Tiandong

Radixaseragi

Cochinchinese as paragus root

[alias]: dadangmengen.

[source]: it is the root of Asparagus cochinchinensis (louh) Merr.

[plant morphology]: climbing perennial herb. The stem is thin, with longitudinal groove. The leaves degenerate into scales, and the scaly leaves on the main stem often turn into downward curved short spines. Flowers 1-3, axils of clustered leaves, yellow white or white; perianth segments 6; pistil 1, ovary 3-locular. Berries globose, red when ripe. The flowering period is May.

Born in the wild, but also cultivated in the garden. It is distributed in the middle, northwest, Yangtze River Basin and south of China.

[harvesting] in autumn and winter, remove the fibrous roots, boil or steam in boiling water, remove the skin, and then dry with low fire or sulfur.

[character]: the root tuber is round and spindle shaped, 6-20cm long and 0.5-2cm in diameter. The surface is yellowish white or light yellowish brown, oily and translucent. It is hard and brittle when it is dry, soft and sticky when it is not. It tastes sweet and slightly bitter.

[chemical constituents]: it contains a variety of spiral steroidal glycosides asparagin - Ⅳ - Ⅶ (ASP - Ⅳ - Ⅶ), nearly 20 amino acids such as asparagine, citrulline, serine, oligosaccharides I - Ⅶ, and 5-methoxy-methylfurfural.

[nature and taste]: cold in nature, sweet and bitter in taste.

Function indications: Nourishing Yin and promoting fluid, moistening lung and clearing heart. It is used for lung dry cough, deficiency cough, thirst, insomnia, internal heat thirst, intestinal dry constipation, diphtheria.