Pharmaceutical Name:

Semen Sinapsis seu Brassicae

Botanical Name:

Sinapis Alba (L.) Boiss.
Brassica Juncea (L.) Czern. Et Coss

Common Name:

Brassica Seed
White Mustard Seed

Source of Earliest Record:

Mingyi Bielu

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

After the white-mustard ripens in summer or autumn, the seeds are gathered and dried in the sun.

Properties and Taste:

Pungent and warm

Meridian:

Lung

Functions:

To warm the lungs and resolve phlegm
To invigorate qi circulation and disperse nodules
To open the channels and stop pain

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Lungs blocked by cold-phlegm manifested as cough with profuse, dilute and white sputum and stifling sensation in the chest.
*Use with Perilla seed (Suzi) and Radish seed (Laifuzi) in the formula Sanzi Yangqing Tang.

2.     Retention of phlegm-damp in the chest and diaphragm manifested as distension and pain in the chest and hypochondriac region.
*Use with Kansui root (Gansui) and Peking spurge root (Daji).

3.     Channels and collaterals obstructed by phlegm-damp manifested as joint pain and numbness of the limbs.
*Use with Myrrh (Moyao) and Costus root (Muxiang).

4.     Yin carbuncles and swellings without discoloration of the skin.
*Use with Antler glue (Lujiaojiao), Cinnamon bark (Rougui) and Prepared rehmannia root (Shudihuang) in the formula Yanghe Tang.

Dosage:

3-10 g