A Herbological Study on the Medicinal Effects and Employments of Rhubarb Processed with Liquor
10.3937/kampomed.60.429
- Author:
Misato DOUI
;
Masayuki MIKAGE
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
rhubarb;
processing;
processing with liquor;
liquor rhubarb;
medicinal effect
- MeSH:
distilled alcoholic beverage;
Rhubarb;
Today;
dalton;
Japanese language
- From:Kampo Medicine
2009;60(4):429-434
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
From ancient times, the crude drug rhubarb (Da-huang in Chinese, Daio in Japanese) has been processed using liquor in various ways in China. There are mainly three ways of processing it ; liquor-soaking, liquor-dipping and liquor-frying. Today, the liquor-fried rhubarb, appropriately named ‘liquor rhubarb’, is widely used. But it is not clear why use of the rhubarb processed with liquor began. Thus, we researched ancient literature published after the Jin and Yuan dynasties, when medical treatment was done based on the theories. We found that the ‘liquor-soaked rhubarb’ was used as a depurative, while the ‘liquor-dipped rhubarb’ was used as a purgative or a digestive. ‘Liquor-fried rhubarb’ use began after the Ming dynasty, and its medicinal effect was expected to be the same as the two processed rhubarbs of earlier periods.
