Chinese Medicine Half Monthly Talk | Tangerine Peel

· Interesting stories ·

You must remember the best time of the year, when oranges are golden and orange leaves are green. That time is the end of autumn and the beginning of winter!

The poem "lotus is gone, chrysanthemums are withered, oranges and tangerines are yellow and green" comes from "Presented to Liu Jingwen" written by Su Shi in the fifth year of Yuanyou (1090) in the Northern Song Dynasty. This encouraging poem was given by Su Shi to his 58-year-old friend Liu Jingwen. The golden autumn season of harvesting and storing corresponds to the golden stage of maturity and achievement in life, although youth has passed. The poem says "lotus is gone" and "chrysanthemums are withered" at the beginning, which means that difficulties are only temporary, and we must still maintain our integrity of defying snow and frost; the poem encourages friends through "oranges and tangerines are green" later, saying that we must cherish this good time, be optimistic and work hard, and never be depressed and belittle ourselves. The whole poem expresses Su Shi's broad mind and his exhortation and support to his friends in the same predicament, and expresses his aspirations through objects, with a lofty artistic conception.

Although the leaves of oranges are green, the fruits of oranges are ripening in red and yellow. Su Shi valued this season the most. From another perspective, he was a person who knew how to eat. Some people read from this poem that Su Shi was recommending mature oranges and tangerines to people. Su Shi himself was fond of oranges and must have eaten a lot of oranges. In his poem "Ode to Oranges", there is a line "Wu Ji's hands are still fragrant for three days", which is very memorable: because this is because her hands were stained with the fragrance of oranges when she peeled the orange peels. Just based on the lingering fragrance on her hands, people's thoughts are immediately drawn to a Chinese medicine - tangerine peel.

The peels of ordinary fruits are often waste, but the dried tangerine peel obtained by aging orange peel is a precious item that can be used as both medicine and food.

The name of tangerine peel is even older in the history of pharmacy. In the earliest Chinese pharmacology monograph "Shennong's Herbal Classic", its official name is tangerine pomelo, which is listed as a top grade, "also known as tangerine peel". Tangerine peel is another name for tangerine pomelo, and later "tangerine peel" replaced tangerine pomelo as the official name of the medicinal material. In the process of using it to treat diseases, it was gradually discovered that aged tangerine peel has a better effect. Tao Hongjing of the Southern Liang Dynasty recorded six medicinal materials that should be aged in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "All wolfsbane, bitter orange, tangerine peel, pinellia, ephedra, and evodia rutaecarpa must be aged for a long time, and the rest must be fresh." The so-called "six aged" in later generations actually originated from this. As for the name of tangerine peel, it was first seen in Meng Shen's "Food Therapy Materia Medica", and later gradually replaced "tangerine peel" and became the proper name of this product.

The original tangerine and pomelo did not have the word "peel" in their name, which is a good opportunity for us to use our imagination. The earliest medicinal material was when the ancients tasted its peel while eating its fruit, and then discovered its medicinal effects. Medicine and food have the same origin, and the medicine of tangerine peel or dried tangerine peel can be used as an example to explain how the origin of traditional Chinese medicine occurred.

Tangerine peel can have miraculous effects in treating diseases. Fang Shao of the Northern Song Dynasty told in "Bo Zhai Bian" that his uncle happened to cure a stubborn disease with tangerine peel.

Fang Shao's uncle Mo Qiangzhong suffered from digestive problems when he was the magistrate of Fengcheng County. He felt chest tightness and distension after every meal, which was very uncomfortable. He took more than a hundred prescriptions of medicine, but the condition remained the same. Once, he saw his family preparing tangerine peel soup, so he boiled it and drank it morning and evening. After a few prescriptions, he began to enjoy his meals. One day, he was reviewing documents when he suddenly felt something falling from his chest. He was shocked and sweated profusely. In a moment, he had severe abdominal pain and expelled several hard bullet-like objects with a fishy smell. From then on, his chest gradually felt comfortable and his illness was cured. It turned out that he had expelled the cold accumulation in the spleen and stomach. His recovery was attributed to the work of tangerine peel.

When Li Shizhen saw this case, he was deeply impressed by the efficacy of the medicine, so he recorded the case described by Fang Shao in the Compendium of Materia Medica, and also listed another medical case of using orange peel to relieve asthma and cough:

"Some people have suffered from cough for years. After taking a medicine, they also recovered from old bladder gas (note: hernia). The recipe is: orange peel, Shenqu, ginger, roasted and dried in equal parts, grind into powder, steam into cakes, and make into pills the size of walnuts. Take 30 to 50 pills each time, one after meals and one at night."

Tangerine peel is a common item in traditional diet and Chinese medicine decoctions. Tangerine peel is called tangerine peel because the older it is, the better it is. It is called Guangdong tangerine peel because the one produced in Guangdong is better. It is called Xinhui tangerine peel because the one produced in Xinhui, Guangdong is better. Xinhui tangerine peel is the best tangerine peel in Guangdong. It is a traditional Chinese medicinal material, the first of the "Three Treasures of Guangdong", and a national geographical indication product. Xinhui tangerine peel has a long history of medicinal use. It was famous in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and has continued to this day. It has a planting history of nearly 700 years. Its main effect is to regulate qi and dry dampness. Different from tangerine peel, it also has the effects of soothing the liver and gallbladder, dissolving knots and dissolving carbuncles.

· Source of medicinal materials ·

The dried mature peel of the citrus plant and its cultivars of the Rutaceae family. Pick the ripe fruits, peel them, and dry them in the sun or at low temperature. The medicinal material is divided into dried tangerine peel and Guang tangerine peel.

· Nature and flavor ·

Bitter, pungent, warm in nature. Enters the lung and spleen meridians.

· Efficacy and indications·

Regulate Qi and strengthen the spleen, dry dampness and resolve phlegm.

It is suitable for abdominal distension, poor appetite, vomiting and diarrhea, and cough with excessive sputum.

· Usage and Dosage·

For internal use: decoction, 3-10 grams.

· Diet therapy recommendation ·

Duck soup with tangerine peel

Ingredients: 1 old duck, 5-10 grams of tangerine peel, 7 red dates, 3-5 slices of ginger, and appropriate amounts of rice wine and salt.

Method: Clean the duck, chop it into pieces, put it in a pot, add tangerine peel, ginger, jujube, and rice wine, bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, then simmer over low heat for about one or two hours, and add salt to taste later.

Efficacy: This old duck soup is delicious and nutritious, and is a suitable nourishing food for the elderly and children. The old duck is paired with tangerine peel, which has the effects of nourishing yin and blood, regulating qi and strengthening the spleen, and digesting food and eliminating accumulation.

Note: Do not consume excessive amounts to avoid indigestion.

· Kind tips·

Those with Qi or Yin deficiency should take it with caution.