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| Latin: |
Herba Agastachis |
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| Origin: |
Agastache is the part above the ground of the perennial plant Agastache rugosa (Fisch. et C. A. Mey.) Kuntze, or Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth., of the Lamiaceae/Labiatae family. Native to east Asia, the plant is grown on grassy places in mountains, especially by streams, and in valleys all over China, Japan, Korea and Siberia.
The perennial plant grows to about 1 m by 0.6 m. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen in September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees. It is noted for attracting wildlife. The plant cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.
In China, agastache is mainly produced in the southern province Guangdong. Reaped in summer and autumn when the branches and leaves are in their utmost luxuriance, the stem is cut into lengths when fresh for use or dried in the air for use when raw.
Also called Wrinkled Gianthyssop, or Korean Mint. |
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| Properties: |
| Pungent in flavor, slightly warm in nature, it is related to the spleen, stomach and lung channels. |
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| Functions: |
Resolves dampness, relieves summer-heat and arrests vomiting.
Agastache is commonly used in Chinese herbalism, where it is considered to be one of the 50 fundamental herbs. Considered to be a "warming" herb, it is used in situations where there is "dampness" within the digestive system, resulting in poor digestion and reduced vitality.
In addition, young fresh leaves with their strong anise-like fragrance are normally used as a flavoring or as an addition to the salad bowl.
The grown leaves can be used as a tea substitute for their pleasant flavor. |
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| Applications: |
1. To treat syndromes of retention of dampness in the spleen and stomach:
This herb is always used together with Chinese atractylodes rhizome (Rhizoma Atractylodis), official magnolia bark, etc., e.g., buhuanjin Zhengqi San, for the treatment of such ailments as feeling of distress in the epigastrium and abdomen, nausea with poor appetite, mental and physical fatigue, etc., due to the retention of turbid dampness in the interior and the obstruction of qi in the spleen and stomach.
2. To treat initial attacks of diseases caused by pathogenic summer-heat and dampness and damp-warm syndromes:
a) Chills and fever, nausea and vomiting, etc.:
This herb is used in combination with purple perilla, official magnolia bark, pinellia tuber, etc., e.g., Huoxiang Zhengqi San, for the treatment of chills and fever, headache and abdominal distention as well as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea due to affection by exogenous wind-cold in summer months and internal injuries caused by raw and cold food.
b) Initial attacks of damp-warm syndromes mainly caused by warmth and heat:
This herb is mostly used together with skullcap root (Radix Scutellariae), talcum, capillary artemisia (Herba Artemisia Scopariae), etc., e.g., Ganlu Xiaodu Dan.
3. To treat vomiting:
a) Vomiting caused by the retention of dampness in the spleen and stomach:
It is often used in combination with pinellia tuber.
b) Vomiting mainly caused by pathogenic cold-dampness:
It can be used in combination with cloves, round cardamom, etc.
c) Vomiting mainly caused by pathogenic damp-heat:
It is used in combination with Chinese goldthread rhizome (Rhizoma Coptidis), bamboo shavings, etc.
d) Vomiting during pregnancy:
It is used in combination with amomum, purple perilla stem, etc.
e) Vomiting due to weakness of the spleen and stomach:
It is used in combination with dangshen (Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae), largehead atractylodes rhizome (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae), etc. |
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| Dosage and Administration: |
5-10 g.
Decoct agastache for oral administration. |
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| Cautions on Use: |
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| Reference Materials: |
Illustrated Classic of Materia Medica : "This is the most important herb for the treatment of vomiting and regurgitation caused by weakness of the spleen and stomach."
Original Explanations of Materia Medica : "Being aromatic but not too violent and warm but not too hot, the wrinkled gianthyssop or cablin patchouli can dispel pathogenic dampness and assist primordial qi, so it is the swiftest herb for the relief of any disease with such symptoms as the disturbance of spleen-yang due to dampness, lassitude, poor appetite and filthy and turbid tongue coating." |
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| Toxic or Side Effects: |
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| Modern Researches: |
Agastache contains an essential oil (volatile oil) with patchouli alcohol and pogostol as its main ingredients.
For self protection, the outer skin (bark) of many plants contains essential oil, which in turn has elements that serve as an immediate chemical defense against herbivores and pathogens. How? There is an element called hydroxynitrile glucoside in essential oil. This element will release toxic hydrogen cyanide by endogenous plant glucosidase upon tissue disruption (see Anne Vinther Morant, Kirsten Jorgensen, Charlotte Jorgensen, Suzanne Michelle Paquette, Raquel Sanchez-Perez, Birger Lindberg Moller, and Soren Bak, "beta-Glucosidases as Detonators of Plant Chemical Defense," Phytochemistry Vol. 69, Issue 9 (June 2008), pp. 1,795-1,813).
Glucosidase is a catalyzing enzyme that improves healthy functions of our body. It is a lipase that decomposes fat; it can also check inflammation and improve memory (see Mikako Sakurai, Masayuki Sekiguchi, Ko Zushida, Kazuyuki Yamada, Satoshi Nagamine, Tomohiro Kabuta and Keiji Wada, "Reduction in memory in passive avoidance learning, exploratory behaviour and synaptic plasticity in mice with a spontaneous deletion in the ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 gene," European Journal of Neuroscience Vol. 27, Issue 3 (February 2008), pp. 691-701).
The essential oil can also promote the secretion of gastric juices, enhance digestive power and relieve the stomach and intestines of spasms. It has preservative and antibacterial effects. In addition, it is so astringent as to relieve diarrhea and slightly diaphoretic. It can dilate capillaries.
The leaf of the wrinkled agastache can induce diuresis and its stem can regulate the spleen and stomach. The leaf is also used in the treatment of chest congestion, diarrhoea and headaches. An infusion of the leaves is used in the treatment of spasmodic attacks of intense suffocative pains of the mouth or throat.
The fresh wrinkled agastache has rather great summer-heat-relieving power. Decoct this herb for drinking as tea in summer and use as a summer-heat-relieving drink.
The leaves and stems are antibacterial, antifungal, aromatic, carminative (expelling gas from the alimentary canal so as to relieve colic or griping), diaphoretic (having the power to increase perspiration), febrifuge (reduces fever) and stomachic.
The plant is used as a folk remedy for cancer, extracts of the plant have shown anticancer activity. |
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