Ginkgo Seed (Baiguo)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Semen Ginkgo |
| Botanical Name: | Ginkgo biloba L. |
| Common Name: | Ginkgo Seed |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Bencao Gangmu |
| art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The ripe seeds are gathered in autumn, cleaned and dried in the sun. After the shells of the seeds have been broken, the seeds are removed and pounded into pieces. |
| Properties and Taste: | Sweet, bitter, astringent, neutral and slightly toxic |
| Meridian: | Lung |
| Functions: | To strengthen lung Qi and soothe asthma To relieve leukorrhea |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Asthma: a) Asthma with stifling sensation in the chest and cough with profuse, dilute sputum. *Use with Ephedra (Mahuang) and Licorice root (Gancao). b) Asthma with stifling sensation in the chest and cough with thick yellow sputum. *Use with Scutellaria root (Huangqin) and Mulberry bark (Sangbaipi) in the formula Dingchuan Tang. 2. Leukorrhea: a) Downward flowing of damp-heat manifested as yellow, odorous leukorrhea. *Use with Phellodendron bark (Huangbai) and Plantain seed (Cheqianzi) in the formula Yihuang Tang. b) Deficiency of kidney yang manifested as whitish, odorless leukorrhea. *Use with Cinnamon bark (Rougui), Astragalus root (Huangqi) and Dogwood fruit (Shanzhuyu). |
| Dosage: | 6-10 g |