The Efficacy and Effects of Wuzhimaotao, a Famous Lingnan Herb, Plus Who Should Avoid It and Soup Pairings

Wuzhimaotao, also called rough-leaf fig, Sanlongzhua, Yaya, Wuzhualong, or Wuzhi milk, is a herbaceous plant. Although it cannot be eaten directly, Wuzhimaotao is often consumed as a medicinal herb, and it is especially added during cooking to help us achieve more health-preserving and wellness benefits. So what are the efficacy and effects of Wuzhimaotao? What can it be cooked into soup with?

Wuzhimaotao belongs to the Moraceae family and is not a peach. It is widely distributed mainly on mountains in the Hakka areas of Meizhou in eastern Guangdong, growing naturally in deep mountains and secluded valleys. It gets its name because its leaves look like five fingers, the leaf blades are covered with fine hairs, and the fruit resembles a wild peach when ripe. The soup made from it tastes similar to the aroma of coconut, and it is deeply loved by everyone. Wuzhimaotao is distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places, with the largest artificially cultivated area in Heyuan, Guangdong.

The Efficacy and Effects of Wuzhimaotao

Wuzhimaotao is a commonly used herbal medicine in Lingnan. The root of the Moraceae fig genus plant rough-leaf fig is used as medicine. It is neutral in nature and sweet and pungent in taste. It has the effects of strengthening the spleen and tonifying the lungs, promoting diuresis and relaxing the sinews. It is used for symptoms such as spleen deficiency with edema, poor appetite and weakness, pulmonary tuberculosis with cough, night sweats, rheumatic arthralgia, and no milk production after childbirth. In addition, Wuzhimaotao is also a plant that serves as both food and medicine, and is used among the people in Guangdong for making soup. In recent years, this valuable plant resource, Wuzhimaotao, has attracted great attention from pharmaceutical researchers, and research into its chemical components, pharmacological activity and other aspects has continued to deepen. It has been confirmed that psoralen is one of the main active components of Wuzhimaotao, with effects such as antibacterial, antiviral, anticoagulant, tumor-inhibiting and immune-regulating actions.

1. Strengthening the spleen and tonifying the lungs

Wuzhimaotao is neutral in nature and sweet and pungent in taste. It has the effect of strengthening the spleen and tonifying the lungs, and can strengthen the spleen and resolve dampness, boost qi and secure the exterior. It can be used to treat symptoms such as poor appetite, indigestion, and poor food intake with weakness, as well as to treat symptoms such as lung deficiency cough, asthma, and coughing with phlegm.

2. Promoting qi and draining dampness

Wuzhimaotao can strengthen the spleen to resolve dampness and tonify the lungs to promote qi. It mainly treats symptoms such as edema due to spleen deficiency, ascites due to cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis.

3. Relaxing the sinews and activating the collaterals

Wuzhimaotao can resolve dampness and promote qi and relax the sinews and dredge the collaterals. It can be used to treat symptoms such as rheumatic arthralgia, rheumatoid arthritis, waist and leg pain, intercostal neuralgia, traumatic injuries, and fractures.

4. Improving immunity

(1) Psoralen is one of the main active components of Wuzhimaotao and has effects such as antibacterial, antiviral, anticoagulant, tumor-inhibiting and immune-regulating actions.

(2) Wuzhimaotao can significantly increase the carbon clearance index, thymus and spleen weight indices, and serum hemolysin levels in mice with cyclophosphamide-induced immune dysfunction, showing that Wuzhimaotao has a regulatory effect on immune function and can improve the body's immune function.

5. Relieving cough

When the decoction, ethanol extract, and water extract of the residue after ethanol reflux of Wuzhimaotao root were administered by gavage to mice, each showed a clear cough-relieving effect on cough induced by ammonia water spray.

Who Should Avoid Wuzhimaotao

Wuzhimaotao strengthens the spleen and nourishes it, tonifies qi, removes dampness, and relieves cough. Generally, anyone can consume it, and men and women, young and old, can consume it in spring, summer, autumn or winter.

Precautions

While taking Wuzhimaotao, pay attention to the following points:

1. Maintain good daily routines and try to avoid staying up late.

2. Eat less spicy or irritating food.

3. Actively take part in outdoor exercise and relax your mood.

4. Do not put too much pressure on yourself, and learn to relieve stress reasonably.

What Can Wuzhimaotao Be Cooked into Soup With?

Wuzhimaotao is a commonly used soup ingredient among Cantonese people. Soup made with Wuzhimaotao has a coconut-milk aroma and tastes very good. Besides Wuzhimaotao chicken soup, pork bone, pigeon, and pig trotter are all fairly common pairings. For different effects, you can also add medicinal herbs such as Tufuling or Niudali to enhance the effects of removing dampness or strengthening the sinews and bones.

1. Wuzhimaotao Keel Bone Soup

Ingredients: 500g keel bone, 200g Wuzhimaotao

Method: Prepare the Wuzhimaotao and keel bone; put the Wuzhimaotao and keel bone into the inner pot and add water; put the inner pot into the electric pressure cooker; after 50 minutes, wait for the pressure to release completely, open the lid, and the fragrant Wuzhimaotao keel bone soup is ready.

2. Wuzhimaotao Pork Bone Soup

Ingredients: Wuzhimaotao, Tufuling, pork bone, appropriate amount of salt

Method: Wash the Wuzhimaotao and Tufuling and soak for fifteen minutes; chop the pork spine into pieces, wash, blanch in water and remove; bring clean water to a boil, add all ingredients, cook over high heat for 20 minutes, then turn to low heat and simmer for one and a half hours, add salt to season and it is ready to drink.

3. Wuzhimaotao Chicken Soup

Ingredients: 45--60 grams of Wuzhimaotao root, 1 dressed chicken, 200 grams of lean meat, 3 slices of ginger.

Method: Remove the internal organs from an old hen, clean it thoroughly inside and out, then cut into large pieces. After washing the lean meat, also cut it into large pieces. Pour clean water into a pot, heat over high heat until boiling, first add the lean meat and blanch it, skim off the foam, continue cooking for 3 minutes, then remove. Then put the chicken pieces into the pot and blanch for 3 minutes, remove, and rinse the surface foam with clean water. Rinse the Wuzhimaotao, soak it in clean water for 10 minutes, then wash away surface impurities. Put the blanched chicken pieces and lean meat into the pot, add enough clean water, bring to a boil over high heat, skim off any foam that may form again, then add candied dates, goji berries and Wuzhimaotao, cover with a lid, turn to low heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add salt to season before eating.