Almond

Almond

(notes to the classic of Materia Medica)

[synonyms] apricot nucleolus (Ben Jing), apricot (treatise on Febrile Diseases), muluozi (Shi Yao Er Ya), bitter apricot (Clinical Guide), apricot plum kernel (Zhejiang traditional Chinese medicine manual).

[source] bitter dried seeds of apricot or Armeniaca sibirica.

[plant morphology] 1. Apricot (Ben Jing), also known as sweet plum (Jiangnan Lu).

Deciduous trees, 4-9 m high. The bark is dark reddish brown with smooth young branches and irregular longitudinal cracks. Leaves alternate; ovate, 5-9 cm long, 7-8 cm wide, apex long acuminate, base round or slightly heart-shaped, margin serrulate or inconspicuous double serrated, main vein base white pilose; petiole 2.5-4.5 cm long, reddish, with 2 glands. The flower has 5-lobed calyx, lobes triangular elliptic, base connate into a tube; petals 5-lobed, white or pink, broadly ovate, several equal in length and width; stamens many, inserted on the edge of calyx simple, unequal in length; pistil 1, ovary 1-locular, style smooth, only base yellowish pilose, stigma capitate. Drupe yellowish red, heart ovoid, slightly flat, lateral surface with a shallow groove, 3-4 cm in diameter, slightly tomentose; nucleus nearly smooth, hard, oblate heart-shaped, with groove edge; 1 seed, heart ovoid, red. The flowering period is from March to April. The fruit period is from April to June.

Wild or cultivated. Distributed in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places.

② Armeniaca sibirica

The leaf is small, 4-5 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, apex long acuminate, base cuneate or truncate. The fruit is small and the flesh is thin; the edge of the core is thin and sharp; the seed tastes bitter.

It grows on hillside and is cultivated occasionally. Distributed in Liaoning, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Jiangsu and other places.

The root (apricot root), bark (apricot bark), branch (apricot branch), leaf (Apricot Leaf), flower (apricot flower) and fruit (apricot) of the above two plants are also used for medicine. Please refer to the special section for details.

[collection] in summer, the fruit is picked when it is ripe, the flesh and core are removed, and the kernel is taken and dried. Place in a cool and dry place to prevent insects.

[medicinal material] the dried seeds are heart-shaped, slightly flat, 1-1.5cm long and about 1cm wide. The top is gradually pointed, the base is blunt and round, and the left and right sides are asymmetric. The seed coat is reddish brown or dark brown, with brown stripes from the base to the upper end and slight longitudinal wrinkles on the surface; there is an inconspicuous micropyle at the tip, and on the ridge at the lower side, there is a light edge like hilum, the chalazal point is located at the concave part of the bottom end, and there is a deep longitudinal line from the chalazal point to the hilum, which is the seed ridge, In the middle of the junction, there is often a gap. The radicle is located at the tip of the junction. It tastes bitter and has a special almond flavor. It is better to have uniform granules, plump and thick, bitter taste and no fat.

It is mainly produced in Northeast and North China.

In addition to the above varieties, the seeds of the following two plants of the same genus are also used equally. Its morphological characteristics are as follows

① Siberian apricot

Leaf blade ovate or broadly ovate, leaf base rounded or slightly narrow, margin with thin obtuse teeth, abaxial vein axils often with white pilose. Pedicel very short or absent. Drupe globose, flesh thin, about 2 cm in diameter, dehiscent at maturity. Distribution of northeast, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi.

② Apricot

Most of the characteristics are the same as apricot, but the leaf base is rarely heart-shaped, the edge has thick and deep sharp double serrated, the pedicel is generally longer than the calyx tube, glabrous. The nuclear margin is obtuse. It is distributed in Northeast China.

Almonds are sweet and bitter. Cultivated apricots are sweet, while wild apricots are bitter. From the original plant point of view, apricots of Siberian apricot, Liaoning apricot and wild apricot are bitter apricot, while some of apricot and cultivated apricot are bitter apricot and some are sweet apricot.

[chemical composition] it contains 3% amygdalin, 50% fatty oil (almond oil), protein and various free amino acids. Amygdalin is hydrolyzed by amygdaline, ceratase and other β - glucosidase in almond to form amygdalin and amygdalin in turn, and then decomposed to benzaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid.

[pharmacological action] see "almond of Badan".

[processing] almond: pick up the impurities, put them in boiling water, take them out when the skin is slightly wrinkled, soak them in cool water, take off the seed coat, dry them in the sun, and shake them clean. Stir fry almonds: put almonds in a pot, stir fry gently until yellowish, take out and let cool.

Bitter, warm and poisonous.

① Ben Jing: "it tastes sweet and warm. "

② Bielu: "bitter, cold, sharp, poisonous. "

③ Ben Cao Zheng: "it tastes bitter, pungent and slightly sweet. "

[meridian tropism] entering lung and large intestine meridians.

① Tangye materia medica: "start with Taiyin classic. "

② "Diannan Materia Medica": "entering the spleen and lung meridians. "

③ "Lei Gong processed medicine solution": into the lung, large intestine two channels. "

[function indications] expectorant cough, asthma, Runchang. Treatment of cough, asthma, throat obstruction, intestinal dryness and constipation.

① Ben Jing: "the main cough is against the upper Qi, thunder, throat obstruction, lower Qi, milk golden sore, cold heart running dolphin. "

② In the collection of notes to the classic of materia medica: "it can relieve the poison of tin and Hu powder. "

③ Bielu: "it's mainly about convulsion and epilepsy. It's irritating and hot in the heart. When the wind goes, it's easy to have a headache. It's helpful to relieve the muscle, eliminate the anxiety in the heart, and kill the dog poison. "

④ "Treatise on medicinal properties": "it can treat abdominal obstruction, sweating and warm diseases. The treatment of acute heart pain, in addition to abdominal distress, treatment of lung cough, shortness of upper breath. Into tianmendong decoction, moisten the heart and lung. It can be used as soup with cheese to moisten the voice. The air-conditioner is used immediately. "

⑤ Cui Yuxi's "the book of food" said: "the wind is calming and the words are sucking. "

⑥ "In addition to lung dryness, the treatment of wind dryness lies in the chest diaphragm. According to the secret of indications, moistening lung qi, eliminating food and promoting stagnant Qi. "

⑦ "Diannan Materia Medica": "stop coughing, eliminate phlegm, moisten lung, moisten intestines and stomach, eliminate accumulation of flour, lower Qi, treat chancre insects. "

⑧ "The compendium of medicine" says: "kill insects, cure scabies, detumescence, remove wind and blisters on the head and face. "

[usage and dosage] oral administration: decoction, 1.5-3 Qian, or into pills, powder. External use: tamping.

[should avoid] it should not be taken for cough due to yin deficiency and loose stool.

① Ben Cao Jing Ji Zhu: "get fire good.". Radix astragali, Radix Scutellariae, Radix Puerariae. Desmodium difficile. "

② According to the classic of Materia Medica, "cough due to yin deficiency should be avoided if there is deficiency heat and phlegm in lung family. "

③ Bencaozheng: "do not use it when the vitality is weak, for fear that it will sink too much.". "

④ In the book of Ben Jing Feng Yuan: "the blood lost family is especially forbidden. "

⑤ Ben Cao Cong Xin: "cough and constipation due to deficiency should be avoided. "

[prescription selection] 1. To treat lung cold stroke and cough: half a liang of Asarum (mashed as powder), half a liang of almond (soaked in soup, peeled, double kernel, stir fried with bran, slightly yellow, grinded as paste). Apply the medicine, melt the wax half twice in the pan, and then crisp for a minute. Add Asarum and almond. The pill is as big as Yangzao. Regardless of the time, to Mian wrapped in a pill, containing pharyngeal fluid. (Sheng Hui Fang)

② Treatment of cough and upper Qi: three liters of almond, one liter of honey, is divided into three parts. The first thing to eat is to swallow it. It's more or less comfortable on the third day. If you don't take more than half an inch dagger, you will have diarrhea. (almond pill in Qian Jin Fang)

③ Treatment of long suffering from lung asthma, cough, sleep: almond (peeled tip, slightly fried) half Liang, walnut (peeled) half Liang. Put a little honey into the upper part, and make it very fine. Make ten pills for one or two. Take one pill each time, chew ginger soup and lie down after eating. (Yang's family Tibetan recipe fried with almonds)

④ Treatment of asthma: peach kernel, almond (and to double kernel, PI Jian, fried) each half two. The two tastes are fine, and the water is very small, and the pills are large as Wutong. Every ten pills, ginger, honey soup, meager profit for degrees. (Shuangren pill in Shengji Zonglu)

⑤ Treatment of asthma, edema, urine leaching: Almond one or two, peeled tip, boil research, and rice porridge cooked, hollow eat two. (heart mirror of food medicine)

⑥ Treatment of Pulmonary Hemoptysis: 40 almonds, stir fried with yellow wax, research, add indigo one money, make a cake, with a persimmon, break the package medicine, wet paper wrapped, simmer cooked food. (Zhu Zhenheng)

⑦ It can clear throat, remove throat obstruction, cough with phlegm and saliva, and sore with heat in the throat: remove skin of almond, boil lingchi, and the end of GUI, grind it like mud, wrap it like fingers, and contain it. (notes on materia medica)

⑧ For the treatment of long-term disease, the large intestine dryness is unfavorable: eight Liang almonds, six Liang peach kernels (all soaked in soup and peeled), ten Liang Lou kernels (peeled), three flavors are always pounded like mud; eight Liang Chuanbei and four Liang Chen Danxing (processed by the three systems), which are carefully studied with Fritillaria, are mixed into the three kernels of apricot, peach and Lou. Shenqu four two research end, hit paste for pill, Wuzi big. Every morning take three money, ginger soup. (Fang Mai Zheng Zong)

⑨ Treatment of diarrhea and dysentery: Almond 20 (soup dip to skin tip), Croton 20 (to film oil). On the piece of research fine, steamed jujube meat for the ball, such as mustard big, cinnabar for clothing. Take one pill before eating. (Zhusha pill in Yang's family collection)

⑩ For the treatment of upper Qi, head and face wind, headache, chest Qi full of puffer, gas up and down, heart trouble and heat, maternal acne: Almond a liter, pound research, with a bucket of water to filter juice, make it, with copper fire from Dan boil to day, when ripe as cream, under it. If you drink on an empty stomach, take a square inch dagger. If you don't drink on the third day, take it. (almond cream in Qianjin prescription)

(11) treatment of eye diseases, but the pupil is not broken: Apricot three Sheng (soup dip to skin tip, double). For each liter, wrap it in flour, heat it in the fire, remove the flour, grind almonds, press oil, and then take a coin of coppergreen to grind with apricot oil, and light the eyes with copper sheath. (apricot kernel paste in Shengji Zonglu)

(12) treatment of nasal sores: apply with almond milk; also apply with burning kernel and oil. (Qian Jin Fang)

Treatment of various sores: peel almonds, grind and filter cream, add light powder and sesame oil to mix and apply,

Chinese PinYin : Xing Ren