Huluba: also known as Huluba, kudou, and fragrant herb, is the dried and mature seed of the leguminous plant Huluba. It has a warm nature and bitter taste, and enters the kidney meridian. It contains ingredients such as gentianine, papaya alkaloids, choline, and Huluba alkaloids. It has the effects of warming the kidney and assisting yang, dispersing cold and relieving pain. It is used to treat symptoms such as kidney deficiency and coldness, soreness and weakness of the lower back and knees, cold pain in the lower abdomen, impotence, inguinal hernia, and cold and damp foot odor. "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Huluba is a medicine for the right kidney gate of the kidney. It is suitable for those with insufficient original yang and hidden cold qi that cannot return to the source." "Annotations on the Compendium of Materia Medica" also states: "Huluba is a medicine that warms and nourishes the lower burner, dispels and clears cold qi. Later generations use it to treat symptoms such as hernia, foot odor, etc. It is suitable for those with weakened true yang and water-cold qi stagnation, and it is strictly forbidden if there is warm pathogenic influence."
Huluka shell: also known as chouhuluka, is the mature fruit skin of the cucurbitaceous plant bottle gourd. It is harvested in autumn when the fruit is mature but not old, and the skin is removed for medicinal use. Processed huluka shell appears gourd-shaped and is mostly crushed into pieces. The outer surface is yellow-brown and relatively smooth, while the inner surface is yellow-white or grayish-yellow, soft, light, hard, and has a yellow-white color when cut. It has a mild scent and a bland taste. Huluka shell has a neutral nature and sweet taste, and enters the heart and small intestine meridians. It has the effect of promoting diuresis and reducing swelling, and is used to treat symptoms such as facial edema, edema ascites, and foot swelling and pain. It is often used in combination with medicines such as zhuling, fuling, and ze xie to promote diuresis and reduce swelling. It is commonly used to treat the formation of ascites in the late stage of schistosomiasis, often combined with wormwood.
