Jujube (Dazao)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Fructus Jujubae |
| Botanical Name: | Ziziphus Jujuba Mill. |
| Common Name: | Jujube Chinese date |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Shennong Bencao Jing |
| art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The ripe fruit is gathered at the beginning of autumn and dried in the sun. |
| Properties and Taste: | Sweet and warm |
| Meridian: | Spleen and stomach |
| Functions: | To replenish qi in the middle jiao (spleen and stomach) To nourish the blood and soothe the mind To moderate the action of herbs |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Weakness of the spleen and stomach manifested as lassitude, poor appetite and lose stool. *Use with Ginseng (Renshen) and White atractylodes (Baizhu). 2. Hysteria manifested as grief, weeping and sighing. *Use with Licorice root (Gancao) and Light wheat (Fuxiaomai) in the formula Gan Mai Dazao Tang. 3. Moderating the action of other herbs. *Use with Peking spurge root (Daji), Kansui root (Gansui) and Genkwa flower (Yuanhua) in the formula Shizao Tang. |
| Dosage: | 3-12 g, or 10-30 g |
| Cautions: | This herb is contraindicated in conditions of excessive dampness, epigastric and abdominal distension and fullness, retention of food, intestinal parasites, pain of decayed teeth and cough due to phlegm-heat. |