Benefits, functions and nutritional content of lentils

In fact, lentils are not only delicious, but also have many functions and effects. So do you know what the functions and effects of lentils are?

About Lentils

Annual twining herbaceous vine, up to 6 meters long. Trifoliate compound leaves; leaflets broadly ovate, 5-9 cm long, 6-10 cm wide, pointed at the tip, broadly cuneate or truncate at the base, entire, sparsely hairy on both sides, lateral leaflets larger, obliquely ovate; petiole 4-12 cm long; stipules small, lanceolate. Racemes axillary, usually 2-4 clustered at the nodes of the inflorescence axis; 2 bracts, caducous; calyx bell-shaped, 5 calyx teeth, margins densely covered with white soft hairs; corolla butterfly-shaped, white or lavender, standard petal ovate-elliptic, with 2 appendages on both sides of the base, extending downward into 2 ears, wing petals obliquely elliptic, keel boat-shaped; 10 stamens, 2 bundles; ovary linear, covered with soft hairs, glandular at the base, stigma capitate, sparsely covered with white short hairs. Pods oblong, flat, slightly curved, 5-8 cm long, with curved beak at the tip. There are 2 to 5 seeds, which are oblong and white, black or reddish brown. The flowering period is from July to August. The fruiting period is September. All of them are cultivated products. They are distributed in East China and Liaoning, Hebei, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places.

Efficacy and function

Benefits of Lentils

Lentils are sweet, mild and mild medicine for strengthening the spleen and removing dampness. They are mainly used for spleen and stomach weakness, reduced appetite, loose stools and diarrhea, abnormal leucorrhea, and vomiting, diarrhea, chest tightness and other symptoms caused by summer heat and dampness. Lentil skin is the seed coat of lentils. Its nature, taste and function are similar to those of lentils, but its efficacy is inferior to that of lentils. However, it has no disadvantage of stagnation, which is its characteristic. It is used for spleen deficiency, diarrhea, edema and other symptoms. Lentil flower is the flower of lentils, which has the function of removing dampness and relieving heat. It is mainly used for summer heat and dampness, fever, irritability, chest tightness, vomiting and diarrhea and other symptoms.

1. Lentils can invigorate the spleen and harmonize the middle, which is beneficial to the removal of summer heat and dampness. It is used for vomiting and diarrhea caused by summer heat and dampness, spleen and stomach disharmony, and is often used with Elsholtzia, Magnolia officinalis and other heat-removing and dampness-removing drugs to enhance the efficacy, such as Elsholtzia powder. Lentils can also detoxify, such as alcohol detoxification, and are often used with Pueraria lobata and white cardamom. 2. Lentils are sweet and enter the spleen and stomach meridians. They are a good medicine for invigorating the spleen and removing dampness that nourishes the spleen without being greasy, and removes dampness without being dry. It is used for fatigue and weakness caused by spleen deficiency and dampness, poor appetite and loose stools, and diarrhea. It is used with ginseng and white atractylodes to strengthen the spleen and remove dampness, such as Shenling Baizhu powder. It is used for women with spleen deficiency, leucorrhea, fatigue and fatigue, and can be used with white atractylodes and cuttlefish bone.

Pharmacological effects of lentils

Lentils contain non-specific lectins for human red blood cells (see kidney beans), which have certain globulin properties; they have no agglutination effect on cattle and sheep red blood cells. Two different plant lectins can be separated from lentils. Lectin A is insoluble in water and has no anti-trypsin activity; if mixed with food and fed to rats, it can inhibit their growth and even cause regional necrosis of the liver; after heating, the toxic effect is greatly weakened, so lectin A is part of the toxic components in crude lentil powder. Lectin B is soluble in water and has anti-trypsin activity. Some people have measured its molecular weight to be 23688, and its inhibition of trypsin is non-competitive. It can maintain activity for more than 30 days at 15-18°C (pH 3-10). After autoclaving or boiling for 1 hour, the activity loss is 94-86%. This trypsin inhibitor cannot be decomposed by general proteases in vitro and is difficult to digest in vivo. At a concentration of 1 mg/0.1 ml, it can extend the coagulation time of citrate plasma from 20 seconds to 60 seconds due to the inhibition of thrombin. Feeding rats with Indian lentils has the effect of lowering blood sugar and serum cholesterol.

Nutritional content of lentils

It can strengthen the spleen, harmonize the middle, invigorate Qi, transform dampness and relieve heat . It is mainly used to treat spleen deficiency with dampness, poor appetite and loose stools, dampness and turbidity flowing downward, excessive vaginal discharge in women, damage to the middle due to summer-heat and dampness, vomiting, diarrhea and convulsions.