Mentha (Bohe)

Mentha (Bohe)

Pharmaceutical Name: Herba Menthae
Botanical Name: Mentha haplocalyx Brig.
Common Name:Mentha
Peppermint
Source of Earliest Record: Xinxiu Bencao
art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: The entire plant, including leaves, is gathered in any season. The leaves can be picked two or three times each year, dried in a shady place and then cut into pieces.
Properties and Taste: Pungent and cool
Meridian: Lung and liver
Functions: To disperse wind-heat and clear the head and eyes
To promote liver qi, allowing it to flow freely
To bring rashes to the surface
Indications and Combinations: 1. Wind-heat exterior syndrome manifested as fever, headache, mild aversion to wind and cold, sore throat and red eyes. 
*Use with Platycodon root (Jiegeng), Arctium fruit (Niubangzi) and Chrysanthemum flower (Juhua).

2. Early stage of measles with slight rash. 
*Use with Arctium fruit (Niubangzi) and Pueraria root (Gegen).

3. Stagnation of qi in the liver manifested as a full sensation and pain in the chest and costal region. 
*Use with White peony root (Baishao) and Bupleurum root (Chaihu) in the formula Xiaoyao San .
Dosage: 2-10 g
Cautions: This herb should not be boiled for a long time.