What is Gastrodia elata

Do you know what Gastrodia elata is? It is also called Helicao, Mingtianma, and Chijian. Its rhizome can be used as a medicine to treat many diseases. It is also a very precious medicinal material. Its main use is for medicinal purposes. It can treat some uncomfortable symptoms and has a good regulating effect on many organs of the body. Let’s take a look at the following knowledge about what Gastrodia elata is.

Do you want to know what Gastrodia elata is? It is a very precious Chinese medicine and also a very common medicinal food. The content of vitamin A in Gastrodia elata is particularly high, and it can treat some common diseases. Common medicinal foods include Gastrodia elata stewed with fish and Gastrodia elata stewed with native chicken.

Morphological characteristics

The Gastrodia elata plant is 30-100 cm tall, sometimes up to 2 meters; the rhizome is thick, tuberous-oval to nearly dumbbell-shaped, fleshy, 8-12 cm long, 3-5 (7) cm in diameter, sometimes larger, with denser nodes, and the nodes are covered with many triangular-shaped broad-ovate sheaths.

Stem: Erect, orange-yellow, yellow, gray-brown or blue-green, without green leaves, covered with several membranous sheaths at the bottom.

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Capsule: obovate-elliptical, 1.4-1.8 cm long and 8-9 mm wide. Flowering and fruiting period is May to July.

Efficacy and Usage

1. Nature and flavor: sweet, neutral.

① "Ben Jing": spicy, warm.

② "Material Treatise": non-toxic. Sweet, neutral taste.

③ "Origins of Medicine": Flat nature, bitter taste.

2. Meridians: Enters the Liver meridian.

① "Compendium of Materia Medica": Enters the Qi division of the Liver Channel.

② "Leigong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie" says: It enters the liver and bladder meridians.

③ "New Edition of Materia Medica": enters the spleen, kidney, liver, gallbladder and heart meridians.

3. Efficacy: Calms wind and soothes shock. It is used to treat dizziness, dark eyes, headache, numbness of limbs, hemiplegia, slurred speech, and epilepsy in children.

① "Ben Jing": It can cure bad breath, and long-term use can increase energy and strength, and make the penis longer, plump and healthy.

② "Bielu": It can eliminate carbuncle, fullness in the lower limbs, hernia, and bleeding.

③ "Materia Medica": Treats stubborn numbness caused by cold, paralysis, slurred speech, and loss of consciousness due to fright.

Common Medicinal Food

Gastrodia elata is rich in gastrodin, gastrodia polysaccharides, vitamin A, glycosides, bioalkaloids, vanillin, vanillic aldehyde, succinic acid, β-sitosterol, mucus, etc., among which gastrodin and gastrodia polysaccharides are the main components. It can be used in meals to make Gastrodia elata walnut fish, Gastrodia elata stewed with native chicken, Gastrodia elata bamboo juice porridge, Gastrodia elata winter vegetable braised pork, Gastrodia elata braised oxtail, Gastrodia elata duck, Gastrodia elata boiled eggs, Gastrodia elata pheasant hotpot, Gastrodia elata pig brain porridge, Gastrodia elata pork ribs hotpot, Gastrodia elata stewed with pigeon, Gastrodia elata fish head soup, etc. It can also play a certain therapeutic role.

Now everyone should have some understanding of what Gastrodia elata is. It is a very common medicinal food. Its biggest function is medicinal use. There are already many medicinal foods about Gastrodia elata. You can learn some about them. They can provide scientific treatment for many diseases of the body and can also regulate your body well.