Immature Bitter Orange (Zhishi)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Fructus Aurantii Immaturus |
| Botanical Name: | Citrus aurantium L. Citrus sinensis Osbeck |
| Common Name: | Immature Bitter Orange fruit |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Shennong Bencao Jing |
| art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The immature fruit is gathered in July or August. The fruit is halved and dried in the sun, cleaned, soaked in water overnight, cut into slices and dried again. |
| Properties and Taste: | Bitter, pungent and slightly cold |
| Meridian: | Spleen, stomach and large intestine |
| Functions: | To disperse stagnant qi and relieve food retention To resolve phlegm and relieve fullness sensation |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Retention of food manifested as epigastric and abdominal distension and fullness and belching with foul odor. *Use with Hawthorn fruit (Shanzha), Germinated barley (Maiya) and Medicated leaven (Shenqu). 2. Abdominal distension, fullness and constipation. *Use with Magnolia bark (Houpo) and Rhubarb (Dahuang). 3. Weakness of the spleen and stomach in transporting and transforming manifested as epigastric and abdominal distension and fullness after meals. *Use with White atractylodes (Baizhu) in the formula Zhi Zhu Wan. 4. Damp-heat stagnating in the intestines manifested as dysentery, tenesmus and abdominal pain. *Use with Rhubarb (Dahuang), Coptis root (Huanglian) and Scutellaria root (Huangqin) in the formula Zhishi Daozhi Wan. 5. Turbid phlegm blocking circulation of qi in the chest manifested as stifling sensation and pain in the chest, epigastric fullness and nausea. *Use with Macrostem onion (Xiebai), Cinnamon twigs (Guizhi) and Trichosanthes fruit (Gualou) in the formula Zhishi Xiebai Guizhi Tang. 6. Prolapse of the uterus, rectum and stomach. *Use with White atractylodes (Baizhu) and Astragalus root (Huangqi). |
| Dosage: | 3-10 g |
| Cautions: | This herb should be used with caution during pregnancy. |