Morphological Characteristics and Benefits of Kudzu Root Explained
Kudzu root comes from the vine plant known as wild kudzu (Pueraria montana). Kudzu flowers contain more than ten kinds of amino acids and more than ten kinds of trace elements needed by the human body. Next, let us take a look at the morphological characteristics and benefits of kudzu root.
Kudzu is a stout vine, reaching up to 8 m in length, entirely covered with long yellow stiff hairs, with a woody base on the stem and thick, blocky roots. The pinnately compound leaves have 3 leaflets; the stipules are dorsifixed, ovate-oblong, with lines; the small stipules are linear-lanceolate, equal in length to or longer than the petiolules; the leaflets are three-lobed, occasionally entire, the terminal leaflet broadly ovate or obliquely ovate, 8-15 (-19) cm long and 5-12 (-18) cm wide, with a long acuminate tip, the lateral leaflets obliquely ovate, slightly smaller, the upper surface covered with pale yellow, appressed sparse pubescence, the lower surface more densely so; the petiolules are covered with yellowish-brown down.
The raceme is 15-30 cm long, with fairly densely arranged flowers above the middle; the bracts are linear-lanceolate to linear, much longer than the bracteoles, and fall early; the bracteoles are ovate, less than 2 mm long; the flowers are borne 2-3 together at the nodes of the inflorescence axis; the calyx is bell-shaped, 8-10 mm long, covered with yellowish-brown pubescence, the lobes lanceolate, acuminate, slightly longer than the calyx tube; the corolla is 10-12 mm long, purple, the standard petal obovate, with 2 auricles at the base and a yellow scabrous callosity, with a short claw, the wings falcate, narrower than the keel, with linear, downward-pointing auricles at the base, the keel falcate-oblong, with very small, acute auricles at the base; the stamen opposite the standard petal is free only in its upper part; the ovary is linear, covered with hairs.
[Properties and Characteristics]This product is pungent, sweet and cool in nature, tends to rise and disperse, and acts on the spleen and stomach. It is not only good at dispersing pathogenic qi from the muscles, interstices, meridians and collaterals to release the exterior, promote sweating and reduce fever, making it a key herb for treating stiffness and pain of the neck and back; it is also good at invigorating the clear yang qi of the spleen and stomach to rise upward, with the effects of promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, raising yang and stopping diarrhea, and promoting the eruption of rashes and toxins.
[Benefits]Releases the muscles and reduces fever, promotes rash eruption, generates fluids and quenches thirst, raises yang and stops diarrhea.
[Indications]① Externally contracted exterior syndromes, with stiffness and pain of the neck and back. ② Incomplete eruption of rashes at the early stage of measles. ③ Thirst and restlessness in febrile diseases, and wasting-thirst syndrome. ④ Early stages of damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery, and diarrhea due to spleen deficiency.
[Dosage and Usage]For stopping diarrhea, it should be used simmered; for reducing fever and generating fluids, it should be used raw.
[Compatibility]Raw kudzu root combined with Scutellaria baicalensis and Coptis chinensis: the three herbs used together not only clear heat, dry dampness and resolve toxins, but also vent heat, raise yang and stop diarrhea, and are chiefly used for the early stage of damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery.
What Effects Do Kudzu Flowers Have
One of the effects and benefits of kudzu flowers is lowering blood pressure. Bioflavonoids have been the first-choice medicine used by major hospitals from ancient times to the present for preventing and treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The bioflavonoids contained in kudzu flowers are a component unique to kudzu flowers, known as puerarin; they have the effects of purifying the blood, softening blood vessels and unblocking blood vessels. At present, they are widely used in major hospitals across the country, all without toxic or side effects.
Side Effects of Kudzu Flowers
"Ben Jing Feng Yuan" says: Kudzu flowers can relieve alcohol toxicity, and when used in Gehua Jiecheng Tang, ginseng must also be included. However, people without alcohol toxicity must not take them, as taking them damages one's primordial qi, because they strongly open the muscles and cause discharge that injures the fluids. That is to say, people without the corresponding ailment who take them are prone to damaging their vital qi and consuming fluids, and long-term use can cause a frail state of dual deficiency of qi and yin.
The above is all the content I have summarized for you on the morphological characteristics and benefits of kudzu root. I hope this article can help everyone. Please also continue to follow us.