Medicinal uses of peony flowers

Peony is a common herb in our lives. It can not only be appreciated by people, but also eaten by people. Peony flowers are very beautiful and rich in vitamins and amino acids. They have the effects of beautifying the skin, promoting blood circulation and regulating menstruation, and anti-cancer and hemostasis. There are many types of peonies, which can be divided into hundreds of species according to their colors. Different types of peonies have different effects.

Peony pollen taken orally

Because peony pollen is rich in nutrients and has beauty and health care effects, it can be taken directly orally to achieve certain beauty and health care effects. The following are some simple application examples. (1) Anti-aging, skin beautifying ingredient features: high content of strong antioxidants, minerals, B vitamins and coenzymes, and balanced compatibility. Dosage: 5g/time, 3 times/day; take before each meal. (2) Characteristics of components in patients with constipation: high types and contents of enzymes and high vitamin content. Dosage: 10g/time, 3 times/day; take before each meal. (3) Characteristics of ingredients in patients with liver disease: high content of pollen polysaccharides, flavonoids, and strong antioxidants. Dosage: 10g/time; 3 times/day; take before each meal.

Medicinal value of peony

The root bark of peony is used as medicine, and the medicinal name is Danpi, also known as Mudan Cortex, Powdered Danpi, Wood Peony, Strip Danpi, etc. It has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. It is used for fever spots, vomiting blood, epistaxis, early stage of appendicitis, blood stasis and amenorrhea, bruises, carbuncles, sores and furuncle. Its paeonol has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antihypertensive, antibacterial and antispasmodic effects.

The harvesting of moutan bark, moutan bark likes a mild climate, is relatively cold-resistant and drought-resistant, and is afraid of high temperature, scorching sun, strong wind and waterlogging. It is suitable to be planted in sandy loam or silt sand with deep soil, good drainage, loose and fertile soil. It is not suitable to be planted in saline-alkali land. The methods of reproduction include sexual reproduction (seed reproduction) and asexual reproduction (division reproduction). It takes 3 to 4 years for division propagation and 4 to 6 years for seed sowing before harvest. The best time to harvest Cortex Moutan is after the leaves fall in autumn and before the buds sprout in early spring of the following year. Because Cortex Moutan is a root plant, a large amount of nutrients are stored in its roots during this period, which are only consumed after sprouts emerge from the ground in early spring. Therefore, those harvested during this period have high medicinal value, good quality, and are also conducive to reproduction and cultivation. Yang Chen and other researchers found that the best time to harvest peony seedlings is in October 3 to 4 years after transplanting, and the content of the active ingredient paeonol is higher than that of those harvested at other times. Shi Junqing and others further found that the peony bark in Tongling, Anhui should be harvested from late August to mid-September of the fourth year after transplanting. At this time, the yield is high, the quality is good, and the internal dry matter accumulation is high.

Processing of Cortex Moutan

The harvesting should be done on a sunny day. All the roots of the plant should be dug out, the soil should be shaken off, the fresh roots should be cut off, and they should be rinsed with water. The outer skin should be gently scraped off with a bamboo stick while it is still fresh. Place it in the sun for a day to allow the moisture to evaporate and soften. Then remove the fibrous roots (red roots), hold the fresh roots tightly with your hands, twist the root skin, and tear out the hard woody core of the root, commonly known as "pulling cramps". When extracting the core, it is generally easier to extract the thick ones, while the thin ones are difficult to extract. Just put the Cortex Moutan on a wooden bench and tap it lightly with a narrow board, and it will be easier to extract the core. Do not tap too hard, otherwise it will become fine powder, which will affect the grade of the medicinal material. Then spread it out on a mat rack in the yard to dry for two or three days. On a sunny day, it dries for a short time, becomes white and shiny, and has good quality. On a cloudy day, it dries slowly, becomes dark in color, and has poor quality. Therefore, it is not suitable to scrape or dry the skin on cloudy days. It should be dried after 8 am on sunny days when there is plenty of sunshine. If the outer skin is scraped off with bamboo strips after digging, it becomes scraped moutan bark (powdered moutan bark); if the outer skin is not removed and only the wood core is extracted and dried, it is called continuous moutan bark (original moutan bark). Generally, every 1.5kg of fresh roots can be processed into 0.25kg of Cortex Moutan, and the normal yield of Cortex Moutan per mu can reach more than 500kg. Some moutan bark is fumigated with sulfur during the processing process.

The processing process is to dig out the roots, tie them into small bundles according to their length and thickness, place them in a cool and humid place, and process them within 24 hours. First, wash and peel the cortex, then put the scraped cortex in a bucket of water. The water should be clean enough to submerge the cortex. When most of the Cortex Moutan in the bucket is still white and a small part of it has turned light red, take it out of the bucket immediately, wait for the water to drain, and then put it on the prepared firepit rack for sulfur fumigation. The fire should be strong, and the amount of sulfur should be determined according to the amount of Cortex Moutan, generally 20g for every 10kg Cortex Moutan. During fumigation, the container must be tightly closed to prevent sulfur smoke from escaping. Also, make sure to turn it over frequently. After about 20 minutes, you can remove it from the firebox. At this time, the color of the Cortex Moutan is fixed and will not change.

The important point to note here is: Never boil it in water. Although boiling it in boiling water can keep the color of the Cortex Moutan to a certain extent, it will lose its medicinal properties. After fumigation, the cortex is extracted and processed, and the cortex can be divided into three grades. First-class scraped dan: dry body, thin head circumference more than 2.4cm, length more than 6cm, flesh thickness more than 1.5mm; second-class scraped dan: dry body, thin head circumference more than 1.7cm, flesh thickness more than 1.3mm, length more than 5cm; third-class scraped dan: dry body, thin head circumference more than 0.9cm, flesh thickness more than 1mm, length more than 4cm. First-class Liandan: dry body, thin head circumference more than 2.5cm, flesh thickness more than 1.7mm, length more than 6cm; second-class Liandan: dry body, thin head circumference more than 1.8cm, flesh thickness more than 1.5mm, length more than 5cm; third-class Liandan: dry body, thin head circumference more than 1cm, flesh thickness more than 1mm, length more than 4cm. Because the bark of moutan is easy to break, in order to facilitate transportation and storage, the processed root bark is usually cut into small sections of 6 to 15 cm in length, packed into wooden boxes or bamboo baskets or baskets according to grades, padded with moisture-proof paper, and then sealed.