HomeTraditional Chinese Medicine HerbsBetelnutpalm Seed

Betelnutpalm Seed

Name

Betelnutpalm Seed

Latin Pharmaceutical Name

Arecae Semen

Chinese Name

槟榔

Category

Fruits and seeds

Betelnutpalm SeedMore Info

Production Regions

Primarily produced in Chinese provinces of Hainan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Fujian.

Macroscopic Features

Flat spherical or conical, 1.5~3cm tall, 2~3cm diameter of base; externally pale yellowish-brown or yellowish-brown, rough with pale color, reticular indented lines and some with silver spotted inner fruit skin. Center of the base has an indented hollow micropyle, surrounded with pale scar-like hilum. Hard texture, longitudinal cut surface has brown seed coat curved inward on the edge, crossed with milky white endosperm forming marble-like markings. Base micropyle has small embryo at inner side, brown, dry, without wrinkles. faint odor; taste astringent and slightly bitter.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material is large, firm, heavy, unbroken.

Properties

Bitter, acrid; warm.

Functions

Kills worms, disperses accumulations, downbears qi, moves water, interrupts malaria. Worm stasis, food stasis, abdominal swelling pain, tenesmus, beriberi, edema, malaria.

Technical Terms

'Bing lang markings’: Also called ‘areca-markings’, this refers to a pattern of alternating deep and light colors on the surface or fractured surface of medicinal materials. It appears similar to the pattern seen on the fractured surface of bing lang, and is also called ‘marbled pattern’.

Origin

The dried mature seed of Areca catechu L. (Arecaceae)

Betelnutpalm SeedHerbs in the formula

Spleen-Strengthening Powder

Action：Warms yang and fortifies the spleen, moves qi, and promotes urination.

Indication：Shi Pi San is indicated for a pattern of yin edema caused by spleen-kidney yang deficiency and retention of water-dampness in the interior. The symptoms are swelling of the lower limbs, cold hands and feet, no thirst, fullness and distention of chest and abdomen, loose stool as well. The tongue coating is white and greasy and the pulse is deep, wiry and slow.

View Details Dampclearing formulas

Membrane-Source-Opening Beverage

Action：Opens and vents the membrane-source, dispels filth and removes turbidity.

Indication：Latent pathogen of pestilence or malaria in the pleurodiaphragmatic interspace (membrane-source). Symptoms are aversion to cold with high fever marked by irregular onset such as one or three times per day, chest oppression, headache, vexation and agitation, wiry and rapid pulse, deep red tongue-edge, putrid and greasy tongue coating, or white, thick tongue coating like accumulated powder.

View Details Harmonizing formulas

Peony Decoction

Action：Clears heat in the large intestine, dries dampness, invigorates the blood, and moves qi.

Indication：This formula is indicated for damp-heat dysentery. The symptoms are dysentery with stool containing pus and blood, abdominal pain, abdominal urgency with rectal heaviness, burning sensation in the anus, scant dark urine, a greasy yellow tongue coating, and a wiry rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Tian Tai Combined Spicebush Root Powder

Action：Moves qi, soothes the liver, disperses cold, and relieves pain.

Indication：Tian Tai Wu Yao San is indicated for small intestinal shan qi due to cold congealing and stagnant qi in the liver channel. The symptoms are lesser abdomen pain dragging to testicle (s), a feeling that the testicles are distended and dropped unevenly, or lesser abdomen pain. The tongue is pale with a white coating and the pulse is deep and slow or wiry. This formula is also used for painful menstruation and abdomen mass due to cold congealing and qi stagnation.

View Details Qi-regulating formulas