What is Dang Shen?
Dang Shen, which is also called
Codonopsis pilosula, is a herbal medicine included in the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia". The source of Dang Shen is the dried root of codonopsis pilosula, Suhua Codonopsis, or Chuan Codonopsis.
Dang Shen is a traditional tonic medicine commonly used in China. In ancient times, Dang Shen produced in Shangdang area of Shanxi was the top grade. It has the effects of nourishing the middle and Qi, strengthening the spleen and lungs. Dang Shen can strengthen immunity, dilate blood vessels, lower blood pressure, improve microcirculation, and strengthen hematopoietic function. In addition, it can improve the leukopenia caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
What is dang shen good for?
Dang shen is a traditional Chinese medicine for invigorating qi. It is flat in nature, sweet in taste, and has the effect of tonifying the middle and replenishing qi. It can enhance the body's immunity and prevent the occurrence of diseases. Dang shen is good for the spleen and lung meridian, and it also has the effect of strengthening the spleen and lungs. It can improve the functions of the lungs and spleen and stomach, and can treat symptoms such as sallow complexion, cold hands and feet, shortness of breath, and cough due to weak spleen and lungs. In addition, dang shen also has the function of nourishing blood and promoting body fluid, which can enhance the body's hematopoietic function and increase the amount of hemoglobin, which is suitable for anemia patients. If blood deficiency and fluid deficiency cause palpitation, chest tightness, dry throat and thirst, etc., it can also be relieved by taking
dang shen.
Growth environment of Dang Shen
Dang Shen grows in forests and shrubs in mountainous areas at an altitude of 1560-3100 meters in northern China. It likes a cool and mild cool climate, is hardy to cold, and its roots can survive the winter in open soil. Seedlings prefer dampness, shade, and are afraid of strong light. After sowing, lack of water is not easy to produce seedlings, and lack of water after producing seedlings can cause mass death. High temperatures causes root rot easily. Large seedlings to adult plants like full sunlight. It is proper to cultivate in sandy loam soil with well-drained, loose and friable soil, deep soil layer and rich in humus.
Dang Shen is distributed in western Sichuan, southeastern Tibet, eastern Gansu, northwestern Yunnan, southern Shaanxi, eastern Qinghai, Ningxia, Henan, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and northeast China. And it can also be planted in North Korea, Mongolia and the Far East of the Soviet Union.
Cultivation Techniques of Dang Shen
1. Planting: After the ginseng seedlings have grown for one year, plant them in spring or autumn, from mid-late March to early April in spring, and from mid-late October to early November in autumn. When transplanting, dig up the ginseng seedlings and remove damaged and weak seedlings. According to the row spacing of 20-30 cm, the depth of the trench is 16-18 cm, and the plant spacing is 7-10 meters. It is advisable to exceed the reed head by 7 cm.
2. Cultivation and weeding: After emergence, loosen the soil and weeding. Removing weeds is one of the main measures to ensure production.
3. Top-dressing: After planting and surviving, the seedling height is about 15 cm, and human excrement and urine can be top-dressed at 1000-1500 kg per mu. It will be inconvenient to top-dress in the future due to the growth of stems, leaves and vines
4. Drainage and irrigation: Irrigate after planting, less water or no water after the seedlings are alive, and drain in time during the rainy season to prevent root rot.
5. Frame: The height of ginseng seedlings planted on flat ground is 30 cm, and a frame is set up to grow along the frame, which can improve disease resistance and reduce disease infection. Facilitate root growth and fruiting
How to reproduce Dang Shen?
1. Use seeds for direct seeding and use seeds for seedling transplanting. And the former is better.
2. Seed treatment: Soak the seeds in warm water at 40-45°C before sowing, stir, and place the seeds until the water temperature drops to no longer hot. Soak for another 5 minutes. Then, put the seeds into a gauze bag, wash them with water some times, put them on the sand pile, and every 3-4 hours, pour them with warm water at 15°C. After 5-6 days, the seeds split open and are ready to plant. The seeds in the bag can also be washed with warm water at 40°C for certain times, and kept moist. After 4-5 days, when the seeds germinate, they can be sown.
3: Direct broadcast method: Sow seeds between "Frost's Descent" and " Beginning of Winter ", and the seeds do not need to be treated. Keep warm and prevent the sun, gradually remove the cover when the seedling height is -10 cm, and pay attention to weeding and loosening the soil in time, watering, and keeping the soil moist.
Types of Dang Shen
1. Dang Shen: The root is slightly cylindrical, less branched or branched below the middle. The surface is gray yellow, gray brown or red brown. The quality is soft or hard, with a smooth cross-section, slightly fragrant, sweet taste, and no slag when chewed. The powder is yellow white.
2. Suhua Dang Shen: Roots are slightly shorter, no more than 30cm long, less branched. The surface is gray brown. The quality is tough, and the section is not very smooth. Chewing with slag. The powder is light yellow.
3. Chuan Dang Shen: Lower part of root rarely branched. The surface is grayish brown. The cortex of the section is hypertrophic with few fissures. The taste is slightly sweet and sour. The powder is similar to white.
4. Guanhua Dang Shen: Root one-branched or slightly branched below. The surface is wrinkled and shrunk into longitudinal grooves, and the root has a spherical lion head. Sectioned flour or sugar-like cutin. The gas is slightly fragrant and the taste is slightly sweet. The powder is white.
5. Qiuhua Dang Shen: Root hypertrophy, 20-43cm long, 1-3cm in diameter. Surface with shrunken longitudinal grooves; rhizomes with numerous fine stem scars or bud scars. It has small fissures arranged radially and has a specific odor. The powder is light yellow white.
6. Huimao Dang Shen: Branches below roots. The cross-section is slightly powdery, with bright spots like needle crystals. With specific smell. The powder is light yellow.
Processing methods of Dang Shen
1. After washing the silt, moisten and remove the reeds, slice or cut into sections, and dry in the sun.
2. Stir-fried Dang Shen: Put the bran in a heated pot. When the pot smokes, add Dang Shen slices, stir-fry until dark yellow, take out, sieve off the bran, and let cool. (100 catties of Dang Shen, 20 catties of bran)
3. Remove impurities, wash, moisten thoroughly, cut into thick slices, and dry. Store in a ventilated and dry place.
Medicinal properties of Dang Shen
1. Medicine part
The dry roots of the plant.
2. Taste
(1) "Ben Jing Feng Yuan": sweet, flat.
(2) "Materia Medica Zaixin": sweet, flat, non-toxic.
3. Tropism
"Departing Materia Medica": start with the air points of the foot Taiyin meridian.
"Chinese Pharmacopoeia": returns spleen, lung meridian.
4. Indications
Invigorate the middle, replenish qi, promote body fluid. Control weakness of the spleen and stomach, loss of both qi and blood, fatigue and weakness, lack of food, thirst, chronic diarrhea, prolapse of the anus.
(1) "Hen Jing Feng Yuan": Qingfei.
(2) "Materia Medica Congxin": invigorate the middle and replenish qi, harmonize the spleen and stomach, and relieve polydipsia.
(3) "Compendium Supplements": treat lung deficiency and benefit lung qi.
(4) "Scientific Folk Herbs": blood tonic. Suitable for chronic anemia, chlorosis, leukemia, adenosis, rickets.
(5) "Handbook of Chinese Medicinal Materials": Treat asthenia and internal injuries, coldness in the stomach, diarrhea and dysentery for a long time, asthma and polydipsia, fever and spontaneous sweating, women's blood metrorrhagia, and other diseases during pregnancy.
5. Dosage
Oral administration: decoction, 3-5 qian, large dosage 1-2 liang; boiled paste or made into pills or powder.
"Chinese Pharmacopoeia": 9 ~ 30g.
6. Medication contraindications
(1) Those with real evils should not take it.
(2) It should not be used together with veratrum.
Dang Shen Benefits
1. Dang shen has the effect of nourishing qi and blood. It is suitable for people with insufficient qi and blood, pale or sallow complexion, frequent fatigue, dizziness, and heart palpitations. It belongs to the deficiency of both qi and yin, and people who often feel shortness of breath and thirst can take it.
2. Dang shen can strengthen the spleen and stomach, promote the movement of the spleen and stomach, and nutrient absorption, so that the red blood cells and white blood cells can increase, and the hemoglobin can also increase. It is very effective for anemia patients, patients with leukopenia caused by chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
3. Studies have shown that the extract of dangshen can also increase the activity of superoxide dismutase in human blood, enhance the ability to scavenge free radicals, and have certain anti-fatigue and anti-aging effects on the human body.
4. Dang shen has the effect of invigorating the spleen and nourishing the spleen and lungs, and has a good effect on lung deficiency, shortness of breath, asthma, cough, etc.
Dang Shen Side Effects
The side effects of Dang Shen are considered as follows:
1. There are situations that may lead to getting angry. It is because Dang Shen is a heat supplement, so if you take a large amount of Dang Shen for a long time, or if you are a person with a heat constitution, you may experience symptoms of getting angry, manifested as restlessness, dry mouth and tongue, Mouth ulcers, etc.
2. It may also cause arrhythmia. Dang Shen has the effect of invigorating qi, so it has a certain ability to regulate the cardiovascular system. If you take a large amount of Dang Shen for a long time, you may experience symptoms of arrhythmia.
3. If Dang Shen is used in large quantities for a long time, poisoning reactions may occur, because Dang Shen itself is a glycoside compound.
The above are the side effects of Dangshen, so use the medicine according to the doctor's advice.
Application of Dang shen
Dang shen tcm
It’s a commonly Chinese herb when Chinese doctor love to use for patient. Sometimes, will use dang shen as substitute of ginseng. Dang shen is good for treatment many diseases.
Dang shen tea
It can be made as a tea for daily drinking to increase health gradually day by day. There are lots recipes about dang shen tea, here to share some dang shen tea recipe:
1.Dang shen tea
2.Dang shen and da zao tea
3.Dang shen red date tea
4.Dang shen bai zhu fu ling tea
5.Dang shen gou qi zi tea
6.Dang shen huang qi tea
7.Dang shen dang gui tea
8.Dang shen fu ling tea
... ...
How to make dang shen tea?
Here to share one simple way to make dang shen tea.
Dang shen tea
Prepare dried and pre-cut dang shen.
Prepare hot water (100°C)
Prepare some materials, such as: gou qi zi, honey, sugar, etc. It’s optional, up to your favorite.
Do as below:
1.Put some dang shen into cup
2.Put gou qi zi into cup (it’s optional)
3.Pour hot water into cup
4.Close cover with cup to simmer 20 minutes
5.If feel it’s bitter, you can add honey or sugar
6.Now finish a good tastes dang shen tea, enjoy your daily health drinking
Dang shen for cooking
Dang shen also as a food to cook in daily life. Especially in Guangdong province of China, Hongkong, Macao, Singapore, etc. Usually use for cooked with chicken and pork meat, etc.
Here to share two dang shen recipes for cooking:
1. Dang Shen Mai Dong lean meat soup
Dang Shen Mai Dong lean meat soup is a traditional dish in Guangdong, which belongs to Cantonese cuisine. Dang Shen in the soup is sweet and flat in nature and has the effect of invigorating the spleen, nourishing qi and promoting body fluid; Sheng Di Huang root is sweet and cold in nature and moist in texture, and has the effect of nourishing yin, nourishing blood and moistening dryness; Mai dong is sweet and cold in nature, juicy, and has the functions of nourishing the stomach and promoting body fluid, nourishing liquid and moistening dryness. The above three flavors are all quality and moisturizing products, and they are combined with lean pork to nourish and moisten dryness. Red dates invigorate the spleen and stomach. Combined into a soup, it has the functions of increasing fluid and moisturizing, nourishing the stomach and promoting body fluid.
How to cook dang shen?
(1) Wash Dang Shen, sheng di huang, mai dong, and red dates (pitted).
(2) Wash lean pork and cut into pieces.
(3) Put all the ingredients into the pot, add the right amount of water, with high heat until boiling, simmer for 1 hour, season and serve.
2. Stewed chicken with Dang Shen
Stewed chicken with Dang Shen is a medicinal meal. It is a meat dish with Dang Shen and chicken as the main ingredients and its characteristics is that the chicken is tender and fresh, and the soup meat is rotten, which can promote blood circulation and nourish qi.
How to cook dang shen?
(1) Bleed the chicken, remove the hair, remove the viscera and wash it, boil it in a boiling water pot, remove the blood stains, remove it, rinse it with clean water, and drain the water.
(2) Put the chicken into the pot again, submerge the chicken in clean water, add Chinese wolfberry, tangerine peel, Dang Shen, miso, ginger slices, refined salt, mix well, cover, put it on the steamer drawer, and steam for 2.5 hours to taste, out of the pan.
When to take dang shen?
Although there is no strict rule on the time to take dang shen, any time is fine, but from the point of view of the day, it is better to take it in the morning, because the morning is the time when the human body's gastrointestinal digestion ability is the best, and eating nourishing Codonopsis pilosula at this time The wall can be absorbed more fully, and the efficacy of dang shen can bring a certain amount of physical energy to work and study in the morning, so it is a better time to take dang shen in the morning.
How to choose dang shen?
Usually dang shen will divide into seven grades according to its diameter:
Extra-large: diameter 1.68cm - 1.86cm
Super class: diameter 1.52cm - 1.67cm
First class: diameter 1.33cm - 1.51cm
Second class: diameter 1.17cm - 1.32cm
Third class: diameter 0.98cm - 1.16cm
Fourth class: diameter 0.82cm - 0.97cm
Fifth class: diameter 0.66cm - 0.81cm
Except for the grades, we also need to check carefully as below steps:
1. Look at the shape of dang shen root is slightly long conical, spinning cone cylindrical or long conical, with few branches or branches below the middle, and the root head is spherical with most protruding stem scars and bud scars. Known as "lion's pan head", dang shen(Codonopsis pilosula) is better with strong roots, thin skin and tight flesh, and soft texture.
2. Look at the color. The surface of dangshen is gray-yellow, gray-brown or yellow-brown, with shrunken irregular longitudinal grooves, sparse horizontal and long lenticels, and many ring-shaped wrinkles on the upper part. Sometimes dark brown jelly can be seen at the broken root, commonly known as dang shen with "oil spots", yellow-white section and chrysanthemum heart is of better quality.
3. Taste dang sheng, check if has a soft or tough texture, flat cross-section, and some horny-like skins are thicker. Dang shen is slightly fragrant and sweet, that’s good quality.
4. Dang shen is prone to mildew and insects when smelling. Some merchants often smoke Codonopsis pilosula with sulfur for long-term storage. You must choose carefully during the purchase process. Generally, dang shen that feels dry to the touch and has no pungent smell is better.
How to identify spoiled dang shen?
1. Mildew: After damp, under suitable conditions, mildew is very easy to occur. White, green, yellow or black reticular and linear hyphae and spots appear on the surface of dang shen (Codonopsis pilosula) and it smells pungent musty, which means mildew has occurred.
2. Moth-eaten: Dang shen contains a lot of sugar. If it is not preserved properly, moth-eaten may occur. There are wormholes on the surface of moth-eaten dang shen, and "fibrils" are found in the gaps and debris in the middle or it is eaten into powder shape.
3. Color change: If the dang shen is not properly maintained, its original color will change. The skin of dang shen is off-white, the cambium ring is brown, the xylem is light yellow, and the surface is white or yellowish white. If the storage time is long and the dang shen undergoes obvious color changes, then it is likely to be a qualitative change.
4. Oil removal: Dangshen becomes soft, turbid in color, sticky on the outside, and oozes oily substance, which smells pungent. It may also affect health.
How to buy Dang Shen?
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