The difference between Guyuan Ointment and glue paste lies in their different prescriptions and practices. For example, Guyuan Ointment is made by steaming Ejiao, red dates, fried black sesame seeds, walnut kernels, pine nuts, crystal sugar and Shao wine, while glue paste is made by steaming Ejiao, Astragalus, Lycium barbarum, Paeonia lactiflora, Codonopsis pilosula, Atractylodes macrocephala and Glycyrrhiza uralensis.

Guyuan ointment must be made with good raw materials, so that it is healthy to eat. In the production process, you must choose a large container for mixing raw materials, otherwise it is troublesome and wastes materials to change pots halfway. When steaming on the pot, the lid must be tightly covered to prevent distilled water from entering and affecting the quality of the finished product. The method is to cover the lid with plastic wrap.

Ejiao cake is directly boiled in a pot, with less water, while Guyuan cream is cooked in the pot after the materials are prepared, and it is full of water and soft. Ejiao cake is a lump, and Guyuan paste is a paste. Ejiao cake has a relatively long shelf life because it contains less water, especially after adding vacuum packaging bags. Generally, the shelf life is six months to one year. Guyuan ointment, however, is moist and soft, and its shelf life is only one to two weeks, so it needs to be kept fresh in the refrigerator.

Historical Evolution and Origin of Guyuan Ointment

The first generation of Guyuan paste is pasty Guyuan paste, which has existed since ancient times. Its method is to grind Ejiao, sesame, walnut, red dates, roses, etc. into fine powder and steam it. However, the paste-like Guyuan paste is very troublesome to make and not easy to store. The second generation of Guyuan paste is a block Guyuan paste, a traditional paste Guyuan paste, which is very inconvenient to eat with a spoon. On the basis of traditional prescription, more donkey-hide gelatin was added to form a block Guyuan ointment. Independent small package, convenient for eating.

Guyuan ointment, also called instant Ejiao, is a convenient way to eat Ejiao, which is named after it was first produced in Dong 'e. The earliest extant monograph of pharmacology in China, Shennong Materia Medica Classic, listed Ejiao as "top grade", and Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica in the Ming Dynasty recorded: "Ejiao is the top grade in this classic, and Hongjing said: It was named Ejiao when it came out of East Asia".