Gan Tai grows in calm bays, intertidal flats, or marshes. It has the effects of softening hardness, resolving phlegm and accumulation, and detoxifying and reducing swelling. It is mainly used for treating goiter, lymphadenitis, abscesses, swelling, ulcers, food accumulation, intestinal obstruction, abdominal distension, and nosebleeds.
Gan Tai Image
[Alias] Hai Tai Cai (Compendium of Materia Medica), Tai Cai (Yao Ke Cheng's Food Materia Medica).
[Source] The thallus of the algae Sargassum fusiforme.
[Plant Morphology] The thallus of Sargassum fusiforme is bright green or dark green, and can reach a height of about 40 centimeters. It has many slender branches that generally branch 2-3 times, sometimes with hair-like or wider branches.
The cells of the thallus are arranged in vertical columns from the base to the top. The thallus is 26-70 micrometers thick.
It mostly grows in the middle intertidal zone, inner bay mud, and shallow water marshes. It is distributed along the coast of Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, and Guangdong.
Gan Tai is also consumed as food in folk, with many varieties often mixed together.
In addition to Sargassum fusiforme mentioned above, there are also Sargassum thunbergii (distributed in coastal areas of China), Sargassum cinereum (common in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea coast, also found in Taiwan), and Sargassum pallidum (found along the coast of China) and others.
[Collection] Harvested during winter and spring.
[Effects and Functions of Gan Tai] It has the effects of softening hardness, resolving accumulations, and resolving phlegm. It is used to treat goiter, lymphadenitis, and nosebleeds caused by heat.
① Tao Hongjing: "Used to treat goiter with stagnant qi."
② Meng Shen: "Used to treat hemorrhoids and kill parasites. Boil the juice to drink to treat cholera with persistent vomiting."
Gan Tai Image
③ Compendium of Materia Medica Supplement: "For those with a restless and stuffy sensation in the chest and abdomen, grind Gan Tai into a paste with cold water and drink it."
④ Daily Materia Medica: "Used to resolve food accumulation."
⑤ Compendium of Materia Medica: "Burn the powder and blow it into the nose to stop nosebleeds; soak in the soup and apply it to the back of the hand for swelling and pain."
⑥ Suixiju's Dietary Prescriptions: "Clears the gallbladder, resolves lymphadenitis and goiter, relieves bloating, resolves phlegm, and treats water and soil intolerance."
[Pharmacological Actions of Gan Tai] Sargassum fusiforme has the ability to lower total serum cholesterol.
Compared with the control group, after feeding rats with feed containing Gan Tai powder, their serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels decreased by 34.9%, 42.7%, and 31.4%, respectively, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increased by 58.3%.
Screening of anti-tumor activity of seaweed found that Gan Tai has anti-Ehrlich tumor activity, with an inhibition rate of 51.7%.
[Usage and Dosage of Gan Tai] Internal use: Decoction. External use: Mashed and applied.
[Precautions]
① Meng Shen: "Excessive consumption of Gan Tai will cause sores and itching, and make a person pale and bloodless."
② Daily Materia Medica: "Should not be consumed by people with cough."
