What are the medicinal values ​​of wild ginseng?

Wild ginseng is a common Chinese medicinal material. It is a plant of the genus Panax notoginseng in the family Portulacaceae. Its roots and leaves are generally used as medicinal materials. It is best to dig up wild ginseng in winter and then dry it for later use. There are many aliases for wild ginseng: wild Korean ginseng, false ginseng, wild American ginseng, wild ginseng, purple ginseng, etc. These are all aliases for wild ginseng. So, what are the medicinal values ​​of wild ginseng?

Properties: The main root is cylindrical, with a diameter of 1 to 3 cm, of varying lengths, some are slightly curved, and branched like ginseng, with a few fibrous roots remaining. The meat is firm. The surface is brown, the peeled surface is brown, and the cross-section is milky white.

Chemical components: Contains brassicasterol, β-sitosterol and stigmasterol.

Functions and indications: Strengthens the spleen and moistens the lungs, relieves cough, and regulates menstruation. It is used for spleen deficiency, fatigue, diarrhea, lung fatigue, cough with blood in sputum, dizziness, hot flashes, night sweats, spontaneous sweating, irregular menstruation, and leucorrhea. Tonify the middle and replenish qi, moisten the lungs and produce body fluids. It is used for fatigue due to qi deficiency, spontaneous sweating due to physical weakness, diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, cough due to dryness of the lungs, and scanty milk.

Nature and flavor: Neutral, sweet. Spleen; lung; kidney meridian.

Dosage and Administration: For oral use: decoction, 30-60g. For external use: take appropriate amount and mash it for application.

Nutritional Information

Wild ginseng is rich in nutrients such as protein, fat, calcium, vitamins, etc. Every 100 grams of edible part contains 1.56 grams of protein, 0.18 grams of fat, 0.06 grams of total acid, 0.66 grams of crude fiber, 6.2 grams of dry matter, 0.44 grams of reducing sugar, 11.6 grams of vitamin C, 1.33 grams of total amino acids, 28.4 milligrams of iron, 57.17 milligrams of calcium, and 3.19 milligrams of zinc.

effect

Wild ginseng can be used as both medicine and food. It can assist in the treatment of qi deficiency and fatigue, spontaneous sweating due to physical weakness, spleen deficiency and diarrhea, dry cough due to lung deficiency, and low milk secretion. It has the effects of promoting milk secretion, relieving swelling and pain, tonifying the middle and replenishing qi, moistening the lungs and producing body fluids.

Pharmacological Action

Strengthens the spleen and moistens the lungs, relieves cough, and regulates menstruation. It is used to treat spleen deficiency, fatigue, diarrhea, lung fatigue, cough with blood in sputum, dizziness and hot flashes, night sweats, spontaneous sweating, irregular menstruation, and leucorrhea.

"Compendium of Materia Medica in Southern Yunnan": It can replenish deficiency and treat tuberculosis, and can be used by women to replenish blood.

"Nanning City Pharmacopoeia": Moistens the lungs and relieves cough. Treats dry heat, cough and weakness after illness.

"Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Records": Replenishes Qi and blood, replenishes milk, aids digestion, and promotes the production of body fluids and quenches thirst. Treat coughing up blood in sputum.

Guangzhou Army's "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines": tonifies the middle and replenishes Qi, moistens the lungs and produces body fluids, cools the blood and reduces swelling. It is used to treat physical weakness after illness, cough due to overwork, enuresis, irregular menstruation, and carbuncle.

"Herbal Medicines Commonly Used by Kunming Folks": Nourishing and strengthening. Treats dizziness, tinnitus, vertigo, leucorrhea in women; cough caused by tuberculosis, hot flashes and night sweats.

Common recipes

Treating cough due to deficiency: American ginseng, radix clematis, root of tonghua, and rock sugar. Serve with stewed chicken. (Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Records)

To treat polyuria: 2 to 3 liang of Korean ginseng and 2 liang of golden cherry root. Decoction together and take two to three times a day. (Fujian Folk Herbs)

To treat night sweats and spontaneous sweating: 2 taels of Korean ginseng and one pig's stomach. Stew and serve. ("Mindong Materia Medica")

To treat fatigue and weakness: 50 cents to 100 cents of wild ginseng, or add a dried cuttlefish. Stew with wine. (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine)

Treat spleen deficiency and diarrhea: 50 cents to 1 tael of wild ginseng and 50 cents of jujube. Decoction in water. (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine)

Identification

Characteristic identification: The root is conical or long spindle-shaped, branched or unbranched. 7-15cm long, 0.7-1.7cm in diameter. There are woody stem residues at the top; the surface is gray-black, with longitudinal wrinkles and dot-like raised root marks. After removing the cork and boiling, the surface becomes gray-yellow and translucent, with dotted root marks and longitudinal wrinkles. The longitudinal wire bundles inside can be vaguely seen. It is hard and difficult to break. The fractured surface is flat if it is not processed, horny if it is processed, and often has a large cavity in the center. It has a slight odor, light taste and a slightly sticky feeling.

Microscopic identification: Root cross section: the cork layer remains or has been removed. The cortical parenchyma cells contain clusters of calcium oxalate crystals. The phloem is narrow, and the thin-walled cells contain a small amount of calcium oxalate clusters. The cambium is obvious. Xylem occupies most of the root, with 1-2 rows of vessels usually arranged radially, up to 3-4 rows near the cambium, mostly scattered in the center, with a diameter of about 45μm; the wood parenchyma cells contain a large number of calcium oxalate clusters, and the rays are 8-24 rows of cells wide.

Powder characteristics: light yellow-brown.

①There are many calcium oxalate clusters. The diameter of a single cluster crystal is 15-53μm, and the crystal petals are not very neat, sometimes shaped like an accumulation of numerous sand crystals or irregular square crystals.

②More starch granules. Single grain, spherical or nearly ellipsoidal, with unclear stratification.

③ The thin-walled cells with thickened walls are the phloem or basolateral cells, which are irregularly long and narrow or broadly lanceolate. The wall is thickened in a rosary-like shape, not lignified, and circular wall holes can be seen.

④ The wood has fewer thin-walled fibers, which are lanceolate or long, with pointed ends, or one end pointed and the other end blunt; the wall is thickened, slightly lignified, and the wall pores are sparse.

⑤ The vessels have reticular or nearly reticular ladder patterns; the walls are lignified.

⑥ The wood cells are nearly hexagonal in surface view, elongated in the tangential direction and with thickened walls in cross section.

⑦ Calcium oxalate prismatic crystals are rare. ⑧Brown lumps are visible, with varying shapes and sizes.

Medicinal Food

The tender stems and leaves of wild ginseng are crisp, tender, smooth and delicious, and can be stir-fried or made into soup. The fleshy roots can be eaten cold, stewed with meat, and used as a medicinal food. 1. Oyster sauce, shredded ginger and wild ginseng: Boil 250 grams of wild ginseng in boiling water for 3 minutes, rinse with cold water, heat up a pan with oil, add shredded ginger and wild ginseng and stir-fry for half a minute, then add oyster sauce and season. 2. Ginger and garlic shredded wild ginseng: Blanch the tender stems and leaves of wild ginseng in boiling water for a while, rinse with cold water, heat up a pan with oil, add minced garlic and ginger shreds, then add the wild ginseng and stir-fry, then season. 3. Wild ginseng pork ribs soup: After the pork ribs are cooked, add the wild ginseng and season. 4. Cold-mixed wild ginseng roots: remove the surface of the fleshy roots, tear them into strips, add a little vinegar, white sugar, sesame seeds, salt and chili strips according to personal taste, mix well and season. 5. Stewed pork ribs with wild ginseng roots: add appropriate amount of wolfberry to the fleshy roots and pork ribs, add water and stew until cooked, then season.

The above is an introduction to the medicinal value of wild ginseng. It can be seen that wild ginseng has a good effect on symptoms such as spontaneous sweating due to physical weakness, dry cough, and low milk. Therefore, if you have such symptoms in your life, you can choose wild ginseng for conditioning. However, when choosing wild ginseng, you must do so under the guidance of a professional doctor.