Polygonatum

Introduction to Polygonatum

Polygonatum sibiricum (Scientific Name:

Polygonatum sibiricum , also known as: chicken head polygonatum, yellow chicken vegetable, pen tube vegetable, claw ginseng, tiger ginger, chicken claw ginseng. It is a plant of the genus Polygonatum. The rhizome is horizontal, cylindrical, and has enlarged nodules. The leaves are whorled and sessile. It is a medicinal plant that has the effects of nourishing the spleen, moistening the lungs and promoting body fluid.

Effects and functions of Polygonatum sibiricum

It nourishes yin and moistens the lungs; replenishes the spleen and qi, nourishes the kidneys and replenishes essence. It is used for yin deficiency and fatigue cough; dry cough due to lungs; spleen deficiency and fatigue; poor appetite and dry mouth; thirst; soreness of waist and knees due to kidney deficiency; impotence and spermatorrhea; tinnitus and blurred vision; premature graying of hair and beard; body weakness and emaciation; wind, leprosy and tinea. It is used for spleen and stomach weakness, fatigue, dry mouth and poor appetite, dry cough due to lung deficiency, insufficient essence and blood, and internal heat and thirst.

① "Bielu": It is mainly used to tonify the middle and replenish Qi, eliminate rheumatism, and calm the five internal organs.

② "Bencao Gangmu" (Bencao Gangmu): It can replenish the five kinds of labor and seven kinds of injuries, help the tendons and bones, stop hunger, resist cold and heat, benefit the spleen and stomach, and moisturize the heart and lungs.

③ "Compendium of Materia Medica in Southern Yunnan": replenishes deficiency and increases essence.

④ "Compendium of Materia Medica": Replenishes all deficiencies, stops cold and heat, replenishes essence and marrow, and eliminates the three corpse worms.

⑤ "Bencao Congxin": It nourishes Qi and blood and moisturizes.

⑥ "Modern Practical Chinese Medicine": Used for intermittent fever, gout, periostitis, ascariasis, and hypertension.

⑦ "Sichuan Chinese Medicine Records": It nourishes the kidney and moistens the lungs, replenishes qi and nourishes yin. It is used to treat yellow face due to spleen deficiency, cough due to lung deficiency, soreness and weakness of muscles and bones, and weakness of qi and blood after childbirth.

⑧ "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines in Rural Hunan": Nourishes the kidney and spleen, strengthens the tendons and bones, moistens the lungs and produces body fluids.

Medicinal value of Polygonatum sibiricum

Dosage

For internal use: decoct in water, 10-15g, fresh product 30-60g; or make into pills, powder and paste. For external use: appropriate amount, decoct in water for washing; make paste for application; or soak in wine for application.

Notice

It is not recommended for patients suffering from cold, diarrhea, phlegm, dampness, fullness and qi stagnation.

Additional prescription

1. Strengthen the muscles and bones, improve the essence, and turn white hair: 4 catties each of Polygonatum sibiricum and Atractylodes lancea, 5 catties each of Lycium barbarum root and Cypress leaf, and 3 catties of Asparagus cochinchinensis. Boil 1 stone of juice, add 10 catties of koji, and 1 stone of glutinous rice, and make wine as usual. (Compendium of Materia Medica)

2. Tonify the essence and qi: Take wolfberry (preferably picked in winter) and polygonatum in equal parts. Grind them into fine powder, mix the two ingredients together, pound them into pieces, knead them into cakes, dry and pound them into powder again, add refined honey and make them into pills as big as sycamore seeds. Take 50 pills each time, on an empty stomach with warm water. (Wolfberry Pills from Miraculous Prescriptions)

3. Treat weak spleen and stomach, fatigue and weakness: 1 liang each of Polygonatum sibiricum, Codonopsis pilosula, and Chinese yam, steamed with chicken. (Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines in Rural Hunan)

4. Treat lung fatigue, coughing up blood, and leucorrhea: 2 liang of fresh Polygonatum root, 1 liang of crystal sugar. Stew in boiling water. ("Mindong Materia Medica")

5. Treat pulmonary tuberculosis and physical weakness after illness: 50 cents to 1 tael of Polygonatum sibiricum. Decoction or stew with pork. (Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines in Rural Hunan)

6. Treat lower limb paralysis in children: 1 liang of Polygonatum sibiricum and 1 liang of winter honey. Stew with boiling water. (Mindong Materia Medica)

7. Treat stomach heat and thirst: 6 qian of Polygonatum sibiricum, 5 qian each of Rehmannia glutinosa and Chinese yam, 4 qian each of Radix Trichosanthis and Radix Ophiopogonis. Decoction in water. (Shandong Chinese Herbal Medicine Handbook)

8. Treat eyes, replenish liver qi, and improve eyesight: 1 jin of turnip seeds (washed with water), 2 jin of Polygonatum odoratum (steamed with turnip seeds water for nine times, and dried). Pound the above medicines into powder. Take 2 qian of it on an empty stomach with porridge, and take it again with warm water after lunch and dinner. ("Shenghui Fang" turnip seeds powder)

9. To treat leprosy caused by unclear vital energy, long-term wind entering the meridians, and so on, nose discoloration, itchy skin ulcers: 2 catties of Polygonatum sibiricum root (peeled and cleaned). Expose it in the sun until it becomes soft, add millet rice and steam it in a steamer. Take it when 2 dou of rice is cooked. Take it at any time. (Shengji Zonglu)

10. Treat pinworm disease: 8 qian of Polygonatum sibiricum, add 1 liang of crystal sugar, stew and drink. [Fujian Traditional Chinese Medicine]

11. Hyperlipidemia: 30g Polygonatum , 25g Crataegus, 15g Polygonum multiflorum. Decoction in water, 1 dose per day. This recipe can also be used to prevent and treat arteriosclerosis.

12. Leukocytopenia: 2 parts of Polygonatum sibiricum and 1 part of jujube. Prepare a 100% decoction and take orally, 20 ml each time, 3 times a day.

13. Diabetes: 15g Polygonatum , 15g Chinese Yam, 12g each of Anemarrhena, Polygonatum, and Radix Ophiopogonis. Decoction in water. Effective for patients with thirst, frequent drinking, fatigue, and deficiency of both Qi and Yin.

14. Lung Yin deficiency: 30g Polygonatum , 50g crystal sugar. Wash the Polygonatum, soak it in cold water for 3-4 hours, put it in a pot, add crystal sugar and appropriate amount of water, boil it over high heat, then simmer it over low heat until the Polygonatum is cooked. Eat the Polygonatum and drink the soup twice a day. It is suitable for cough with little sputum, dry cough without sputum, and hemoptysis caused by insufficient lung yin.

15. Treatment of anemia, orthostatic hypotension, infectious hypotension, and unexplained hypotension: 30g each of Polygonatum sibiricum and Codonopsis pilosula , 10g of roasted liquorice, decocted in water, 1 dose per day.

The beauty effect of Polygonatum

1. For sallow complexion, poor appetite and fatigue . This product can replenish qi and yin, nourish the spleen and benefit the lungs. It can be used for sallow complexion due to deficiency of both qi and blood, or spleen deficiency that cannot produce blood. It can be used together with angelica, codonopsis, astragalus and other qi and blood replenishing products, or it can be steamed and eaten alone.

2. Used for sore waist and weak feet, premature graying of hair. This product nourishes the kidney and replenishes essence, strengthens the body, and is a good product for replenishing kidney and essence, prolonging life. It can be used alone to treat liver and kidney deficiency, sore waist and weak knees, premature graying of hair. It can also be used in combination with other medicines, such as Erjing Pills in Shengji Zonglu, which uses this product together with wolfberry.

3. For tinea pedis and tinea manuum: This product can also treat tinea and is mostly used externally. To treat tinea pedis and tinea manuum, soak this product in ethanol, filter out the juice, mix it with ordinary rice vinegar, and apply it directly to the affected area.

Edible value of Polygonatum

Polygonatum is sweet and refreshing to eat. Its fleshy rhizomes are thick and contain a lot of starch, sugar, fat, protein, carotene, vitamins and many other nutrients. Eating it raw or stewed can not only satisfy hunger, but also improve health. It can increase strength, fill muscles, and strengthen bone marrow, which is very beneficial to the body. The rhizomes of Polygonatum are shaped like yams, and people in mountainous areas often eat it as a vegetable.

How to eat Polygonatum

Stewed Pork with Polygonatum

60g Polygonatum, 500g lean pork , appropriate amount of refined salt, cooking wine, onion, ginger, and pepper. Wash the pork, put it in a boiling water pot to remove the blood, remove it and cut it into pieces. Wash and slice the Polygonatum, and smash the onion and ginger. Put the meat, Polygonatum, onion, ginger, cooking wine, and salt into the pot, add appropriate amount of water and boil it over high heat, then simmer until the meat is cooked, pick out the onion, ginger, and Polygonatum, and season with salt and pepper. This soup is served with pork to nourish the kidney and blood, nourish yin and moisten dryness, and can often treat kidney deficiency and essence deficiency, lung and stomach yin deficiency, spleen and stomach weakness, physical weakness after illness, and postpartum blood deficiency.

Huangjing Chicken

100g Polygonatum, 1 chicken (about 1500g), cooking wine, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, scallion, and ginger slices. Wash and cut the Polygonatum, kill and remove the chicken, clean the internal organs and claws, blanch in boiling water to remove the blood, remove and wash with clean water. Put the chicken, Polygonatum and appropriate amount of water in the pot, add cooking wine, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, scallion, and ginger slices, boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat until the chicken is cooked, pick out the Polygonatum, scallion, and ginger, and serve. This product has the effects of tonifying the middle and replenishing qi, moistening the lungs and tonifying the kidneys, and is suitable for symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, poor appetite, tuberculosis and hemoptysis, weak tendons and bones, and rheumatic pain.

Huangjing Pork Rice

100g of polished rice, 25g of polygonatum, 300g of lean pork, 150g of onion, cooking wine, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, white sugar, chopped green onion, and minced ginger. Wash the pork and cut into strips, remove the old skin of the onion, wash and cut into strips, and wash the polygonatum and cut into thin slices. Heat the wok, add the pork and stir-fry until the water is dry, add cooking wine, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, white sugar, green onion, and ginger, stir-fry until the meat is almost cooked, add onion and appropriate amount of water, simmer on low heat until cooked. Wash the rice and put it into the pot, add appropriate amount of water, add polygonatum when boiling over high heat, cook until the water is almost dry, pour in the meat and vegetables, and simmer on low heat until the rice is cooked. This product has the effects of nourishing the middle and replenishing qi, moisturizing the skin, etc., and is suitable for patients with cardiovascular system diseases.

Huangjing cooked ground spine soup

500g of pork spine, 50g of polygonatum, 50g of cooked rehmannia. Wash the pork spine and chop it into pieces. Wash the polygonatum and cooked rehmannia separately with clean water, put them into a clay pot together with the pork spine, add appropriate amount of clean water, boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 2 to 3 hours, season and serve. This soup has the effect of nourishing the kidney and replenishing essence, and is used for symptoms such as dizziness, tinnitus, soreness of the waist and knees, forgetfulness, insomnia, fatigue and exhaustion.

Longevity wine

100g of polygonatum, 120g of atractylodes, 90g of asparagus, 180g of pine needles, 150g of wolfberry, 8kg of liquor and appropriate amount of honey. Remove impurities from polygonatum, atractylodes, asparagus, pine needles and wolfberry, slice them, put them together in a porcelain jar, add liquor and cover tightly, put them in a water bath pot and make the water cover about 4/5 of the jar . Stew until the liquor boils, stir once with bamboo stalks, add honey, and continue to stew until the hops are quickly concentrated and remove from the heat. Seal with wax paper and place for 3 to 4 months before taking. Twice a day, 15mL each time. This wine is suitable for middle-aged and elderly people with premature graying of hair, blurred vision, rheumatism, numbness of limbs, soreness of waist and knees, etc.

Side Effects of Polygonatum

Huangjing is sweet, neutral, and slow in action, so it can be taken as a long-term tonic. However, it is greasy and can easily promote dampness, so it is not suitable for people with spleen deficiency, dampness, cough, sputum, and diarrhea caused by cold.

There have been reports in the clinic that a few patients experienced mild abdominal distension after taking Polygonatum sibiricum syrup, which could be avoided by taking it after meals. No adverse reactions were observed when the crude preparation of Polygonatum sibiricum was applied topically.