Chinese Medicinal Materials: Loofah Vine

丝瓜络，拼音Sī Guā Luò，英文名Towel Gourd Vegetable Sponge, Vegetable Sponge of Luffa，又称天萝筋、丝瓜网、丝瓜壳、瓜络、絮瓜瓤、天罗线、丝瓜筋、丝瓜瓤、千层楼、丝瓜布。它的药材基源为葫芦科植物丝瓜或奥丝瓜成熟果实的维管束。

拉丁植物的名字是Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem., L. Acutangula Roxb.，采收和储藏的方法是在秋季采摘成熟的果实，搓去外皮及果肉后，晒干或用水浸泡至果皮和果肉腐烂，取出洗净，除去种子，晒干。

原形态

Luffa sponge gourd is an annual climbing herbaceous plant. Its stems are rough, with ridges and slight hairs. The stem tendrils usually have 2-4 branches. The leaves are alternate, with rough petioles, 10-12 cm long, nearly hairless; the leaf blades are triangular or nearly circular, 10-12 cm long and wide, usually palmately 5-7 lobed, with triangular lobes, the middle lobe being longer, 8-12 cm long, pointed at the tip, with serrated margins, deep heart-shaped base, dark green on the upper surface with warts, light green on the lower surface with short soft hairs, veins palmate, and white long soft hairs. The flowers are monoecious, with both male and female flowers on the same plant; male flowers usually 10-20 borne at the top of the cyme, cyme peduncle stout, 12-14 cm long, pedicel 2 cm long; calyx tubular-campanulate, covered with short soft hairs; corolla yellow, funnelform, 5-9 cm in diameter when fully open, with 5 segments, elongate-ovate, 0.8-1.3 cm long, 0.4-0.7 cm wide, with yellowish white long soft hairs on the inside, 3-5 raised veins on the outside, 5 stamens, filament 6-8 mm long, initially slightly closed when the flower opens, eventually completely separated; female flowers solitary, pedicels 2-10 cm long; calyx androecium same as male flowers, reduced stamens 3, ovary long cylindrical, hairy, stigma with 3 enlarged parts. The fruit is cylindrical, straight or slightly bent, 15-30 cm long, 5-8 cm in diameter, smooth surface, usually with dark longitudinal stripes, fleshy when immature, dry when mature, with reticular fibers inside and covered with a cap-like lid at the apex. There are many black, ovate, flattened seeds without narrow wings on the edges. The flowering and fruiting period is in summer and autumn.

Habitat

The silk gourd vine can be grown all over the country, with better quality in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. The silk gourd cloth is mainly produced in Guangdong.

Characteristics and Identification

The silk gourd vine is composed of a network of vascular bundles, mostly elongated and slightly curved, with varying lengths up to 70cm and a diameter of 5-10cm. The surface is yellowish-white, rough, with several shallow longitudinal grooves, and sometimes remnants of fruit skin and membranous fruit inside. It is lightweight, has good toughness, and is elastic. On the cross-section, there are 3 cavities, sometimes with remnants of black seeds. It has a faint odor and a mild taste. The best quality silk gourd vine is large, intact, with clear veins, good toughness, light yellowish-white color, and no seeds.

Chemical Components

The silk gourd vine contains xylan and cellulose, and may also contain mannans, galactans, and lignin.

Pharmacological Effects

  1. Hepatic effects: The triterpene acids in the silk gourd vine have a therapeutic effect on acute liver injury caused by carbon tetrachloride in rats. It can alleviate hepatocyte cytolysis, vacuolar degeneration, necrosis, and lobular degeneration.
  2. Other functions: The folic acid in the ridgegourd vine has a strong cardiotonic and diuretic effect, and can inhibit the growth of S-180 tumor.

Toxicity

No obvious toxicity and side effects were observed when the folic acid in the ridgegourd vine was administered at a minimum of 120mg per kilogram of body weight. Animals were continuously administered at 100 times the clinical dose for 10 days and underwent microscopic examination. No significant damage was found in 11 organs such as the brain, heart, and liver, indicating low toxicity and safe use.

Processing

  1. Ridgegourd vine: Wash and dry, cut into sections.
  2. Stir-fried Ridgegourd Vine: Take the cut ridgegourd vine sections and stir-fry with bran until yellow, remove, and sift out the bran.
  3. Charred Ridgegourd Vine: Take the cut ridgegourd vine sections, place them in a pot (fill to the top), and then cover with a pot of the same size. Seal the junction between the two pots with yellow clay, and then heat at low fire for about 4-5 hours (usually stick a piece of white paper on the bottom of the top pot, it is considered charred when the paper turns yellowish-brown), remove and cool.

Properties and Channels Entered

Ridgegourd vine has a bitter taste, a cool property, and enters the Lung, Liver, and Stomach channels.

Functions and Indications

Snake gourd stalk has the functions of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, detoxifying, and reducing swelling. It is mainly used for chest and hypochondriac pain, rheumatic arthralgia, spasm of meridians, insufficient lactation, lung cough, abscess, and other types of carbuncles.

Usage and Dosage

  1. Internal use: Decoction, 5-15g each time; or grind into powder, 1.5-3g each time.
  2. External use: Appropriate amount, grind into powder and apply externally.

Discussions in different books

  1. Ben Cao Bian Du: Snake gourd stalk enters meridians and collaterals, dispels evil heat. When heat is eliminated, wind is dispelled, and the fluid in the collaterals does not combine to form phlegm, thus it transforms into swelling and toxic symptoms, hence the name detoxification.
  2. Yi Lin Zuan Yao: Cooling blood, promoting blood circulation in meridians and collaterals, relieving smallpox toxin.
  3. Ben Cao Zai Xin: Promoting blood circulation in meridians and collaterals, harmonizing blood vessels, transforming phlegm and regulating qi.
  4. Fen Lei Cao Yao Xing: Treating breast swelling and pain, decoct after calcination and take with wine. Grind into powder and mix with sesame oil for external application on burns.
  5. Xian Dai Shi Yong Zhong Yao: Promoting lactation, treating smallpox and sores. Treating non-healing carbuncles. Take internally after being burnt black to treat intestinal bleeding, dysentery, uterine bleeding, orchitis and swelling, bleeding hemorrhoids, etc.
  6. Lu Chuan Ben Cao: Cooling blood, detoxifying, diuretic. Treating lung heat with phlegm cough, delirium caused by heat diseases, restlessness due to heart heat, spasms of hands and feet.

The above content is excerpted from Zhong Hua Ben Cao.