Medicinals
gān cǎo / 甘草 / 甘草 / licorice [root];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Glycyrrhizae Radix
Alternate English names: liquorice [root]
Alternate Chinese names: 美草 měi cǎo; 蜜草 mì cǎo; 蜜甘 mì gān; 甜根子 tián gēn zǐ; 棒草 bàng cǎo; 国老 guó lǎo; 粉草 fěn cǎo
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal and alimentary
Category: Supplementing agents / Qì-supplementing agents
Properties: Sweet; balanced.
Channel entry: said to enter all twelve primary channels, but texts often specifically list the heart, lung, spleen, and stomach channels .
Indications:
- Supplements heart and spleen qì: Spleen qì vacuity; heart qì vacuity.
- Dispels phlegm and relieves cough: Cough (and panting) with copious phlegm.
- Relaxes tension and relieves pain:
Pain in the stomach duct and abdomen; hypertonicity and pain of the extremities. - Harmonizes the nature of medicinals: Used in formulas containing drastic and fierce-natured medicinals.
- Clears heat and resolves toxin: Heat
toxin sore s, painful swollen throat, and poisoning from medicinals or food.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: Decoct (1.5–9g) or use in pills and powders. Use raw to clear heat and to dispel phlegm and relieve cough. Use stir-fried to supplement the center, boost qì, and protect the stomach. Use mix-fried with honey relax tension and relieve pain and to boost qì and return the pulse. Topical: Apply as a powder or wash.
Warning:
Unsuitable in exuberant dampness with distension and fullness or when there is puffy swelling. It is traditionally said to clash with dà jǐ (Euphorbiae seu Knoxiae Radix), yuán huā (Genkwa Flos), gān suì (Kansui Radix), and hǎi zǎo (Sargassum). Prolonged consumption of large quantities of raw gān cǎo can give rise to puffy swelling. Large doses of gān cǎo should not be used in patients with hypertension, edema, hypokalemia, congestive heart failure, and renal disease.
Product Description:
The roots are long and cylindrical, and usually have no branches. They are 1–2.5 cm in diameter. The exterior surface is a reddish or earth brown, with pronounced wrinkles or furrows, and transverse lenticels. The cork often peels away to reveal a pale-yellow fibrous interior. The roots are hard and when snapped, they emit a floury dust and are left with an uneven, fibrous rupture. They have the distinctive sweet flavor of licorice. The decocting pieces are transverse or oblique slices about 2 mm thick whose cut surface shows annular markings. Slices stir-fried in honey are a reddish-brown in color and are sticky to the touch.
Quality:
Sweet farinaceous roots are the best.
Product Area:
Glycyrrhiza uralensis: All parts of Manchuria, and Héběi, Shānxī, Shǎnxī (Shaanxi), and Inner Mongolia. Glycyrrhiza glabra: Gānsū and Xīnjiāng.
Etymology:
The name gān cǎo 甘草, literally ""sweet herb,"" reflects the flavor of this agent. Note the parallel etymology of the English licorice and the Latin Glycyrrhiza, which derive from the Greek name (glycyrrhiza), which literally means ""sweet root.""