Deer Kidney, also known as Deer Penis or Deer Tendon, is the male reproductive organ of the deer species such as Cervus elaphus Linnaeus or Cervus nippon Temminck. It is mentioned in the book "Mingyi Bie Lu". During collection, the penis and testicles of the male deer are removed, cleaned of any remaining meat and fat, and then dried by being fixed to a wooden board. Another method is to scald the deer kidney with boiling water and then dry it in an oven at 80°C.
【Processing Method】1. Deer Kidney in "Pu Ji Fang": "Remove the fat membrane." Currently, there are three main processing methods:① Take the original medicinal material, wash it, soak it in warm water to soften, cut it into thin slices, and dry it. ② Take the original medicinal material, remove impurities and tendons, wash it, dry it, heat it gently until it softens, and then cut it into thin slices while still hot. ③ Take the original medicinal material, burn off the hair, brush it clean, chop it into small pieces or soften it by heating or steaming, and then cut it into thin slices. For every 100kg of deer kidney, 10kg of yellow wine is used.
2. Deer Kidney Powder: Take the deer kidney slices and stir-fry them with talcum powder or hot sand until they are fluffy. Remove the talcum powder or sand by sieving, let it cool, and then grind it into powder. The amount of talcum powder or sand should be sufficient to cover the added medicinal ingredients.
【Appearance of the Medicinal Slice】Deer kidney is in the shape of a round or irregular thin slice, with a brownish-yellow color, semi-transparent, grooves on the edges, hollow in the center, tough texture, slight fishy smell, and slightly salty taste. Deer kidney powder is a yellow-brown powder with a reduced fishy smell and a slightly salty taste.
【Processing Action】Deer kidney has a sweet and salty taste and a warm nature. It enters the liver, kidney, and bladder meridians. It has the functions of tonifying the kidney and strengthening yang, and strengthening the lower back and knees. It is used for kidney yang deficiency, impotence, premature ejaculation, kidney deficiency-related deafness, tinnitus, soreness and pain in the lower back and knees, and infertility due to uterine cold. For example, deer kidney porridge is used to treat kidney qi deficiency and deafness (from "Tai Ping Sheng Hui Fang"); it is combined with Cistanche, goji berries, leek seeds, and Morinda officinalis to treat impotence and infertility caused by coldness (from "Northeast Animal Medicine"); it is combined with donkey-hide gelatin to treat women with blood deficiency, soreness and pain in the lower back and knees, and infertility (from "Chinese Medical Dictionary"). Deer kidney has a fishy smell and a tough texture. Stir-frying it with talcum powder or sand makes it crispy and easy to crush. The addition of wine enhances the function of tonifying the kidney and strengthening yang, and also improves the taste.
【Processing Research】According to reports, deer penis segments are placed in a drying oven and roasted at 195-210°C until they turn yellow and puff up. Then, they are taken out, crushed, and sieved through a 40-mesh sieve to obtain the processed product. The composition of the samples before and after processing was analyzed using 50% ethanol extract, chloroform extract, total nitrogen, total ash, 18 chlorinated amino acids, 20 inorganic elements, and two hormones (testosterone and estradiol) as indicators. The results showed that there were no significant differences in most of the components between deer penis and its processed product. The content of 50% ethanol extract increased by 2.2 times (for Cervus elaphus) and 2.6 times (for Cervus nippon) after processing. The deer penis before processing was difficult to crush, but became easy to crush after processing, and there was no fishy smell. Therefore, processing can effectively eliminate the fishy smell, facilitate crushing, and promote the extraction of active components.
