Mugwort, Pinyin: ài cǎo

Species name Mugwort

Also known as ice platform, curb grass, fragrant mugwort, Qi mugwort, mugwort, mugwort, Moxibustion grass, medical grass, yellow grass, mugwort, moxa leaf, green

Latin scientific name Artemisia princeps

English name Asiatic wormwood

Family and genus classification Asteraceae, Mugwort

Source: Lu Xun's "New Stories: Fei Gong": "Mozi asked the plowing poles to be mixed with water and cornmeal, but he made fire with flint and moxa, and lit dry branches to boil the water. ”

Morphological characteristics

Perennial herb with many underground rhizomes and branches. The plant height is 45 to 120 cm. The stem is upright, round and ribbed, covered with gray-white soft hairs on the outside. The stem has branches from the middle and above. The lower stem leaves wither during flowering. The middle leaves are irregularly alternate and have short stalks; the leaves are egg-ovate. Oval-shaped, deeply pinnately lobed, the basal lobes often form pseudostipules, the lobes are elliptical to lanceolate, with coarsely serrated edges, dark green on the front, sparse white soft hairs, grey-green on the back, with gray hairs; the upper leaves are sessile. , apical leaves entire, lanceolate or strip-like lanceolate flowers, flower heads, sessile, most densely packed into racemes, involucres densely covered with white wool; lateral flowers are female flowers, 7 to 12, often rudimentary, corolla Thin and thin; there are bisexual flowers in the center, 10 to 12 flowers. The flower color varies depending on the variety, including red, light yellow or light green. Achenes are oblong, hairy or hairless.

Medicinal Properties

Mugwort is closely related to Chinese people’s lives. During the Dragon Boat Festival, people always place moxa at home to “ward off evil spirits” and dry up. The resulting plants are soaked in water and fumigated to disinfect and relieve itching. Pregnant women often use moxa water to bathe or fumigate. Mugwort has a bitter, pungent, and warm nature and taste, and enters the spleen, liver, and kidneys. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: The leaves of moxa moxa are used as medicine. They are warm in nature, bitter in taste, non-toxic, pure yang in nature, open the twelve meridians, have the functions of restoring yang, regulating qi and blood, removing dampness and cold, stopping bleeding and relieving fetus, etc., and are also commonly used. In acupuncture. Therefore, it is also called "medical herb". Most of the popular "herbal baths" in Taiwan now use mugwort. Regarding the performance of mugwort leaves, "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Moxamites leaves can moxibustion all kinds of diseases." "Compendium of Materia Medica" says: "The leaves of mugwort are bitter and pungent, produce warmth, are hot when cooked, and have pure yang properties. They can return the dying yang and connect the twelve It travels through the three yin channels, regulates qi and blood, drives away cold and dampness, and warms the uterus... The moxibustion fire can penetrate the meridians and eliminate all diseases. "It shows that using moxa leaves as a moxibustion material can unblock the meridians, activate collaterals, and remove yin and cold. It has the functions of reducing swelling and dissipating stagnation, restoring yang and relieving adverse events. Modern pharmacology has found that mugwort leaves have a high volatile oil content, including 1.8-cineole (accounting for more than 50%), and others include α-thujone, sesquiterpene alcohols and their esters. The dried leaves contain 10.13% minerals, 2.59% fat, 25.85% protein, and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, etc. When moxa leaves are used for moxibustion, the older they are, the better. Therefore, there is a saying that "for a seven-year disease, seek three years of moxa leaves" ("Mencius"). The whole plant has the effects of regulating menstruation and stopping bleeding, anticoagulation and collapse, dispersing cold and removing dampness. It can cure irregular menstruation, menstrual pain and abdominal pain, miscarriage, uterine bleeding, and radical cure for rheumatoid arthritis, headache, menstrual wind, etc. Because it can cut ice into round shapes and treat various diseases, it is the most commonly used medicine by doctors. Modern experimental research has proven that mugwort leaves have antibacterial and antiviral effects; antiasthmatic, antitussive and expectorant effects; hemostatic and anticoagulant effects; sedative and anti-allergic effects; liver-protective and choleretic effects, etc. Mugwort can be used in recipes such as " mugwort leaf tea", " mugwort leaf soup", " mugwort leaf porridge", etc. to enhance the body's resistance to disease. Mugwort has a special fragrance, which has the effect of repelling mosquitoes. Therefore, the ancients often hung mugwort in front of their doors, firstly to ward off evil spirits, and secondly to drive away mosquitoes.

Side effects of long-term use of mugwort leaves: If too much volatile oil (fragrance component) is used, it will inhibit the nerves.

Other methods of use

In the Book of Songs era, mugwort was already a very important plant for people's livelihood. Generally used for "moxibustion" in acupuncture. The so-called acupuncture is actually divided into two parts. "Acupuncture" means to use needles to prick the acupuncture points, while "moxibustion" means to light mugwort and then fumigation and hot the acupoints. Although the acupuncture points are stimulated by heating, not just any paper or grass can be used as "moxibustion" if it is lit. The smell of mugwort must have played a role as well. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, mugwort is also made into green dumplings, which are usually eaten during the Qingming Festival and can be used to worship ancestors. (The preparation method is: put the young mugwort into a large pot, add lime and steam it, rinse off the lime water, and knead it into glutinous rice flour. Make it into a green dumpling, and add sesame and other accessories to the dumpling).

The dye can be used as a natural plant dye.

Mugwort dyeing also has functional effects.

Distribution

Mainly distributed in eastern Asia, such as the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Mongolia. It is distributed in Northeast my country, North China, East China, Southwest China, Shaanxi and Gansu. It is highly adaptable and commonly grows in roadside wilderness and grasslands. It will grow wherever it faces the sun and has good drainage, but it grows best in moist and fertile soil.

Cultivation Points

Currently, the mugwort produced in Langxi County is processed and exported to Japan, where it is used for food. The main purpose of growth is to harvest fresh plant heads and leaves. In production, vegetative propagation is mainly carried out by rhizomes and divisions, but seeds can also be used for propagation. Generally, seed propagation is carried out in March, and rhizome propagation is carried out in November. The width of the border is about 1.5 meters, and the middle of the border is high and the two sides are low like a "fish back" shape to avoid water accumulation and disease. Before sowing, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied. Generally, 4,000 kilograms of decomposed farmyard manure should be applied per 667 m2, and the soil should be thoroughly plowed evenly. After rowing, sufficient base water should be poured.

The rhizomes that have overwintered on the ground begin to germinate in early March every year, and the first crop is harvested in late April. 11,250 to 15,000 kilograms of fresh products are harvested per hectare per crop, and 4 to 5 crops are harvested each year. A certain amount of top dressing must be applied after each harvest. The top dressing is mainly decomposed thin human and animal manure, appropriately mixed with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Keep the soil moist during production. The company's purchase contract price is 0.65 yuan per kilogram, and the average farmer's net income per hectare is about 22,500 yuan. The processed mugwort and mugwort tea produced in Langxi County are exported to Japan. The county has a lot of hilly land, and it is difficult to obtain water for rice production. Therefore, producing mugwort on the hilly land not only increases the economic income of farmers, but also increases the land vegetation, which has certain economic and ecological benefits.

Mugwort production in Langxi County has a history of ten years, with 6 existing varieties and a production area of ??100 hectares. According to the needs of enterprise development, it is now planned to build an additional 200 hectares of mugwort production base and expand the processing lines to meet the needs of expanding the Japanese market and some domestic markets.

First prepare the dry glutinous rice powder. The finer the grinding, the better. Prepare more mugwort, appropriate amounts of sesame and peanuts, appropriate amounts of lard, appropriate amounts of yellow sugar and white sugar, and some grapefruit leaves or banana leaves.

After washing the mugwort with clean water, put it into a large pot and boil it. Add a little soda powder and cook together. This will make the mugwort easy to boil. After the mugwort is cooked, take it out and then Rinse with clean water, then squeeze dry and set aside.

Wash the peanuts and sesame seeds, put them into a pot and stir-fry until fragrant, then put them into a blender and grind them until ready. Chop the yellow sugar and add it to the peanut and sesame filling. Then add appropriate lard and white sugar and stir. After evenly mixing, make the filling for moxa cake and set aside.

Put an appropriate amount of yellow sugar into a pot and boil it until it becomes watery. Then put the glutinous rice flour into a large basin, add the brown sugar water and processed mugwort, and knead together for as long as possible. Mugwort can be fully mixed with glutinous rice flour. Do not add too much water at one time. Add it slowly, because mugwort also contains water. The kneaded dough should be neither dry nor wet, just like making buns. .

Grab a ball of dough, knead it into a round shape, dig a hole in the middle, fill it with sesame and peanut filling, then wrap it gently, then knead it into a round shape, put grapefruit leaves in the steamer, and put it into a round shape. Apply a layer of peanut oil on the surface of the good moxa glutinous rice cake, then gently place it on the grapefruit leaves, put it on the stove and steam it for 20 minutes.

Moxa Rong

The main material used in moxibustion. Made from the dried leaves of mugwort, a plant in the Asteraceae family. It is gray in color, soft as velvet, flammable without flames, has a fragrant smell, and is suitable for moxibustion. Depending on the degree of processing, there are different thicknesses. The thicker ones are mostly used to warm needles or make moxa sticks, while the thinner ones are mostly used to make moxa sticks. The texture is better when aged.

Bingtai

An alias for Ai. See "Erya·Shicao". "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Lu Dian's "Piya" says: "Natural History" says to cut ice to make a round shape, hold it toward the sun, and use moxa to support its shadow to get fire. So moxa is named Bingtai, why is it so?" It means that ice can be made into a convex mirror to focus light in the sun to make fire, and moxa can be placed underneath it, hence the name.

This species is a poisonous plant included in the Chinese Plant Atlas Database. Its toxicity is that the whole plant contains volatile oil, which is irritating to the skin and can cause local heating and flushing. After skin absorption, it can paralyze the peripheral nerves of the limbs; Oral administration can irritate the throat and gastrointestinal tract, causing dry throat, gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, vomiting and other reactions, as well as dizziness, tinnitus, tremors of limbs, spasm, delirium, convulsions, and even paralysis. Ai poisoning can cause metabolic disorders of liver cells and cause jaundice hepatitis.

Mugwort oil can prolong the sleep time of pentobarbital sodium, and large doses have inhibitory effects on the heart. The LD50 of mice after oral administration is 2.47ml/kg, and the LD50 after intraperitoneal injection is 1.12m1/kg [17]. The medicinal use of mugwort leaves should not exceed 10g, and the lethal dose to humans is 100g

mugwort leaves can be used to treat gynecological disease fungal vaginitis: boil it slowly with water, put the boiling soup and dregs in a small bucket, and then Put something to sit on the small bucket and steam it directly for half an hour. The water must be boiled as much as possible, the windows must be closed securely, and the person must be sweating profusely.