Chinese honeylocust fruit (ZAO JIAO)
Pharmaceutical Name:
Fructus Gleditsiae
Botanical Name:
Gleditsia sinensis Lam. (Fam. Fabaceae)
Common Name:
Chinese honeylocust fruit
Part Used:
Fruit
Fructus Gleditsiae is produced in northeastern, midwestern, and mideastern China. It is collected in autumn when the fruit is ripe, dried in sunlight, sliced, and used unprepared.
Properties Taste & Meridians:
Pungent in flavor, warm in property, slightly poisonous, acts on the Lung and Large Intestine channels.
Functions:
Eliminates Phlegm, opens the orifices, and awakens the Spirit.
Indications & Combinations:
1. For cough with copious sputum, congestion in the chest, asthma, and difficult expectoration.
2. For sudden loss of consciousness with lockjaw and epilepsy due to Excess Phlegm, it is used with Herba Asari cum Radice (Xi Xin) as a nasal insufflation.
Dosage and administration:
1.5–5 g, in powder or pill form.
Precautions:
Contraindicated during pregnancy and in patients with Qi and Yin Deficiency. Symptoms of overdose include vomiting and diarrhea.
