Dolichos, Hyacinth Bean, Bai Bian Dou 白扁豆
Hyacinth Bean, Lablab
Bai Bian Dou (TCM)
Mon sran leb mo མོན་སྲན་ལེབ་མོ (Tibetan)
Bai Bian Dou (TCM)
Mon sran leb mo མོན་སྲན་ལེབ་མོ (Tibetan)
Wight, R., Illustrations of Indian botany, principally of the southern parts of the peninsula, Supplement,(1850)
Engler, A., Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete (1895)
Botanical name:
Dolichos lablab (syn. D. purpureus, Lablab purpureus)
Parts used:
White Seed (bean)
Temperature & Taste:
Neutral (slightly Cool, dry), Sweet
Classification:
C. Clear Damp, Promote Urine
Dolichos lablab (syn. D. purpureus, Lablab purpureus)
Parts used:
White Seed (bean)
Temperature & Taste:
Neutral (slightly Cool, dry), Sweet
Classification:
C. Clear Damp, Promote Urine
Uses:
1. Strengthens Spleen and Stomach, Clears Damp:
-chronic Diarrhea or Dysentery with weakness and poor appetite (TCM, Tibetan)
-Leukorrhea due to Spleen deficiency and Damp
-also as an adjunct for chronic Nephritis and Rheumatism
2. Clears Heat and Damp:
-Summer-heat (acute Heat diseases in Summer) with Diarrhea or Vomiting
-Sunstroke (Tibetan)
3. Resists Poison:
-Food Poisoning (including Poison fish, bad food, etc.) (TCM, Tibetan)
-acute Gastroenteritis
-also for Hangover
DOSE:
They are only used after cooking or preparation. They should be well soaked and washed before cooking.
10–30 grams in decoction or soup
COMMENT:
There are White, Red and Black Hyacinth Beans, only the White are used medicinally.
PREPARATION:
1. Dry Fried Hyacinth Bean: then bean in dry fried in a wok until yellow and a little scorched. This is stronger to tonify the Spleen and clear Damp. Especially good for weak digestion.
They are only used after cooking or preparation. They should be well soaked and washed before cooking.
10–30 grams in decoction or soup
COMMENT:
There are White, Red and Black Hyacinth Beans, only the White are used medicinally.
PREPARATION:
1. Dry Fried Hyacinth Bean: then bean in dry fried in a wok until yellow and a little scorched. This is stronger to tonify the Spleen and clear Damp. Especially good for weak digestion.
Main Combinations:
1. Spleen deficiency:
i. with Dioscorea Shan Yao to tonify the Spleen. This combination is very gentle and can be used where other tonic medicines are not tolerated.
ii. Dampness with Diarrhea Codonopsis Dang Shen, Atractylodes Bai Zhu, Poria Fu Ling (as in Shen Ling Bai Zhu San)
iii. Spleen deficiency with Poor digestion, lack of appetite with Food Stagnation, with Atractylodes Bai Zhu, Amomum Sha Ren, Chicken Gizzard Skin (Ji Nei Jin)
2. Food Poisoning:
i. with fresh Ginger and Mung Bean (Lu Dou)
ii. Puffer fish poisoning, with Phragmitis Lu Gen
iii. Hangover, with Amomum rotundus Bai Dou Kou and Pueraria Ge Hua
3. Summer-heat:
i. prepare a Rice congee with Hyacinth bean (25 grams), Rice (50 grams). Soak then beans well for several hours, then prepare a congee with the Rice. This is an excellent food in the heat of Summer.
ii. Summer-heat and Damp, with Pogostemon Huo Xiang, Costus (Mu Xiang), Magnolia bark (Hou Po), Citrus Chen Pi, Licorice, Hawthorn stir-fried (Chao Shan Zha) (as in Liu He Ding Zhong Wan of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
4. Leukorrhea, with Atractylodes Cang Zhu, Cuttlefish bone
Major Formulas:
Shen Ling Bai Zhu San
Xiangsu Zhengwei Wan
Cautions:
1. They are toxic if not cooked. Toxicity manifests with nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea which may lead to headache, vertigo, numbness.
Main Preparations used:
1. They are toxic if not cooked. Toxicity manifests with nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea which may lead to headache, vertigo, numbness.
Main Preparations used: