What are the medicinal values of plantain? A full analysis of its effects and benefits

Plantain has high medicinal value and can treat many diseases. Some friends may not yet be particularly familiar with the medicinal value of plantain, so today I will give a brief introduction for everyone. Let us take a look together.

Related information about plantain

Plantain, also known as wheel vegetable, pig tripe vegetable, gray basin grass, cartwheel vegetable, toad leaf, etc., mostly grows in mountain wilds, roadsides, flower gardens, riversides and other places. The rhizome is shortened and thick, densely covered with fibrous roots. The leaves all grow from the root, the leaf blade is smooth, broadly ovate, with wavy edges and occasionally inconspicuous blunt teeth, with five main veins that bulge toward the back of the leaf, extending in rib-like form into the petiole, and the leaf blade is often the same length as the petiole.

Annual or biennial herb. Taproot long, with many lateral roots, more or less fleshy. Rhizome short. Leaves basal, rosette-shaped, lying flat, slanting or upright; leaf blade papery, elliptical, elliptically lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 3-12 cm long, 1-3.5 cm wide, apex acute or slightly blunt, margin with shallow wavy blunt teeth, irregular serrations or teeth, base broadly cuneate to narrowly cuneate, decurrent to the petiole, veins 5-7, slightly sunken above, obviously raised on the back, both sides sparsely covered with white short soft hairs; petiole 2-6 cm long, base enlarged into a sheath shape. Inflorescences 3-10 or more; peduncle 5-18 cm long, with longitudinal stripes, sparsely covered with white short soft hairs; spike slender cylindrical, dense in the upper part, often interrupted at the base, 6-12 cm long; bracts triangular-ovate, 2-3.5 mm long, concave, hairless, keel broad and thick, wider than the lateral lobes, not extending or extending to the apex.

The medicinal value of plantain

1. Plantain has a long history of treating eye diseases. The Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji once wrote the poem "Reply to Wei Kaizhou Who Sent Plantain Seeds": "Kaizhou's midday plantain seeds, used as medicine everyone says they are divine. Ashamed that you, sir, pity my sick eyes, sending them more than three thousand li to an idle person." This was to thank a friend for specially sending him plantain seeds gathered at midday from Kaizhou, more than three thousand li away.

2. Plantain is slightly cold in nature, smooth and downward-draining in quality. In clinical practice it is often combined with akebia stem, talc and the like for conditions such as damp-heat pouring downward and painful, dribbling urination. It can also be combined with prepared rehmannia, cinnamon, aconite, achyranthes and the like for the treatment of excess patterns such as edema due to kidney deficiency.

3. Plantain can promote water and dampness, separate the clear from the turbid and stop diarrhea, that is, by promoting urination to firm the stool, it is suitable for treating watery diarrhea caused by excessive dampness. It is often used for summerheat-dampness diarrhea. For mild cases, it can be used alone, with plantain ground into powder and taken with rice gruel; for more severe cases, it can be combined with poria, polyporus, alisma, coix seed and the like.

How to eat plantain

1. Cold-dressed plantain

1. Preparation: young plants and tender shoots of plantain from spring and summer, and various seasonings;

2. The first step is the same as for plantain dumplings: wash clean, blanch until cooked, air-dry, and chop;

3. After putting the plantain into a bowl, add an appropriate amount of salt, monosodium glutamate, mashed garlic, vinegar, sesame oil, Sichuan pepper oil and other seasonings.

2. Stir-fried plantain

1. Preparation: young plants and tender shoots of plantain from spring and summer, chopped scallions, garlic slices, Sichuan pepper;

2. Remove the impurities from the plantain, wash clean, blanch until cooked, and air-dry;

3. Heat oil in a wok, sauté Sichuan pepper, chopped scallions and garlic slices until fragrant, add the air-dried plantain and stir-fry quickly, and it is ready to serve once evenly stir-fried.

3. Plantain dumplings

1. Preparation: young plants and tender shoots of plantain from spring and summer, meat filling, and various seasonings;

2. Clean and wash the collected young plants and tender shoots of plantain, blanch them in boiling water until cooked, then set aside, chop, and air-dry the moisture for later use;

3. Add seasonings to the meat filling and the air-dried plantain and mix evenly, and then the dumpling filling is ready;

4. This method is also suitable for making stuffed pancakes and steamed buns, all using similar methods.

That is all for the related introduction to the medicinal value of plantain. I believe that after reading it, everyone has gained some understanding of plantain. If any friends want to eat plantain, you can refer to the related knowledge points I have introduced for you.