What is the function of a turtle shell?

In our daily life, there are many medicinal herbs that we don’t know about. Even though tortoise shells are very famous, most people don’t know that they are medicinal herbs, because they don’t understand or know tortoise shells. They always think that tortoise shells are just the shells that turtles have shed and they have no effect. In fact, tortoise shells can be used for diet therapy and medicinal herbs after grinding. Turtle shells are mild and slightly cold in nature. They can enter the spleen, liver, and stomach, while also nourishing the blood and heart. They have very good value for regulating qi and blood.

Tortoise Shell

Turtle shell is the plastron of a turtle, also known as tortoise shell, Wuyuan board, drag board, defeated general, and god's house. "Shennong's Herbal Classic" calls it "top grade". The 1985 edition of the "Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that the abdominal carapace can be used as medicine. The carapace and plastron have begun to become interchangeable.

Medicinal Materials-Form

Medicinal Materials-Form

In fact, both the carapace and the plastron were used as medicine in ancient my country. The three-lined shell turtle's shell is a broken plate, black in color, and the carapace is brown with three obvious raised black vertical lines, with the middle one being the most obvious. The surface of the turtle shell is yellow-brown or purple-brown, while the turtles that grow in mining caves are black. There are 12 angular plates in tortoise shell, 6 pairs in size, which are in the shape of plates, nearly rectangular and oval, 5-20 cm long and 5-13 cm wide. The tortoise shell of turtles raised at home is larger than the above one. The angular plates are serrated, the front end is blunt or truncated, the rear end has a triangular notch, and there are wing-shaped carapace bridges on both sides that are bent obliquely upwards. Some have been removed. Turtle Plate

Medicinal Materials-Form

The ground is solid and can break at the bone joints.

【Preparation method】

Turtle shell: Place in a steamer and steam in boiling water for 45 minutes. Take out and put in hot water. Immediately use a stiff brush to remove the skin and flesh, wash and dry.

Vinegar-cooked tortoise shell: Take clean tortoise shell and fry it with sand according to the blanching method (Appendix II D) until the surface turns light yellow. Take it out, quench it with vinegar and dry it. Crush when using. For every 100kg of tortoise shell, use 20kg of vinegar.

[Properties] The carapace and plastron of this product are connected by a bridge. The carapace is slightly longer than the plastron and is often separated from the plastron. The carapace is oblong and arched, 7.5 to 22 cm long and 6 to 18 cm wide; the outer surface is brown or dark brown, with 3 ridges; there is one cervical shield, narrow in front and wide in the back; there are 5 vertebral shields, the first vertebral shield is longer than wide or nearly equal, and the second to fourth vertebral shields are wider than long; the costal shields are symmetrical on both sides, with 4 on each side, 11 marginal shields on each side, and 2 anal shields. The plastron is plate-like, nearly rectangular and oval, 6.4 to 21 cm long and 5.5 to 17 cm wide; the outer surface is light yellow-brown to brown-black, with 12 scutes, each often with purple-brown radial texture, the mid-seam of the abdominal shield, pectoral shield and femoral shield are all long, followed by the laryngeal shield and anal shield, and the mid-seam of the humeral shield is the shortest; the inner surface is yellow-white to gray-white, some with slight bloodstains or residual meat, after removing them, 9 bone plates can be seen, which are serrated; the front end is blunt or truncated, the rear end has a triangular notch, and there are wing-shaped bridges on both sides that are bent obliquely upward. Hard texture. It has a slightly fishy smell and a slightly salty taste.

[Nature and flavor and meridians] Salty, sweet, slightly cold. It enters the liver, kidney and heart meridians.

[ Functions and indications] Nourishes yin and suppresses yang, benefits the kidneys and strengthens bones, nourishes blood and replenishes the heart. It is used for hot flashes due to yin deficiency, night sweats due to bone steaming, dizziness, internal wind movement, weakness of muscles and bones, and forgetfulness due to heart deficiency.