Tengguo, a traditional Chinese medicine, also known as Sour Teng Zi, Acid Vine Fruit, Xintongzi, and Xian Suan Guo, is the fruit of the plant Tengguo, belonging to the Asteraceae family. The fruit can be used for medicinal purposes and also consumed as food. It has the functions of nourishing blood and astringing to stop bleeding. It is mainly distributed in Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan, and other regions, and is commonly used to treat sore throat, gum bleeding, bruises, and injuries, among other conditions.
I. Shape of Tengguo fruit
The medicinal material 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 of the pistil, and the bottom is often accompanied by a 2-5mm long pedicel and small calyx. The peel is brittle and easy to peel off; the seed is often covered with a brown seed coat, with a hard kernel, yellow-white in cross-section, horn-shaped, and with patterns of seed coat embedded in the endosperm visible on the outer side. It has a slight scent, a mild taste, and a spicy and numbing sensation when chewed for a long time.
The main chemical components of Tengguo fruit include Purple Bullphenol I, II, Purple Bullphenol, Rock Lichen Lactone, Xintongzi Quinone, Acid Bullphenol Quinone, Quercetin, and volatile oil, among others.
II. Efficacy and actions of Tengguo fruit
Tengguo fruit has the functions of nourishing blood and astringing to stop bleeding. It is used to treat sore throat, gum bleeding, spleen deficiency diarrhea, bruises, and hemorrhoids.
1. Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. It is used to treat oral inflammation, pharyngitis, gingivitis, and ulcerative sores. It can also detoxify the poison of Big Tea, Mu Ru, and Croton.
2. Insecticidal, anti-swelling, and digestion-promoting effects. It is externally used for treating bruises and ulcers. Internally, it is used to treat internal and external hemorrhoids (and for external washing), sore throat, and foot pain (cooked with dog's feet).
3. Blood-activating, pain-relieving, astringing, and diarrhea-stopping effects. It is used to treat bruises, enteritis with diarrhea, and sore throat.
4. "Jingzhu Materia Medica": Tengguo fruit can kill insects and increase gastric temperature. The fruit is pale red and makes a sound when shaken, resembling a bean.
5. "Morphological Metaphor": Tengguo fruit has slender stems, gray leaves, small size, and roughness; the flowers are blue and red, small; the fruit is like frost-killed beans, with a sour and sweet taste. It can be used to treat insect diseases.
6. "Calculating the Wheels of the Sun and Moon": Tengguo fruit has a pungent and sharp taste, kills insects, treats gray edema, and has a sharp nature that can cause diarrhea.
7. "Luchuan Materia Medica": Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. It is used to treat oral inflammation, pharyngitis, gingivitis, and ulcerative sores. It can also detoxify the poison of Big Tea, Mu Ru, and Croton.
8. "Nanning Pharmacopoeia": Insecticidal, anti-swelling, and digestion-promoting effects. It is externally used for treating bruises and ulcers. Internally, it is used to treat internal and external hemorrhoids (and for external washing), sore throat, and foot pain (cooked with dog's feet).
9. "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines": Blood-activating, pain-relieving, astringing, and diarrhea-stopping effects. It is used to treat bruises, enteritis with diarrhea, and sore throat.
III. Usage and dosage of Tengguo fruit
Internal use: decocted in water, 3-5 qian (9-15 grams); or pounded into juice. External use: decocted in water for washing or gargling.
1. For the treatment of gastric acid deficiency and gum bleeding: fresh Tengguo fruit 6-9 grams, decocted in water and taken orally. ("Practical Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicinal Herbs")
2. For the treatment of poor appetite: Tengguo fruit 9 grams, decocted in water and taken orally. ("Practical Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicinal Herbs")
IV. Pharmacological effects of Tengguo fruit
1. Contraceptive effect.
2. Estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities.
3. Progestin-like and anti-progestin-like activities.
In addition to the fruit, the roots and leaves of Tengguo wood also have the effects of dispersing stasis and relieving pain, astringing to stop diarrhea, treating bruises and pains, enteritis with diarrhea, pharyngitis, gastric acid deficiency, and dysmenorrhea and amenorrhea.
