Medicated leaven (Shenqu)
Massa Fermentata Medicinalis
Pharmaceutical Name: Massa Fermentata Medicinalis.
Common Name: Medicated leaven.
Source of Earliest Record: Yaoxing Lun
Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: Medicated leaven is a fermented mixture of wheat flour, bran and the fresh aerial parts of Armented annua, Xanthium sibixicum, Polygonum hydropiper and other herbs.
Properties & Taste: Sweet, pungent and warm.
Meridians: Spleen and stomach.
Functions: To eliminate food retention and harmonize the stomach.
Indications & Combinations:
1. Retention of food manifested as epigastric and abdominal distension and fullness, no appetite, gurgling sound and diarrhea. Medicated leaven (Shenqu) is used with Hawthorn fruit (Shanzha) and Germinated barley (Maiya).
2. It is made into pills and taken with pills with mineral ingredients in “Magnetite and Cinnabaris pills” (Ci Zhu Wan) to assist digestion and absorption.
Dosage: 6-15 g, decocted in water or used as pills for an oral dose. Parched Massa Fermentata Medicinalis is used to promote digestion and resolve food retention. A carbonized mixture is used for diarrhea; the crude mixture is made into pills or paste.
