3-lobed; stamens are 4, 2 of which are strong, attached to the corolla tube and slightly protruding outside the tube; pistil is 1, ovary is 4-lobed, style is filiform, and stigma is 2-lobed. The nutlets are gray-yellow with reticular wrinkles. Flowering period is from March to April. The fruiting period is from May to June.

[Habitat distribution] It grows on roadsides, river banks, at the foot of mountains, and in wastelands. Distributed all over the country.

[Chemical composition] The whole plant contains flavonoids and saponins, bioalkali, organic acids, tannins, phenolic substances, steroids, reducing sugars, etc. The steroidal compounds include insect metamorphosis hormones such as amaranthone, ecdysterone and trace amounts of amaranthone C; it also contains a component called amaranth lactone, which has the opposite effect to these hormones. The roots contain caraway sugar.

【Nature and flavor】 Bitter, sweet, cold.

【Meridian】 "Ben Cao Zai Xin": "enters the lung meridian."

【Functions and indications】Relieve cough and resolve phlegm, clear away heat, cool blood, reduce swelling, and detoxify. Treat tracheitis, hematemesis, epistaxis, dysentery, gonorrhea, sore throat, furuncle, carbuncle, and bruises.

[Usage and Dosage] For internal use: decoct in water, 3-5 qian (2-3 liang for fresh); blend into juice or grind into powder. For external use: mash and apply; or mash and use juice for gargling.

[Additional prescription] ① For treating dysentery: 3 liang of fresh bone grass. Mash the mixture and squeeze out the juice, then add honey and stew it while warm. (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine)

【Clinical application】 ①Treatment of chronic tracheitis

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

[Source] From "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica" 1. "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica": The small grass of golden wound grows in the wetlands between the fields of villages in the south of the Yangtze River. It is about one or two inches high, as short as shepherd's purse leaves, has light purple flowers in spring and summer, and is as long as a rice grain.

White-haired selfheal is often used in the treatment of some diseases. It can be made into a compound prescription or used alone as needed. However, white-haired selfheal should not be consumed blindly to avoid adverse effects on the body.