Pericarpium Zanthoxyli (Huajiao)–Prichlyash Peel
Origin
Prichlyash Peel is the dried pericarp of ripe fruit of Zanthoxylum schinifolium Sieb. et Zucc.or Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. The drug is collected in autumn when ripe,dried in the sun,removed off the seeds and foreign matter.
Description and Identification
Pericarpium Zanthoxyli Schinifolii: Mostly 2-3 small follicles,apocarpous at the upper part, grouped on a fruit stalk; follicles spherical,spliting along the evetral suture,3 – 4mm in diameter. Outer surface greyish-green or dark green,scattered with numberous oil sots and dine reticulated, raised wrinkles; inner surface almost white, smooth. Endocarp commonly separated from exocarp at the base. Remains of seed ovoid,3 ~4mm long,2 – 3mm in diameter,externally black,lustrous. Odour, aromatic; taste, slightly sweet and pungent.
Pericarpium Zanthoxyli Bungeani: Most follicles singly,4 – 5mm in diameter,outer surface pru-plish-red or brownish-red, scattered with numberous warty oil dots, translucent when observed against the light; inner surface yellowish, odour, strongly aromatic; taste, lastingly pungent and numb.
Chemical
4% ~ 7% essential oil.
Property and Channel Tropism
Property: acrid in taste, warm in nature Channel tropism: spleen, stomach, kidney.
Action and Indications
To warm the spleen and the stomach and relieve pain, to kill worms, and to relieve itching. Epigastric pain accompanied by cold sensation, vomiting and diarrea; abdominal pain due to intestinal parasitosis; ascariasis. External use for itching in eczema.
Place of Production
It is planted nationwide except for Inner Mongolia and a few regions in the northeast. Sichuan, shaanxin, Hebei, Henan and Shangdong are the main places of production.
Recipes of Medicated Diet
1. Chuan Hua Jiao Li (ichlyash Peel Flavored Pear)
[Ingredients]
1 pear
50 pieces of hua jiao, prichlyash peel ( Pericarpium Zanthoxyli)
50g flour
30g crystal sugar
[Preparation]
Peel the pear. Make 50 litde holes on the surface of the pear. Press hua jiao into the holes one by one. Mix the flour with adequate amount of water, knead dough and make it into a piece of thin sheet. Wrap the pear with this sheet, bake it over bonfire or in the oven. Then peel the flour sheet and take out hua jiao. Make crystal sugar syrup. Sprinkle the syrup over the pear. Done.
[Effects and Indications]
Warming the middle energizer,moistening lung.
Lung deficiency and poor physique, common cold due to pathogenic wind and cold, cough, fever and chills.
2. Hua Jiao Zhou (ichlyash Peel Gruel)
[Ingredients]
5g hua jiao, prichlyash peel ( Pericarpium Zanthoxyli)
50g polished round-grained rice
[Preparation]
Decoct hua jiao for 10 minutes and extract the decoction. Make porridge with the polished round-grained rice in the ordinary way and add huajiao decoction when the porridge is almost done.
[Effects and Indications]
Warmly dredging,dispelling cold and checking pain. Pain caused by dental caries, fear of cold and wind, tooth pain, ache on one side of the head.
