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Latin pharmacognostic name: Arecae Pericarpium

Alternate English names: betel nut husk pinang husk

Alternate Chinese names: 大腹毛 dà fù máo; 茯毛 fú máo; 槟榔衣 bīng láng yī; 大腹绒 dà fù róng; 槟榔皮 bīng láng pí

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Areca catechu L. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Areca catechu L.*

Use: Medicinal

Category: Qì-rectifying agents

Properties: Acrid; slightly warm.

Channel entry: Spleen, stomach, large intestine, and small intestine channels.

Indications:

• Moves qì and abducts stagnation: Qì stagnation in the stomach and intestines.
• Disinhibits water and disperses swelling: Water swelling; leg qì (jiǎo qì) with swelling and pain.

Dosage & Method: Oral: 5–10g in decoctions. Outside the medical context, preparations of dà fù pí made with limestone and sugar are sold in China as a mild psychoactive drug that it administered by chewing.

Warnings: Use dà fù pí with care in qì vacuity.

Product Description: This is a oval pericarp is sold in two halves with the seed removed. It is 6 cm long and about 8 mm in diameter. It is white in color, and, apart from the endocarp, is highly fibrous and pliable. The seed, 槟榔, is used separately.

Quality: Dry supple whitish-yellow ones are the best.

Product Area: Hǎinán, Guǎngdōng, Guǎngxī, Yúnnán, Táiwān, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Etymology: The term dà fù pí 大腹皮, literally big belly husk, describes the shape.

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