1. Alias
Buddha's Hand, Buddha's Hand Fruit, Five Finger Citrus, Buddha's Hand Citrus, and Miluo Citrus.
2. Plant morphology
Evergreen small trees or shrubs. The old branches are gray green, while the young branches are slightly purple red with short and hard spines. Leaves alternate, leathery, with transparent oil spots; Short petiole, without wings or joints; The leaves are oblong or ovate oblong in shape, with a blunt and sometimes slightly concave tip, a nearly circular or wedge-shaped base, and shallow wavy blunt serrations on the edges. Flowers solitary, clustered, or in racemes; Calyx cup-shaped, lobes triangular; The petals are white on the inside and purple on the outside; Majority of stamens; Ovary elliptical, with a narrow and pointed upper part. Citrus fruits are oval or oblong in shape, with a top that splits like a fist or opens like fingers. The number of splits represents the number of carpels, and the surface is orange yellow, rough, and the flesh is light yellow. The seeds are numerous, ovate in shape, with a pointed tip, sometimes not fully developed. The flowering period is from April to May, and the fruiting period is from October to December.
3. Origin distribution
Growing in tropical and subtropical regions, it prefers sandy loam soil with abundant sunlight and good drainage. Distributed in Guangdong and other places.
4. Harvesting and processing
The autumn fruits start to turn yellow from green and are harvested when they are ripe. Let it dry for a few days until most of the water evaporates, then cut it into thin slices and dry it in the sun or at low temperatures.
5. Characteristics of medicinal herbs
Oval or oval shaped thin slices, often wrinkled or curled. The top is slightly wider, the base is slightly narrower, and some fruit stem marks can be seen. The outer skin is yellow green or orange yellow, with wrinkles and oil spots. The flesh is light yellow white, scattered with uneven linear or dotted vascular bundles. Hard and brittle in texture, flexible when exposed to moisture. It has a fragrant aroma and a slightly sweet taste followed by bitterness.
6. Sexual Taste Returning to the Classics
Warm in nature, with a pungent, bitter, and sour taste. Return to the lung meridian, spleen meridian, and liver meridian.
7. Effect and Function
Soothing the liver, regulating qi, harmonizing the stomach, and relieving pain. It belongs to the category of Qi regulating medicine.
8. Clinical application
Take 3-9 grams and decoct. Used to treat liver and stomach qi stagnation, chest and rib distension and pain, epigastric distension and fullness, and vomiting due to insufficient food intake. Chen Foshou costs 2-3 yuan and can be boiled and consumed in water to treat phlegm, qi, and cough (from "Minnan Folk Herbs").
9. Pharmacological research
Relieve asthma; spasmolysis; Central inhibition; Increase coronary flow in the heart, enhance hypoxia tolerance, strengthen capillary resistance, and reduce adrenal ascorbic acid depletion; Anti inflammatory. Alcohol extract has the effects of relieving gastrointestinal smooth muscle spasms, increasing coronary blood flow, and lowering blood pressure. The alcohol extract has a significant inhibitory effect on the isolated rat intestinal tract; Moreover, intravenous injection into cats has a short-term inhibitory effect on the heart and blood pressure; Its lemon oil extract has anti allergic effects on the isolated trachea of guinea pigs.
10. Chemical composition
Contains volatile oil, flavonoids, coumarin, polysaccharides, hesperidin, limonene, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, lignin, lignan, baicalein, 5-methoxyfurfural and other components.
11. Usage taboos
Those with yin deficiency and fire, and no symptoms of qi stagnation, should take it with caution.
12. Compatibility prescription
① To treat facial cold pain and stomach qi pain: bergamot, baked with new tiles, powder (yellow). Take 9 grams of distilled liquor per serving. (Diannan Materia Medica)
② Treatment for loss of appetite: 3 grams each of bergamot, Fructus Aurantii, and ginger, and 1 gram of Huanglian. Boil in water and take 1 dose daily. (National Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicines)
③ Treating liver and stomach qi pain: Fresh Buddha's hand 12-15g, brewed with boiling water, as a substitute for tea. Or 6 grams each of Buddha's Hand and Corydalis yanhusuo, decoct in water and take orally. (National Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicines)
④ Treating swelling and swelling: 120g Buddha's hand, 90g human white. At the end of it all. On an empty stomach under white soup. (Lingnan Medicinal Collection Record)
⑤ Treatment of damp phlegm and cough: 6 grams each of Buddha's Hand and Ginger Pinellia ternata, divided equally into sugar. Boil it in water. (National Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicines)
⊙ The content of the article is for clinical reference only. Non TCM professionals are not allowed to test drugs.