Bi Ba, the dried nearly ripe or ripe fruit cluster of the Bi Ba plant. It is produced in southeastern to southwestern Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian. The fruit contains piperine, palmitic acid, tetrahydropiperine, volatile oil, and other components. It has the effects of warming the middle and dispelling cold, relieving qi stagnation and pain. It is used for abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, cold stagnation, chest pain, headache, toothache, and other symptoms.
Warming the Middle and Dispelling Cold
Bi Ba is highly pungent and hot, similar to pepper. It enters the stomach and large intestine, and is also a Yangming medicine. It warms the middle and dispels cold, breaks stagnant qi, relieves depression and obstruction, eliminates qi and phlegm, and can also disperse the floating heat in the upper jiao. It can be used to treat toothache, headache, acid reflux, and other symptoms caused by Yangming damp-heat.
Relieving Qi Stagnation and Pain
"Ben Cao Yan Yi": "It expels cold qi from the stomach and intestines, treats vomiting and abdominal pain." "Gang Mu": "It treats headache, nasal congestion, and toothache." "Tian Bao Ben Cao": "It treats injuries, waist and foot pain." "Ben Cao Shi Yi": It warms the middle, relieves qi stagnation, invigorates the waist and feet, aids digestion, eliminates gastric cold, and treats hernia and dribbling urine.
Antimicrobial Effects
The volatile oil in Bi Ba has inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Shigella, Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi B, Micrococcus luteus, and influenza virus.
Sedative and Anticonvulsant Effects
Intraperitoneal injection of Bi Ba in rats significantly counteracts seizures induced by pentetrazol, electric shock, and "auditory-induced attacks". After 5 minutes of injection, the activity of mice decreases, and it has a synergistic effect with thiopental sodium. It can counteract the respiratory suppressive effects of morphine and pentobarbital sodium.
Effects on Cholesterol Metabolism
The non-saponifiable fraction (OPUM) of Bi Ba volatile oil can significantly reduce the serum total cholesterol (TC) and liver cholesterol (Ch) levels in mice with endogenous and exogenous hypercholesterolemia. The cholesterol-lowering effect is dose-dependent. It significantly inhibits the increase in TC caused by intraperitoneal injection of Triton in mice and also significantly increases the serum lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase activity in mice injected with egg yolk emulsion. This shows that Bi Ba has a lipid-lowering effect, which is related to its promotion of cholesterol esterification and excretion.
