The mature fruit of the ginger family plant, Amomum villosum, is known as Caoguo. Caoguo is a perennial herb that grows in the forests along the edges of ditches and is mainly found in Guangxi and southern Yunnan provinces in China. The fruit is harvested when it turns reddish-brown, and then it is dried in the sun or by baking. It can also be scalded in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes before being dried. Caoguo has been recorded in historical texts as early as the Ming Dynasty. Yunnan is the main producer of Caoguo in China, with a history of over 200 years. Caoguo is one of the major medicinal herbs that can be used as both medicine and food, with a higher consumption as food than as medicine.
Benefits and Functions of Caoguo
Caoguo has the effects of drying dampness and dispelling cold, resolving phlegm and treating malaria, and aiding digestion. However, it should not be taken by those who have deficiency of qi or blood or do not have excessive cold and dampness. For the treatment of malaria and cold phlegm stagnation in the stomach that is difficult to resolve, the following ingredients are used: Caoguo, Changshan, Zhimu, Wumei, Binglang, Gancao, and Chuanshanjia. They are decocted in water. (Cigao Yin in "Ciyu Xinshu")
1. Caoguo treats spleen pain and fullness: Take two Caoguo kernels and decoct them in wine. (Renzhai Zhizhi Fang)
2. Caoguo treats intermittent fevers caused by malaria, with a pulse that is wiry and rapid, but no cold sensation, or more heat than cold, fullness in the diaphragm, good appetite, bitter taste in the mouth, dry tongue, restlessness, thirst for water, yellow and red urine, and poor bowel movements: Take Qingpi (remove white), Houpo (fried with ginger), Baizhu, Caoguo kernel, Chaihu (remove Lu), Fuling (remove peel), Banxia (soaked in soup seven times), Huangqin, and Gancao (roasted) in equal amounts. Grind them into fine powder. Take 20 grams each time, boil with one and a half cups of water and five slices of ginger until seven minutes, remove the residue, and take the warm decoction at any time. (Qingpi Tang in "Jisheng Fang")
3. Caoguo treats the early stage of an epidemic, where there is aversion to cold followed by fever. After a day or two, there is only fever without aversion to cold. The pulse is neither floating nor sinking, but rapid. There is fever throughout the day and night, with increased intensity after each meal, headache, body aches, Binglang 10 grams, Houpo 5 grams, Caoguo kernel 2.5 grams, Zhimu 5 grams, Shaoyao 5 grams, Huangqin 5 grams, and Gancao 2.5 grams. Boil them with one cup of water for eight minutes and take it warm in the afternoon. (Dayuan Yin in "Wenyi Lun")
4. Caoguo treats disharmony between the intestines and stomach, bloody and watery diarrhea, as well as hidden heat and sudden diarrhea with bloody stools: Take Caoguo seed, Gancao, Diyu, and Zhike (remove the awn, fry with bran). Grind them into coarse powder. Take 10 grams each time, boil with one and a half cups of water and a piece of ginger, crush it, and then decoct for seven minutes. Remove the residue and take the decoction at any time. (Caoguo Yin in "Chuanxin Shi Yong Fang")
5. Caoguo treats malaria with cold phlegm stagnation in the stomach that is difficult to resolve: Take Caoguo, Changshan, Zhimu, Wumei, Binglang, Gancao, and Chuanshanjia. Decoct them in water. (Cigao Yin in "Ciyu Xinshu")
6. Caoguo treats persistent malaria with lingering cold, minimal heat, pale face, loss of appetite, or loose stools and increased urination: Take Caoguo kernel, Fuzi (processed, remove the umbilicus). Grind them into fine powder. Take 25 grams each time, boil with two cups of water, seven slices of ginger, and one jujube until seven minutes, remove the residue, and take the warm decoction at any time. (Guo Fu Tang in "Jisheng Fang")
Caoguo is the fruit of the ginger family plant, Amomum villosum. It has the effects of drying dampness, dispelling cold, resolving phlegm, treating malaria, and aiding digestion. Caoguo is mainly used to treat malaria, phlegm and dampness obstruction, cold and pain in the epigastric region, vomiting, diarrhea, and food stagnation.
