Stomach discomfort can make everything taste unpleasant. In traditional Chinese medicine, sourstem fruit is commonly used to treat stomach heat. Sourstem fruit, also known as "Xian Qian Zi" in Chinese, is the dried mature fruit of the plant Ampelopsis grossedentata, which belongs to the Vitaceae family. It is also known as "Suan Qian Zi", "Suan Teng Tou", "Xin Tong Zi", and "Xian Suan Guo". It is distributed in Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan, and other regions. Sourstem fruit has the effects of nourishing blood and stopping bleeding, and it is commonly used for blood deficiency and gum bleeding.
Image of sourstem fruit
Methods of using sourstem fruit to treat stomach heat:
- Take pomegranate seeds, arrowhead, pepper, dried ginger, short-tailed ironwire lotus, small hot pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, fruit of amomum, sourstem fruit, grass jade plum, large tufted eryngo, Himalayan salt, purple sand, and brown sugar, grind them together, and take with hot water. It can help to relieve stomach heat and treat gastritis.
Pharmacological effects of sourstem fruit:
1. Contraceptive effect.
2. Estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities.
3. Progestin-like and antiprogestin-like activities.
In addition to the fruit, the root and leaves of sourstem tree also have the effects of dispersing stasis and relieving pain, astringing and stopping diarrhea, treating bruises and swelling, enteritis and diarrhea, pharyngitis, low stomach acid, dysmenorrhea and amenorrhea.
Effects and functions of sourstem fruit:
- Sourstem fruit has the effects of nourishing blood and stopping bleeding, and it is mainly used to treat sore throat, gum bleeding, spleen deficiency diarrhea, bruises, and hemorrhoids.
1. It has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects, and it can treat oral inflammation, pharyngitis, gingivitis, and ulcers. It can also detoxify the toxic effects of Dahua tea, wooden mushrooms, and croton seeds.
2. It has insecticidal, anti-swelling, and digestive effects. It can be used externally for bruises, sores, and internally for hemorrhoids (and external washing), sore throat, and foot pain (by boiling dog feet).
3. It can promote blood circulation, relieve pain, astringe and stop diarrhea. It can be used for bruises, enteritis and diarrhea, and sore throat.
4. According to the "Jingzhu Materia Medica": Sourstem fruit can kill insects and increase gastric temperature. The fruit is pale red in color, and it makes a sound when shaken, resembling a bean.
Image of sourstem fruit
5. According to the "Shape Metaphor": Sourstem fruit has slender stems, gray leaves, small and rough, blue-red flowers, small in size, and the fruit is like frosted beans, with a sour and sweet taste. It has the effect of treating insect diseases.
6. According to the "Calculation of the Wheels of the Sun and Moon": Sourstem fruit has a pungent and sharp taste, it can kill insects, treat gray floating swelling, and its sharp nature can cause diarrhea.
7. According to the "Lu Chuan Materia Medica": It has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects, and it can treat oral inflammation, pharyngitis, gingivitis, and ulcers. It can also detoxify the toxic effects of Dahua tea, wooden mushrooms, and croton seeds.
8. According to the "Nanning Pharmacopoeia": It has insecticidal, anti-swelling, and digestive effects. It can be used externally for bruises, sores, and internally for hemorrhoids (and external washing), sore throat, and foot pain (by boiling dog feet).
9. According to the "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Medicinal Herbs": It can promote blood circulation, relieve pain, astringe and stop diarrhea. It can be used for bruises, enteritis and diarrhea, and sore throat.
Plant morphology of sourstem fruit:
- It is a climbing shrub or vine. Sourstem fruit is a deciduous vine-like shrub or vine, 1-3 meters high. The branches are gray or reddish-brown, and bare. The leaves are alternate, papery, inverted ovate to narrowly elliptical, 3-6 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, blunt or rounded at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, with entire margins, and bare on both surfaces. The petiole is about 5 mm long.
- The flowers are dioecious; dense cymose inflorescences are lateral or axillary; the inflorescences are 5-10 cm long, with 3-8 flowers; the pedicels are about 2 mm long; the calyx is 4-lobed, ovate, and bare; the petals are 4, white, ovate or rectangular, blunt or rounded at the apex, bare on the outside, and with powdery small protrusions on the inside; the stamens are 4, longer than the petals in male flowers, and the anthers are ovate or kidney-shaped, without glandular dots on the back; the ovary degenerates in male flowers, and is spherical or ovate in female flowers, with a cylindrical style and a head-shaped stigma.
