Acid vine fruit is the dried mature fruit of the plant acid vine, which belongs to the Rubiaceae family. It is also known as sour fruit or xin tong zi. It is mainly distributed in Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangxi, Yunnan, and other places. It has the effects of nourishing blood, astringing, and stopping bleeding. Let's learn about the medicinal value of acid vine fruit below.
【Identification of Acid Vine Fruit】
Acid vine fruit is spherical or elliptical, with a diameter of 3-8mm. The surface is green-brown or gray-purple, often with wrinkles. The top has a remnant stigma, and the bottom is often attached to a 2-5mm long stalk and small calyx.
The petals are white or yellowish, separated, ovate or elongated, with a rounded or blunt apex, about 2mm long, with marginal hairs and glandular papillae inside.
The stamens degenerate in the pistillate flower and slightly protrude in the staminate flower. They are fused with the petals at the base, with straight filaments and glandular dots on the back of the anthers.
The pistils degenerate in the staminate flower and are slightly longer than the petals in the pistillate flower. The ovary is bottle-shaped, the style is slender, and the stigma is flattened or somewhat shield-shaped.
The fruit peel is crispy and easy to peel. The seeds are often covered with a brown seed coat, and the kernel is hard. The cross-section is yellow-white and horny, with patterns of the seed coat embedded in the endosperm visible on the outer side. It has a slight aroma, a mild taste, and a spicy and numbing sensation when chewed for a long time.
The berry of the acid vine fruit is spherical, red or purple-black when ripe, and dark brown after drying, with a diameter of 5-6mm. It is smooth, with longitudinal wrinkled ridges and a few glandular dots. It has a slight aroma, sour taste, and sweetness.
【Medicinal Value of Acid Vine Fruit】
Acid vine fruit:
Acid vine fruit has a sour and sweet taste and is rich in vitamin C. It can be eaten as fresh fruit or decocted alone to strengthen the body and nourish the blood. It is used to treat gastric acid deficiency, gum bleeding, and loss of appetite, among other conditions.
1. It has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It is used to treat oral inflammation, pharyngitis, gum inflammation, and various ulcers. It can also counteract the toxicity of tea, agarwood, and croton seeds.
2. It has insecticidal, anti-swelling, and digestive properties. It is externally applied to treat bruises, infected wounds, and ulcers. It can be taken internally to treat internal and external hemorrhoids (as well as for external washing), sore throat, and foot pain (by boiling with dog's feet).
3. It has the ability to promote blood circulation, relieve pain, astringe, and stop diarrhea. It is used to treat bruises, enteritis with diarrhea, and sore throat.
Acid vine wood:
It has a sour taste and can be eaten to relieve thirst. The root (acid vine wood) is used as a medicine for its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, hemostatic, heat-clearing, detoxifying, astringent, and antidiarrheal effects. It is used to treat sore throat, gum bleeding, spleen deficiency with diarrhea, bruises, hemorrhoids, and other conditions. It is decocted with 9-15g.
【Formulas and Applications of Acid Vine Fruit】
1. Vermifuge Powder
Formula: 100g of iron club hammer, 550g of acid vine fruit, 200g of he zi, 100g of mu xiang, 100g of cang chang pu, 50g of she xiang.
Method: Grind all the ingredients (except she xiang) into fine powder, sift, and mix well with the fine powder of she xiang. Take it with boiling water.
Effects: Expels parasites. It is used for head lice, body lice, internal parasites, roundworms, and skin parasites. It has a special effect on intestinal colic caused by malaria and intestinal worms.
2. Seven-Ingredient Acid Vine Fruit Powder
Formula: Acid vine fruit, aweto, purple ore, garlic, xian ren zi, rou dou kou, guang zao, etc.
Method: Grind all the ingredients into a fine powder and decoct with qiang huo to make a solution for oral administration.
Effects: It can treat heartworm disease.
