What are the effects and functions of lantern grass?

When it comes to lantern grass, many people may not know what it is, especially for people from Northeast China, but when you mention it to girls, they may all know what it is. There are many aliases for Lamp Dragon Grass, such as small bitter vegetable, wild spicy tiger, etc. Both the leaves and berries of the herb can be used. The fruits can be used directly, but the leaves need to be cooked before use. The leaves have the effects of detoxification, heat dissipation, swelling reduction and blood stasis removal.

1. Lantern grass

Solanum nigrum is also known as wild spicy tiger, wild pepper, small bitter vegetable, stone pepper, dragon grass, and sky nightshade. It is an annual herb of the Solanaceae family. It is distributed almost all over China. Both the berries and leaves are edible, but the leaves contain a large amount of bioalkali and must be cooked before detoxification. The whole plant is used as medicine with the effects of dispersing blood stasis and swelling, clearing away heat and detoxifying.

Nature and flavor: bitter, cold, slightly toxic.

Meridians: Liver and stomach meridians.

Efficacy: Clears away heat and detoxifies, promotes blood circulation and reduces swelling, treats furuncle, carbuncle, erysipelas, bruises and sprains, chronic tracheitis, acute nephritis, used for sores, carbuncle, swelling, skin eczema, difficulty urinating, chronic tracheitis in the elderly, excessive leucorrhea, prostatitis, dysentery, etc.

2. Pharmacological effects of Solanum nigrum

1. Anti-inflammatory effect: Solanum nigrum has anti-inflammatory effect. Solanum nigrum can inhibit the development of experimental plantar swelling in rats. It has a protective effect on allergic, histamine, burn and islet shock in guinea pigs, can reduce the damage of shock, prolong survival time and increase survival rate. Solanum truncatum has a cortisone-like effect, and its anti-inflammatory and anti-shock effects may be related to this.

2. Anti-allergic: Solanine can inhibit the allergic reaction of guinea pigs to horse serum, inhibit the delayed hypersensitivity reaction of guinea pig skin caused by drugs, significantly inhibit the transformation of lymphocytes, and promote the formation of antibodies.

3. Antipyretic and analgesic: Solanum melongena can reduce the sensitivity of experimental animals to painful stimuli, has a strong analgesic effect, and can reduce the normal body temperature and fever temperature of mice. Its antipyretic site is in the central nervous system, and has the effect of reducing blood coagulation.

4. Expectorant and antiasthmatic: The water-soluble part of Solanum nigrum has obvious expectorant and antitussive effects when administered to mice orally. It has an antiasthmatic effect by continuously releasing histamine, which leads to the depletion of histamine in the lung bronchi.

5. Anti-tumor: Solanum nigrum has anti-nuclear division effect. The inhibition rate of total Solanum nigrum alkaloids on animal transplanted tumors is 40-50%. The alkaline components in the total alkaloids of Solanum nigrum have the strongest anti-cancer activity and have obvious cytotoxic effects. The tumor inhibition rates of large-dose oral administration of Solanum nigrum preparation on Ul4, Sl80 and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice were 31.6%, 35.7% and 48.8%, respectively, showing a certain therapeutic effect.

6. Antibacterial effect: Solanum nigrum decoction has a certain antibacterial effect on many pathogenic cocci and bacilli. Solanum nigrum bioalkali has inhibitory effects on many pathogenic fungi.

7. Hepatoprotective effect: Solanum nigrum bioalkali has a significant protective effect on CCI4 liver damage in mice and has a positive inotropic effect on isolated frog ventricular activity.

3. Medicinal Prescriptions for Solanum nigrum

1. To treat carbuncle: Crow's eye grass, crush it and take it with wine.

2. To treat carbuncle without head: mash Solanum nigrum and apply it.

3. To treat all back carbuncles and ulcers: mash the whole shrimp antlers with the leaves of crow's eye vine and apply it.

4. To treat scrofula: Grind equal parts of mountain pepper and peach bark into powder and add sesame oil to apply on the affected area.

5. To treat eczema: mash the Solanum nigrum seedlings and leaves and apply it on the affected area.

6. To treat swelling and pain caused by bruises, sprains and muscles: a handful of fresh Solanum nigrum leaves and seven green onions with roots. Chop it into pieces, add appropriate amount of fermented lees, mash them together and apply them to the affected area, changing it once or twice a day.

7. To treat vomiting blood: 1 fen of ginseng and 0.5 liang of eggplant seedlings. Grind the above two ingredients into powder. Take 2 spoonfuls each time, mixed with fresh water, at any time.

8. To treat continuous hemorrhage: 2 liang of Sanhaijiao, 5 qian of Buddha's nail. Take it in decoction.

9. To treat dysentery: 8 qian to 1 liang of Solanum nigrum leaves (double the amount if fresh), 8 qian of white sugar. Decoction in water.

10. To treat acute nephritis, edema, and oligouria: 50g each of fresh Solanum nigrum and fresh Daphne genkwa, and 20g of Akebia. Decoction in water.

11. Reduce heat and sleep less: Cook Solanum nigrum with rice and eat it as porridge.

12. Difficulty in urination: Boil Solanum nigrum root, Akebia trifoliata and Coriander in water and drink the decoction.

13. Falling injuries: Mash the stems and leaves of Solanum nigrum into juice and drink it, then apply the residue to the injured area.

14. Erysipelas: Grind Solanum nigrum leaves with vinegar into a fine powder and apply it on the affected area to reduce redness and swelling.

15. For all kinds of sores and swellings: Mash the stems and leaves of Solanum nigrum and take it with wine. Apply the residue to the affected area.

16. To treat dysentery: 8 qian to 1 liang of Solanum nigrum leaves (double the amount if fresh), 8 qian of white sugar. Decoction in water.

17. To treat acute nephritis, edema, and oligouria: 50g each of fresh Solanum nigrum and fresh Daphne genkwa, and 20g of Akebia. Decoction in water.

18. To treat orchitis: 1 liang each of fresh roots of Solanum nigrum and Chinese lantern grass, and 2 green-skinned duck eggs. Add water and cook until done, drink the soup and eat the egg.

19. To treat toothache caused by wind and toothworms: gargle with a decoction of Solanum nigrum root.

20. For the treatment of lung cancer of the blood stasis and water obstruction type, with edema of the face and upper chest, and shortness of breath and wheezing: use 50g (fresh) or 20g (dried) of this product, decocted in water and taken orally, 1 dose per day.