What is Bai Zhu?

Bai Zhu (scientific name:
Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz.), which is also called
Atractylodes Macrocephala or
Atractylodes Rhizoma, is a perennial herb of the genus Atractylodes, up to 60 cm high, with nodular rhizomes. Stems erect, all smooth and glabrous. Alternate leaves, pinnatisect leaves, side lobes oblanceolate, oval or oblong, top lobe larger than side lobes, all leaves are thin, papery, green on both sides, glabrous, capitulum solitary stem The top of the branches, the bracts are green, needle-like and pinnatifid. Involucre broadly bell-shaped, apex purple-red. The achene is obconic, and blooms and bears fruit in August-October.
Atractylodes Macrocephala
Atractylodes Macrocephala is sweet to invigorate oozing benefits, bitter to warm and dry, enters the spleen and stomach meridians, and is mainly used for warming, tonifying and strengthening the body, and can also dispel water and dampness. It is good at invigorating qi and invigorating the spleen, dampness and diuresis, antiperspirant, anti-pregnancy, and treats spleen-stomach qi deficiency, spleen-deficiency edema, phlegm retention, surface deficiency spontaneous sweating and fetal restlessness. There is little difference in performance between raw and stir-fried. After stir-frying, it has a strong ability to nourish the spleen, and when used raw, it has a strong ability to remove dampness. It is similar to Astragalus in invigorating qi, solidifying the surface, and diuresis. Although the power is slightly slower, it is better than dampness and preventing miscarriage.
Types of Bai Zhu
Zhe Bai Zhu
The cultivars produced in Pan'an, Xinchang, Shengxian, Dongyang and other places in Zhejiang Province are called "Zhe Bai Zhu", which is characterized by a relatively plump shape, thick and short " Zhu legs", and swollen "cloud head".
Pingjiang Zhu
Among the Baizhu produced in Hunan, Pingjiang is the most famous, so it is called "Pingjiang Zhu ".
Hui Zhu
Bai Zhu produced in Anhui is called "Hui Zhu " or "Zong Zhu". Hui Zhu is characterized by more tumor-like bumps. In the past, "planting surgery" was divided into large species, small species, button surgery and other commodities.
Growth environment of Bai Zhu

Baizhu is distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan in China, it is cultivated, but wild in Jiangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Sichuan, wild in hillside grasslands and hillside forests.
Baizhu likes cool climates, and is afraid of high temperature and high humidity environments. It is not strict with soil requirements, but slightly acidic, alkaline and light clay soils with good drainage and deep soil layers are preferred. In the plain area, the land with loose soil and medium fertility should be selected. If the soil is too fertile, the seedlings grow too vigorously, and they are prone to bolting and flowering in the same year, which affects the medicinal quality. In mountainous areas, you can choose thicker soil layers and land with a certain slope for planting.
Processing methods of Bai Zhu
Collection and processing
In winter, when the lower leaves are yellow and the upper leaves are brittle, they are excavated, removed from the sediment, dried or sun-dried, and then the fibrous roots are removed.
Processing method
Bai Zhu
Take the raw medicinal materials, remove impurities, moisten thoroughly with water, cut into thick slices, and dry. Sift to remove crumbs.
Soil Stir-fried Bai Zhu
Put the soil in the pot first, heat it with medium heat, and fry until the soil is flexible, then put in Atractylodes macrocephala slices. Stir-fry until the surface of Atractylodes macrocephala is evenly covered with soil powder, take it out, sieve off the soil powder, and let it cool. For every 100kg of Atractylodes macrocephala tablets, 25kg of stove core soil is used.
Bai Zhu TCM

Medicine part
The dry rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz.
Taste
Bitter, sweet, warm.
Tropism
Return spleen, stomach warp.
Effect
Invigorating the spleen and replenishing qi, drying dampness and diuresis, antiperspirant, antiabortive.
Attending
For insufficiency of the spleen, lack of food, abdominal distension and diarrhea, dizziness and palpitation due to phlegm and retention, edema, spontaneous sweating, restless fetal movement. Tubaizhu strengthens the spleen, harmonizes the stomach and relieves miscarriage. For insufficiency of the spleen, lack of food, diarrhea and loose stool, restless fetal movement.
Dosage
6~12g.
Notice
Contraindicated in patients with yin deficiency, dryness, thirst, qi stagnation, distension and depression.
Traits and characteristics
Bai Zhu is an irregular hypertrophic mass with a length of 3-13 cm and a diameter of 1.5-7 cm. The surface is gray-yellow or gray-brown, with tumor-like protrusions, intermittent longitudinal wrinkles and grooves, fibrous root scars, and residual stem base and bud scars on the top. The texture is hard and not easy to break, the cross-section is uneven, yellow-white to light brown, with scattered brown-yellow dot-like oil chambers; the cross-section of the dried one is horny-like, darker in color or has cracks. The air is fragrant, sweet, slightly pungent, slightly sticky when chewed.
Related discussion
1. "Decoction Materia Medica": "Materia Medica" does not have the names of pale and pale under the technique. Recently, Atractylodes macrocephala is often used to treat intercutaneous wind, relieve perspiration and relieve swelling, nourish the stomach and harmonize the middle, sharpen the blood between the waist and umbilical cord, pass through the water channel, go to the fur at the top, go to the heart and stomach at the bottom, and go to the umbilical cord at the bottom. Qi governs Qi, and blood governs blood.
2. "Compendium of Materia Medica": The spleen hates dampness, and if dampness prevails, the qi cannot be transformed. How can fluid be produced? Therefore, it is said: the bladder is the house of body fluid, and it can be released when it is qi transformed. Use Atractylodes macrocephala to remove its dampness, and the Qi will flow around and body fluid will be produced.
Bai Zhu benefits
Diuretic and swelling
Bai Zhu has a diuretic effect and can promote the discharge of electrolytes, especially sodium, so it is good at treating renal edema, hepatic edema, malnutrition edema, and pregnancy edema.
Solid surface antiperspirant
Bai Zhu is similar to that of Radix Astragali, but its strength is slightly weaker. It is often used for spleen deficiency and profuse sweating. If spleen and lung qi and blood, weak defensive qi, surface deficiency and spontaneous sweating, and susceptibility to wind and cold, it can be used in combination with astragalus, Fangfeng and other medicines that nourish the spleen and lung, dispel wind and disperse pathogenic factors.
Dry dampness and invigorate the spleen
Bai Zhu is sweet and warm to invigorate deficiency, bitter and warm to dry dampness. It belongs to the two meridians of spleen and stomach. It can not only replenish qi and invigorate the spleen, but also dry dampness and diuresis. Fewer, loose stools or diarrhea, phlegm, edema, leukorrhea and other symptoms.
Antioxidant
Bai Zhu has antioxidant effect, can inhibit lipid peroxidation, reduce the content of lipid peroxide in tissue, so as to avoid the damage of harmful substances to tissue cell structure and function.
Bai Zhu side effects
Get angry
Bai Zhu is warm in nature, bitter in taste, and can enter the liver meridian and stomach meridian. Patients with fever should not take it for a long time, as it may aggravate the symptoms of getting angry, especially fried Atractylodes macrocephala, which will have higher heat.
Yin deficiency
Atractylodes Macrocephala is a traditional Chinese medicinal material with dryness, which has the effect of dispelling dampness. Patients with yin deficiency and internal heat have a hot constitution and a loss of qi and blood. If they take too much Atractylodes, the symptoms of yin deficiency may be aggravated and the body's health will be more seriously damaged.
Constipation
Bai Zhu can treat weak spleen and stomach and diarrhea, but if patients with constipation take Atractylodes, the symptoms of constipation may be aggravated, so it is not recommended to take Atractylodes during constipation.
How to take Bai Zhu?

Decoction
Boil Bai Zhu and pork belly in appropriate amount, add appropriate amount of condiments, drink soup and eat meat, it can be used for the treatment of weak spleen and stomach.
Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang
Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang, the name of a traditional Chinese medicine prescription. It is an expectorant, which has the effects of resolving phlegm and quenching wind, strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness. Indications wind-phlegm disturbance syndrome. Dizziness, headache, fullness of chest and diaphragm, nausea and vomiting, white and greasy tongue coating, stringy and slippery pulse. Clinically, it is commonly used in the treatment of otogenic vertigo, hypertension, nervous vertigo, epilepsy, facial nerve paralysis and other wind-phlegm disturbances.
Porridge
Bai Zhu, pork belly slices, betel nuts, ginger, and japonica rice are ready. First, wash the pork belly slices and put them in a casserole. Then put Atractylodes macrocephala, betel nuts, and ginger in gauze bags and put them in the pot. Add water and boil until the pork belly slices are boiled, remove the belly slices, and discard the medicine bag. Then put the japonica rice into the soup pot, cook until the rice is rotten and the soup is thick, just add less seasoning.
Made into powder or pill
Take Bai Zhu and Chicken Stir-Fried Yellow, grind it into fine powder, take 1 apple and mash it, mix it with the medicine powder to form a paste, take appropriate amount each time, it can treat infantile diarrhea.
Shen Ling Bai Zhu San
Invigorate the spleen and stomach, benefit the lung qi. For weakness of the spleen and stomach, lack of food and loose stools, shortness of breath and cough, tired limbs and weakness. Ginseng invigorates Qi, invigorates the spleen and stomach; Atractylodes macrocephala and Poria cocos dry dampness and invigorate the spleen; Chinese yam, coix seed and lentil invigorate the spleen and eliminate dampness; Medicine, all medicines are used in combination to play the effect of invigorating the spleen and replenishing qi, expelling dampness and stopping diarrhea.
Shen Ling Bai Zhu Wan
Ingredients: Ginseng, Poria, Bai Zhu (stir-fried with bran), Chinese yam, white lentils (stir-fried), lotus seeds, coix seed (stir-fried), amomum, bellflower, licorice.
Properties: Pale yellow water pills; fragrant and sweet.
Functions and indications: invigorating the spleen and replenishing qi. For fatigue and fatigue, less food and loose stools.
Sparkling wine
Some Bai Zhu and crushed, put it in a casserole, add water to boil, then add white wine, seal, soak for 7 days, then filter out the medicinal wine for drinking.
Steam
Chop Bai Zhu, put it in a small bowl, add some water to steam, add a little sugar, take the medicine juice and take it orally in several times. Treats drooling in babies.
Edible
Bai Zhu is ground into powder, roasted, and jujube is boiled and pitted. Some flour is mixed to make cakes and eaten as snacks.
How to choose Bai Zhu?
Appearance
The appearance of Bai Zhu is very characteristic, it is an irregular hypertrophic mass, the surface is gray-yellow or gray-brown, with tumor-like protrusions, intermittent longitudinal wrinkles and grooves, and fibrous root scars, and residual stem bases and bud scars at the top. The texture is hard and not easy to break. When purchasing, you can first look at the shape, and then feel the weight when you lift it up. It should feel like pressing your hand. Try to break it and you will feel that Atractylodes is very difficult to break. If you encounter a product with a looser texture, you should be careful, it is likely to be faked by other varieties.
Taste
Bai Zhu has its own special smell, which is very fragrant, slightly sweet, slightly spicy after chewing, and slightly sticky. You may wish to take the taste as one of the selection points when purchasing.
Section
If you buy the processed product of Bai Zhu - Atractylodes flakes, you can look at the characteristics of its section. The section of Atractylodes macrocephala is uneven, yellowish-white to light brown, with scattered brownish-yellow point-like oil chambers, and the oil chambers are another important symbol of its characteristics: if it is dried Atractylodes macrocephala, its section is horny and darker in color Or have cracks.
Origin
China's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan all produce Bai Zhu, and the ancients have found that the quality of Bai Zhu is the best. The origin of the medicinal materials will be marked on the packaging bags of Chinese herbal decoction pieces. When purchasing, pay attention to choosing Atractylodes macrocephala produced in Zhejiang.
How to buy Bai Zhu?
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