Source
Fruit of Arctium lappa L., family Compositae
Characteristics
Achene
long-ovate, flat-truncate at both ends, grey-brown, marked by purple-black
spots and 5-8 longitudinal ridges, with fruit stalk traces at the broader
end. Acrid and bitter in taste, cold in nature, and attributive to lung
and stomach channels.
Indication
Expel wind and heat, eliminate the phlegm and relieve cough, let out the
skin eruption and alleviate itching, ease the throat and clear away the
toxic materials: For common cold and cough of wind-heat type, usually
used together with Herba Menthae, Radix Piatycodi, Radix Glycyrrhizae,
etc.; also for eruptive diseases with incomplete eruption, pharyngitis
and skin infection.
Pharmacological
Action
I. Its extract exerts a significant and prolonged effect of lowering blood
sugar in rats.
2. Mildly diuretic and laxative.
3. An active component, arctiin, can induce tonic convulsion, feeble respiration
and eventually paralysis in frogs, mice and rabbits.
Administration Decoction: 3-10g.