Chinese Herbal Fructus Noveniae

Fructus Noveniae

The alias：Mumi,shumi,guaizao,jizhuali,ect

Medicinal part：Mature seeds of Hovenia dulcis Thunb

Plant forms：Deciduous trees. Up to 10 meters high. Bark dark gray, branchlets reddish brown. Fruit suborbicular or broadly elliptic, 6-8                         mm in diam., grayish brown, 3 locules, each with 1 seed. Fruit thickened at maturity, 3-5 mm in diameter, reddish-brown.                         Seeds oblate, 3 ~ 5 mm in diameter, 1 ~ 1.5 mm thick, reddish brown. Shiny, slightly raised back, flat ventral surface.                               Flowering may to June, fruiting October.

Origin  distribution: Born in a ditch, road, or valley. Distributed in north China, east China, southwest China and other places.

Harvesting and processing: When the fruit is ripe from October to November, pick the fruit with fleshy inflorescence axis, dry in the sun,                                              and take out the seeds

Medicinal properties: Flat round, abaxial surface slightly raised, ventral surface relatively flat, diameter 3 ~ 5 mm, thick about 2 mm.                                          Surface reddish-brown to reddish-brown, smooth and lustrous, base with elliptic punctate hilum, apex with slightly                                    convex synapse, ventral surface with a longitudinal and raised ridge. Seed coat hard, ca. 1 mm thick, endosperm                                      milky white, oily, surrounded by 2 thick cotyledons, yellowish to grassy green, also oily. Weak breath, bitter taste                                      and astringent.

Flavor and Meridian tropism: Flat ,sweet. Return  to the stomach.

Efficacy: Quench thirst in addition to trouble, clear the hot and humid, antialcoholism.

The pharmacological research: Inhibitory center; Buck; Anti-lipid peroxidation; Enhance comprehensive physical ability. Pharmacological                                                   experiments showed that it had a significant diuretic effect on rabbits without any side effects

Taboo: Do not use it in case of deficient cold of spleen and stomach.