The efficacy and function of Bi Bo

No one has heard of Bi Bo. It is usually eaten raw or removed of impurities, sieved out dust, crushed and added to Chinese medicinal materials. Its main effect is to regulate the spleen, stomach and large intestine. It can also relieve dizziness, headache, coronary heart disease and hairy foot pain.

Basic information of Piper longum

Aliases

Biba, Bibali, Alheta, Shensheng, Gama, and Rat Tail.

Origin

The Chinese medicinal herb Piper longum is the fruit spike of the Piper longum plant of the Piperaceae family. It is mainly produced in Hainan, Yunnan, Guangdong and other places.

Harvesting and processing

Generally used raw. After collecting, remove impurities and remaining fruit stalks, sieve out ash, and crush before use.

Nature and flavor

It is spicy and hot in nature. It enters the stomach, spleen and large intestine meridians.

Effects and functions of Piper longum

effect

Warms the middle and dispels cold, relieves gas and relieves pain. It is mainly used to treat cold pain in the abdomen, vomiting and diarrhea, headache, toothache, sinusitis, and angina pectoris caused by coronary heart disease.

Traditional prescription

① Treat cold and accumulation of typhoid fever, weakness of internal organs, heart and abdominal pain, distension and fullness in the ribs, diarrhea and intestinal rumbling, spontaneous sweating, and indigestion of rice and grains: 4 catties of Piper strychnifolia, 6 catties each of Alpinia officinalis and dried ginger (fried), and 4 catties of cinnamon bark (peeled). Grind the above ingredients into fine powder, boil the flour in water and make into balls as big as sycamore seeds. Take 20 pills each time, with rice soup, before meals. (Da Si Han Wan from the Bureau of Prescriptions)

② Treat diarrhea, abdominal distension and loss of appetite: Piper 0.5 liang, nutmeg (shelled, half-cooked and half-simmered) 1 liang, dried ginger (roasted) 0.5 liang, Terminalia chebula (half-cooked and half-roasted, pitted) 1 liang, Atractylodes macrocephala 3 fen, licorice (half-cooked and half-roasted, filed) 0.5 liang, costusroot (half-cooked and half-fried) 1 liang. Grind the above seven ingredients into powder. Take 2 spoonfuls each time, mix with rice drink on an empty stomach, and take again in the evening. (Bi Bo San from Sheng Ji Zong Lu)

③Treat dysentery: half a pound of cow's milk and three grams of Piper longum. Decoction and reduce the dosage by half, take all at once on an empty stomach. ("Unique Records")

④ Treat spleen deficiency vomiting, heart and stomach pain, greenish-yellow complexion, cold pain in the waist and hips: Piper serrata, costus root, aconite root (cracked and peeled), pepper, cinnamon (peeled), dried ginger (cracked), terminalia chebula bark (roasted), each half a liang, Magnolia officinalis (peeled and roasted with ginger juice) one and a half liang. Grind the above eight ingredients into powder, mix with refined honey and make into pills as big as sycamore seeds. Take 15 pills with porridge on an empty stomach, three times a day. (Bi Bo Wan from Sheng Ji Zong Lu)

⑤For treating asthenia, coldness of the spleen and stomach, loss of appetite, laziness of the limbs, fullness and distension under the heart, pain and knot below the navel, as well as abdominal distension and gas lumps: Piper (fried), Terminalia chebula (simmered, seeds and core removed), dried ginger (cracked), ginseng, each one liang, cinnamon (peeled), white poria (peeled), and pepper, each half a liang. Grind the above seven ingredients into powder, mix with refined honey and make into pills the size of sycamore seeds. Take 20 pills each time, with rice drink, on an empty stomach before meals. (Bi Bo Wan from Sheng Ji Zong Lu)

⑥ Treat nausea caused by phlegm and fluid: Grind Piper longum into powder and mix half a penny of it with clear porridge before meals. (Sheng Hui Fang)

⑦ Treat women’s blood and qi disharmony, constant pain, irregular bleeding, and irregular menstruation: Piper (fried with salt), Puhuang (fried). Divide the above ingredients into equal parts, grind into powder, mix with refined honey and make into pills the size of sycamore seeds. Take 30 pills each time, swallow with warm wine on an empty stomach. If you cannot drink, take with rice soup. (Er Shen Wan in Puji Fang, also known as Bi Bo Wan)

⑧To treat miasma that forms lumps in the abdomen and does not disperse: 1 liang of Piper longum and 1 liang of Rhubarb. Grind them into powder, add a little musk, and make pills the size of walnuts with refined honey. Take 30 pills with cold wine. (Yongleiqianfang)

⑨Treat toothache: Piper longum and pepper. Take equal parts of the above two ingredients, grind them into powder, and make wax pills as big as sesame seeds. Use one pill each time and insert it into the cavity. (Bi Bo Wan from Sheng Ji Zong Lu)

⑩Treatment of migraine: Grind Piper serrata into powder and ask the patient to hold warm water in his mouth. If the left side hurts, ask the patient to inhale one word through the left nose; if the right side hurts, ask the patient to inhale one word through the right nose. ("Experience Behind")

⑾Treat nasal congestion and clear runny nose: Piper serrata, Cyperus rotundus, and garlic. Pound it into a cake, place a gauze lining on it while it is hot and stick it on the fontanelle. Iron it thoroughly with an iron and the mucus will stop. (Bi Bo Bing from "Introduction to Medicine")

Methods and precautions for eating Piper longum

Dosage

Take 1-3g of decoction internally; or make into pills or powder. For external use, grind an appropriate amount into powder and blow into the nose; or make it into pills and put them into the holes of decayed teeth; or soak it in wine and rub the affected area.

Usage Notes

It is forbidden for those with yin deficiency and excessive fire.

Modern Research on Piper longum

Chemical composition

The fruit of Piper longum contains piperine, palmitic acid, tetrahydropiperidinic acid, piperidine, volatile oil, as well as piperine, piperonamide, and guinea piperonamide.

Pharmacological Action

①Lipid -lowering effect.

② Piper longum volatile oil can counteract the effects of hypoxia and myocardial ischemia caused by various conditions.

③The volatile oil of Piper longum has anti-arrhythmic effects.

④The volatile oil of Piper longum has sedative, analgesic and analgesic effects.

⑤ The ethyl acetate soluble part of the fruit of Piper longum has a strong relaxant effect on coronary blood vessels and intestinal smooth muscles. Piper longum oil has a broad-spectrum antibacterial effect and has inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.