Chinese medicine name cardamom doukou
Alias cardamom, cardamom, cardamom nut, more bones, shell cardamom.
English name AmomiFructusRotundus
SourceThe ripe fruit of the Javanese cardamom AmomumcompactumSolandexMaton. in the ginger family.
Plant Form Perennial tufted herb. Rootstock creeping, stout. Leaves distichous, leaf sheath margins papery or membranous, glabrous; ligule apex rounded, glabrous; several sessile; leaf blade lanceolate, apex caudate-acuminate, base cuneate, both surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences drawn from rhizomes, often semi-covered in soil; inflorescences obovate to obconical, earthy yellow, apex rounded to flat-truncated; bracts elliptic, papery, margins thin, sparsely villous, surfaces with concave longitudinal veins of 10-15, apex obtuse; flowers inserted in axils of bracts; bracteoles white, tubular; calyx tubular, white, exterior puberulent, apex 3-toothed and cleft; corolla tubes slightly longer than calyx tubes, white, narrowly ellipsoid; Labellum oblong to obovate, white, apex rounded or nearly truncate, midrib slightly thickened, apex often orange; lateral staminodes, subulate; filaments broad and furrowed, connective appendages 3-lobed; nectaries 2, semiterete; ovary inferior, hairy. Capsule earthy yellow or interspersed with brownish red, subglobose, 3-angled, pilose, apex obtuse-acuminate, perianth persistent. Seeds polygonal, brownish red, fragrant. Flowering throughout the year, blooming from April to June, fruiting from July to August.
Originally distributed in ravines or shady places under forests. China mostly cultivated in open forests or under the shade. Native to Indonesia. Now China's Hainan is cultivated.
Harvesting and processing in July to August when the fruit is about to be yellow ripe but not cracked collection of ears, to remove the residual perianth and fruit stalks and then sun-dried; or then bleached with sulfur fumigation, so that the pericarp is yellowish-white.
The herb is spherical in shape. Surface yellow-white to yellowish brown, with deep longitudinal grooves, apical stylopodium protruding, the base has a concave fruit stalk scar, both ends with light brown hairs. The pericarp is light, brittle, and easily split longitudinally. The seeds are irregularly polyhedral, slightly elevated abaxially, with a dark brown surface, wrinkled and covered with residual aril. Aromatic, pungent flavor slightly camphor-like. Indonesian cardamom is slightly smaller, yellow-white surface, some slightly purple-brown, thinner pericarp, thin and shriveled seeds, odor is weaker.
These are warm and pungent in flavor. It is also used in the treatment of the spleen and stomach meridians.
Effects and Uses: Resolving dampness and eliminating lumps, promoting circulation of qi and warmth in the middle, appetizing and eliminating food. It is used to remove dampness and eliminate lumps, promote circulation of Qi and warmth in the body, and promote appetite and digestion.
Clinical application dosage of 3-6 grams, into the decoction should be after the next; or into the pill, bulk. It is used for treating dampness and turbidity obstruction, not thinking of food, dampness and warmth at the beginning, chest stuffiness, cold and dampness vomiting, chest and abdominal distension and pain, and accumulation of food does not go away. 3 qian of cardamom kernel, minced, sent down with wine to treat cold stomach for vomiting and pain ("Chishui Xuanzhu").
Pharmacological studies on experimental tuberculosis in guinea pigs can enhance the therapeutic effect of small doses of dihydrostreptomycin.
Chemical composition of the main volatile oil, also contains eucalyptus oil extract, a-pinene, p-pinene, camphor, lauric acid, eugenol and so on.
Contraindications for use Yin deficiency and blood dryness is prohibited.
Related remedies ① for stomach and abdominal distension, vomiting: 3 grams of nutmeg, 6 grams of patchouli, 4.5 grams each of half-summer and Chenpi, 6 grams of ginger. Take with water. ("National Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicine")
② treatment of cold stomach for a long time er: Shen Xiang, cardamom, Su Ye 3 grams each, on the **** for the end. Each serving 2.1 grams, persimmon soup. ("Shou Shi secret code")
3 treatment of vomiting in pregnancy: 3 grams of nutmeg, 9 grams of bamboo, 3 jujube. The ginger will be crushed to take the juice, take 3 medicine decoction to take 1 teacup (50 ~ 60 ml), filter, punch ginger juice to serve. [Wuhan Medicine and Health 1959, (3): 288]
4 Treatment of post-partum eruption: 15 grams each of cardamom and cloves. Finely ground. Peach kernel soup to take 3 grams, a few moments and then take. (Qiankun Secret Suspension)
Options for a spherical seed mass, 1.5 to 2.7 cm in diameter. gray-brown surface, yellowish-white septum in the middle, the seed mass is divided into 3 petals, each petal has a majority of seeds, adhering to the tight, slightly smooth seed mass. Seeds are ovoid polyhedral, 3-5mm long, about 3mm in diameter, covered with light brown membranous aril, 1 longitudinal groove on the back of the seed, one end of the umbilicus; hard texture, longitudinal dissection of the seeds along the back of the two longitudinal section of the oblique heart-shaped, the seed coat along the seed ridge inward into the part of the whole surface area of about 1/2; endosperm gray-white. Aromatic, taste pungent, slightly bitter.