What is bitter bean

There are many kinds of common foods in life. We cannot choose foods arbitrarily, especially for some foods that we don’t know much about. If we eat them randomly, it will cause great harm to our health. Common foods are vegetables, fruits, and meat. The vitamins and proteins contained in these foods are needed by the human body and have no harm to human health. So what are bitter beans?

Many people do not know what bitter beans are, so when choosing it, they need to have a good understanding of it, so that when using it, they will know how to use it best without any harm to their health.

What are bitter beans ?

Sophora alopecuroides L, also known as Buya (Western name), is an important medicinal plant resource and component of natural vegetation in Ningxia. Its wild resources are widely distributed, with large reserves and outstanding population advantages. Due to its high medicinal value and ecological function, the rational protection and development and utilization of bitter bean resources have attracted more and more attention. The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has listed bitter bean as one of the six authentic medicinal materials that are key protected and included it in the National Action Plan for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industry. Both production base construction and in-depth development have made great progress. The root of this plant (Glycyrrhiza uralensis) is also used for medicinal purposes, which is described in a separate article.

Medicinal value

Chemical composition

The chemical components of bitter bean are mainly protein, sugar, organic acid, flavonoids, pigment and alkaloids. Sophora alopecuroides bioalkaloids belong to the quinolizidine bioalkaloids, which are composed of two fused piperidine rings formed by trivalent nitrogen atoms, also known as double-fused piperidine, and are still derivatives of piperidine or pyridine. According to their structure, they can be divided into three types: lupinine, a bicyclic type; cytisine, a tricyclic type; and spatheine, a tetracyclic type.

The bioalkaloids extracted, separated and identified from Sophora alopecuroides include: sophora flavescensine, sophoracarpine, sophoramine, neosophoramine, sophoridine, sophora flavescens-N-oxide, sophoracarpine-N-oxide, sophoridine-N-oxide, 3-d-hydroxysophoridine, 13,14-dehydrosophoridine, N-hydroxysophoridine, N-hydroxy-13,14-dehydrosophoridine, sophora flavescens, N-methylsophorine, allylsophorine, cyperine, N-methylcyperine, pyridine, triproyltetramine and two new bioalkaloids with lupine structural characteristics, a total of 21 bioalkaloids.

The composition and content of the main bioalkaloids in bitter bean are affected by many factors. For example, the content of bitter bean alkaloids is higher in leaves but not in roots, while sophora flavescens and sophoridine are distributed in various organs. The total alkali content of bitter bean is 2.790% in the leaves in the green stage, 3.760% in the flower buds, 4.765% in the stems, and 5.218% in the whole plant; in the late frost stage, it is 2.705% in the leaves, 3.179% in the stems, and 7.446% in the seeds, and is mainly concentrated in the seeds. In terms of regions, the Ningxia production area has the highest total bioalkali content of 5.218%. In addition, the bitter bean grown in alkaline soil does not contain lysine, glycine, proline, but has a high content of tryptophan. The amino acid content directly affects the synthesis of biota in plants, which is the main reason why the composition and content of biota vary depending on the origin.

Effects

【Properties】Bitter and cold. poisonous. It enters the stomach and large intestine meridians.

【Effects】Clears away heat and dampness, relieves pain, and kills insects.

【application】

Sophora alopecuroides

1.Damp-heat diarrhea. This product is bitter and cold in nature, and can clear away heat and dampness to stop dysentery. It is effective when used alone to treat diarrhea due to damp-heat, tenesmus.

2. Epigastric pain and acid reflux. This product enters the stomach meridian and can clear stomach heat. It can treat stomach heat, stomach pain, and acid regurgitation. Five seeds can be ground into powder and taken orally, or combined with dandelion, ginger, etc. (Xinjiang Chinese Herbal Medicine Handbook)

3. Eczema and stubborn ringworm. This product has the functions of clearing away heat, drying dampness, killing insects and can be used to treat eczema and stubborn ringworm. Its distilled oil can be made into ointment for external application.

4. Excessive vaginal discharge. This product is used to clear away heat and dry dampness to stop leucorrhea. It can be effectively taken orally.

5. Boils and ulcers. This product can both clear away heat and fight poison with poison, so it can be used to treat heat-toxic sores, ulcers and other symptoms. You can crush an appropriate amount of this product, boil it into a decoction and wash the affected area.

[Usage and Dosage] Decoction of the whole herb, 1.5-3g. Fry the seeds, grind into powder and take 5 seeds each time.

【Precautions】This product is toxic and should not be taken in large amounts.

Pharmacological Action

Sophora flavescens tastes extremely bitter, is cold and poisonous in nature, and has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, analgesic and insecticidal. The roots are used by the people to treat sore throat, cough, dysentery and eczema. There are eight main bioalkalis used in drug development: matrine MT, oxymatrinel OMT, sophocarpine sc, oxysophocarpine OSC, sophoramine SA, sophoridine SRI, lehmannine LEH, and alopefine ALO. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The above is a detailed introduction to what bitter beans are. It is a medicinal material with rich medicinal value, and it is also very effective in treating diseases. However, when choosing it, it is also necessary to do it correctly, especially when using it, it needs to be done according to needs, which is beneficial to its own healthy development.