The difference between white aconite and black aconite

Although white aconite and black aconite seem to have the same name, there are huge differences between them. Not only do their properties and tastes differ, but their effects are also different. In essence, they do not belong to the same family of medicines. The difference between white aconite and black aconite can actually be easily distinguished from their appearance. If you want to know more, you can refer to the following content.

"Ben Chao Gang Mu" says: "Bai Fu Zi is a Yangming meridian medicine. It is similar to Fu Zi, so it gets this name, but it is actually not Fu Zi." These two medicines must not be confused when used, especially Fu Zi, which is highly toxic. Once used incorrectly or in excessive doses, the patient may suffer from many symptoms of the nervous system at the mildest, and respiratory and circulatory system failure and death at the worst.

So what are the differences between white aconite and black aconite?

1. Nature, flavor and efficacy.

White aconite : pungent, sweet and warm in nature, poisonous, enters the Yangming stomach meridian. Functions: dispel wind and cold, expel cold and dampness, stop convulsions and relieve pain. It is mainly used to treat excessive wind and phlegm, facial paralysis, headache and convulsions, etc., especially wind in the upper part of the head and face.

Black aconite: very pungent and hot in nature, poisonous, enters the heart, spleen and kidney meridians. Function: Restore Yang, Rescue adverse condition, Warm the middle and relieve pain, Dispel cold and dry dampness. It is mainly used to treat spleen and kidney yang deficiency, chronic yin-cold, yang loss, cold-dampness and arthralgia, etc., especially for those with cold-dampness in the lower burner.

2. Family, genus and morphology.

White aconite is similar in appearance to aconite, but smaller than black aconite. The white aconite referred to in the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" is the tuber of the perennial herbaceous plant Araceae. Because it is produced in Yuzhou, Henan, it is also called Yubaifu. Its surface is off-white or light yellow, and its interior is off-white. In addition, in some areas, such as Shanghai, the commonly used white aconite is the tuberous root of the perennial herb Aconitum carmichaelii of the Ranunculaceae family. Because it is mainly produced in the Northeast, it is also called Guanbaifu. Its surface is brown and the inside is white. In Shanghai, Yubaifu is commonly called chicken heart white atractylodes and Guanbaifu is called bamboo joint white atractylodes.

Black aconite is the sub-root attached to the tuberous root of Aconitum, a perennial herb of the Ranunculaceae family, and is mainly produced in Sichuan. Its outer skin is gray-black and its interior is white. Depending on different processing methods, the product names include: salted aconite, roasted aconite, black aconite, white aconite, etc. Please note: White aconite root is made by peeling the skin of aconite and then fumigating it with sulfur to make it white. Don't take it literally and think that Baifu Pian is the same as Baifuzi.