What are the benefits and effects of garden balsam?

Garden balsam contains large amounts of flavonoids, naphthoquinones, coumarins, sterols and other components. It has anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal effects. Garden balsam is often used in flower beds and flower borders, or planted in clumps or mass plantings in gardens; it can also be grown in pots for ornamental display.

Ornamental value

Garden balsam resembles a crane's crest or a colorful phoenix, with graceful posture and charming beauty. The fragrant and gaudy red garden balsam and the delicate jade-green garden balsam both open in the morning, which is the best time to appreciate garden balsam. Because its flower colors and varieties are extremely rich, garden balsam is a commonly used material for beautifying flower beds and flower borders; it can be planted in clumps, in mass plantings and in pots, and can also be used as a cut flower for water cultivation.

Edible value

Garden balsam is cultivated in all provinces north and south of China. When people boil meat or stew fish, they add a few garden balsam seeds, making the meat easy to soften and the bones easy to tenderize, with a distinctive flavor. The tender leaves of garden balsam can be blanched in water and then dressed with oil and salt as a cold dish.

Medicinal value

Garden balsam is a famous traditional Chinese medicine. Its flowers are used medicinally to invigorate the blood and reduce swelling, and to treat traumatic injuries. Applying the flowers externally can treat tinea manuum, and can also remove body odor; the seeds are decocted into a paste and applied externally to treat numbness and soreness. It invigorates the blood and unblocks menstruation, dispels wind and eliminates dampness; invigorates the blood and relieves pain; detoxifies and kills parasites. It mainly treats weakness and disability of the limbs due to wind-dampness; pain in the waist and hypochondrium; abdominal pain due to amenorrhea in women; incomplete discharge of postpartum blood stasis; traumatic injuries; fractures; carbuncles, abscesses and sores; venomous snake bites; leukorrhea; tinea manuum; and onychomycosis. It invigorates the blood and unblocks menstruation, dispels wind and relieves pain, and is used externally for detoxification. It is used for amenorrhea, traumatic injuries, blood stasis swelling and pain, rheumatoid arthritis, carbuncles, boils and furuncles, snake bites, and tinea manuum.

In folk practice, its flowers and leaves are commonly used to dye fingernails; after dyeing, the nails are bright in color, and the color can last for a good month. The stems and seeds are used medicinally. The stems are called “garden balsam stem” and have the effects of dispelling wind-dampness, invigorating the blood and relieving pain, and are used to treat rheumatic joint pain and difficulty in flexion and extension; the seeds are called “garden balsam seed” and have the effects of softening hardness and reducing accumulation, and are used to treat dysphagia, fish bones stuck in the throat, abdominal masses, and amenorrhea.