Scaphium affine | |
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Dried seeds for use in Vietnamese cuisine (known as hạt đười ươi) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malvales |
Family: | Malvaceae |
Genus: | Scaphium |
Species: | S. affine |
Binomial name | |
Scaphium affine | |
Synonyms | |
Sterculia lychnophora Hance Contents |
Scaphium affine [1] is a tree species in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the Sterculiaceae and synonyms include Sterculia lychnophora Hance [2] ).The species is endemic to mainland Southeast Asia, and no subspecies are recognized in the Catalogue of Life. [3]
Scaphium affine has culinary and traditional medicinal uses. In English, it is known as malva nut tree, or sometimes "Taiwan sweet gum tree", although these names also apply to the similar Scaphium macropodum (Vietnamese: ươi ).
The tree can grow up to 25–30 meters in height, and its seeds are the size of a fingertip, with a brown, coarse-textured skin.
In traditional medicine, especially Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, the seeds of this species and its close relative, S. macropodum, are used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, to soothe the throat, and as a "coolant". As a result, it is a popular non-timber forest product in Laos, where it is the country's second-largest export crop after coffee. Sterculinine, a bio-active alkaloid, is found in this species.
The flesh surrounding the dried seeds swells to eight times its original volume when soaked in water, forming an irregularly shaped, reddish gelatinous mass. In Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, the flesh of the fruit, after being soaked and the seed kernel removed, is mixed with sugar, ice, and basil seeds to make a refreshing drink. They are sometimes also used, along with other ingredients, in sweet, cool soups similar to the Chinese tong sui . [4]
In China, the seeds of this species are used to make a variety of herbal teas, in which they are mixed with other ingredients such as sugar, dates, hawthorn berries, licorice, chrysanthemum flowers, lilyturf roots, and jasmine tea. Such herbal teas are believed to reduce bodily "heat", balance bodily fluids, and improve overall health.[ citation needed ]
According to Chinese medicine, the use of "Pang Da Hai" can remove heat from the lung, cure sore throats, counteract toxicity, and moisten the bowels. Specific symptoms treated include: hoarseness of voice, dry cough or productive cough with yellow sticky sputum, sore, dry throat due to heat in the lung and constipation with headache and bloodshot eyes. Consume malva nut by adding one or two nuts to a large cup of boiling water and consume the liquid. Typically, in traditional Chinese medicine, malva nut would be part of a larger formula of herbs designed to address a person's condition.
Although it possesses medicinal properties, care must be taken with its consumption. Avoid boiling more than 3 seeds per drink. Excessive consumption of this species can cause watery phlegm, nausea, coughing, and tongue swelling. People with frequent digestion problems and abdominal pain or diarrhea should avoid it entirely.
Herbal teas, technically known as herbal infusions, and less commonly called tisanes, are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Often herb tea, or the plain term tea, is used as a reference to all sorts of herbal teas. Many herbs used in teas/tisanes are also used in herbal medicine and in folk medicine.
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Cassia fistula, also known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, kani konna, or pudding-pipe tree, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It is the official state flower of Kerala state and Delhi UT in India. It is also a popular ornamental plant and is also used in herbal medicine.
Malva is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Europe.
Cassia typically refers to cassia bark, the spice made from the bark of East Asian evergreen trees.
Siraitia grosvenorii, also known as monk fruit, monkfruit, luǒ hánguò, or Swingle fruit, is a herbaceous perennial vine of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. It is native to southern China. The plant is cultivated for its fruit extract containing mogrosides. Mogroside extract has been used as a low-calorie sweetener for drinks and in traditional Chinese medicine. One mogroside, mogroside V, creates a sweetness sensation 250 times stronger than sucrose.
King-to Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, commonly known as Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa or simply Nin Jiom Herbal Cough Syrup, is a traditional Chinese natural herbal remedy used for the relief of sore throat, coughs, hoarseness and aphonia. It is a throat demulcent and expectorant.
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Pinellia is a genus of plants in the family Araceae native to East Asia. Its species are commonly called green dragons due to the color and shape of the inflorescence, which possesses a green, hooded spathe from which protrudes a long, tongue-like extension of the spadix. The leaves vary greatly in shape among different species, from simple and cordate to compound with three to many leaflets. Pinellia reproduces rapidly from seed and many species also produce bulbils on the leaves. Both characteristics have allowed some species to become weedy in temperate areas outside their native range, notably Pinellia ternata in eastern North America.
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are useful foods, substances, materials and/or commodities obtained from forests other than timber. Harvest ranges from wild collection to farming. They typically include game animals, fur-bearers, nuts, seeds, berries, mushrooms, oils, sap, foliage, pollarding, medicinal plants, peat, mast, fuelwood, fish, insects, spices, and forage. Overlapping concepts include non-wood forest products (NWFPs), wild forest products, minor forest produce, special, minor, alternative and secondary forest products – for further distinctions see the definition section below
Scaphium scaphigerum is a deciduous tropical nut-bearing tree of genus Scaphium.
Scaphium macropodum is a tree species in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae. No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life; there is little concern about its conservation status.
Malva sylvestris is a species of the mallow genus Malva in the family of Malvaceae and is considered to be the type species for the genus. Known as common mallow to English-speaking Europeans, it acquired the common names of cheeses, high mallow and tall mallow as it migrated from its native home in Western Europe, North Africa and Asia through the English-speaking world.
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Qingfei Yihuo Wan is a yellowish-brown honeyed pill used in Traditional Chinese medicine to "remove heat from the lungs, relieve cough, resolve phlegm and relax the bowels". It has a slight odor, and tastes bitter. It is used where there is "heat in the lung marked by cough, yellowish sticky phlegm, dryness of the mouth, sore throat and constipation".
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. Herbs generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant, while spices are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits.
Cordia dichotoma is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the Indomalayan realm, northern Australia, and western Melanesia.
This is a list of plants used by the indigenous people of North America. For lists pertaining specifically to the Cherokee, Iroquois, Navajo, and Zuni, see Cherokee ethnobotany, Iroquois ethnobotany, Navajo ethnobotany, and Zuni ethnobotany.
Senega officinalis is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family, Polygalaceae. It is native to North America, where it is found in southern Canada and the central and eastern United States. Its common names include Seneca snakeroot, senega snakeroot, senegaroot, rattlesnake root, and mountain flax. Its genus name honors the Seneca people, a Native American group who used the plant to treat snakebite.
Amomum ovoideum is a widespread shade-demanding rhizomatous herb of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) native to Southeast Asia. The plant bears fruits up to 2 cm (0.79 in) long, covered by slender, soft, red spines. When dried, the fruit produces cardamom seedpods similar to other cardamom spice plants.