Prunus, Plum-tree, Prune
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P. domestica
Dioscorides Materia Medica, Mathias, 1563 |
P. sylvestris
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578 |
Flora von Deutschland (25), Kohler, 1886
ADVERTISEMENT:
Botanical name:
Prunus domestica
Many types of Plums were used: Garden or Wild (Sloes); great, small, long, round, white, red, yellow, purple, black; sweet or sour Damascens (with a long kernel) were regarded as best
Parts used:
Fruit; Dried fruit is Prune
Temperature & Taste:
Cool, moist
Classifications:
2F. PURIFYING 2G. CLEANSING
3B. FEBRIFUGE & ANTIPYRETIC
4e. STOMACHIC
Prunus domestica
Many types of Plums were used: Garden or Wild (Sloes); great, small, long, round, white, red, yellow, purple, black; sweet or sour Damascens (with a long kernel) were regarded as best
Parts used:
Fruit; Dried fruit is Prune
Temperature & Taste:
Cool, moist
Classifications:
2F. PURIFYING 2G. CLEANSING
3B. FEBRIFUGE & ANTIPYRETIC
4e. STOMACHIC
Uses:
1. Clears Heat, Opens the Bowels:
-good to clear Heat and open the Bowels in Fever and Heat disease
-allay sharp Humors (Damascens are best)
-‘They cool excellently in Fevers’. (especially Prunellaes)
-Steep in water and the water drunk, they quench Thirst
NOTE:
Various types of Prunes were known and applied to different disorders. Damask Prunes (Damascens) from Syria were generally most used and were regarded as best. The Prunellaes are most cooling, best to clear Heat, but don't open the Bowels.
DOSE:
3–5 fruits as a normal dose; 7 taken at night work as a laxative; 10–15 act as a purgative
CORRECTIVES:
Jujube, Mastic, Rose
SUBSTITUTES:
Tamarind
Various types of Prunes were known and applied to different disorders. Damask Prunes (Damascens) from Syria were generally most used and were regarded as best. The Prunellaes are most cooling, best to clear Heat, but don't open the Bowels.
DOSE:
3–5 fruits as a normal dose; 7 taken at night work as a laxative; 10–15 act as a purgative
CORRECTIVES:
Jujube, Mastic, Rose
SUBSTITUTES:
Tamarind
ADVERTISEMENT:
Main Combinations:
1. To clear Heat and open the belly, combine with Tamarind pulp and Cassia
2. To clear Heat in Fevers, to the above add Sandalwood, Rhubarb, Violet, Purslane, Barberry, Tragacanth (as in Diaprunis)
Major Formulas:
Common Decoction
Decoction of Fruit
Decoction of Fruit and Flowers
Decoction of Myrobalan (Mesue)
Decoction to Cool
Cordial Decoction (Florentini)
Decoction of Senna
Decoction to Expel Bile (Andernacus)
Syrup of Dodder of Thyme (Mesue)
Electuary of Prunes (Diaprunis lenitiva) (Nicholas)
Arabian Confect Purging Melancholy (Confectio Hamech) (Mesue)
Triphera Persica (Mesue)
ADVERTISEMENT:
1. To clear Heat and open the belly, combine with Tamarind pulp and Cassia
2. To clear Heat in Fevers, to the above add Sandalwood, Rhubarb, Violet, Purslane, Barberry, Tragacanth (as in Diaprunis)
Major Formulas:
Common Decoction
Decoction of Fruit
Decoction of Fruit and Flowers
Decoction of Myrobalan (Mesue)
Decoction to Cool
Cordial Decoction (Florentini)
Decoction of Senna
Decoction to Expel Bile (Andernacus)
Syrup of Dodder of Thyme (Mesue)
Electuary of Prunes (Diaprunis lenitiva) (Nicholas)
Arabian Confect Purging Melancholy (Confectio Hamech) (Mesue)
Triphera Persica (Mesue)
ADVERTISEMENT:
Cautions:
1. Not suitable for those with Cold and weak digestion.
-‘The fresh and crude loosen the Belly, but they easily putrify, and therefore are not to be eaten much, especially after meat’. (Schroder)
Main Preparations used:
Preserved Plums, Pulp of Plums, Electuary Diaprunus, Diaprunum compound
1. Pulp of Prunes:
i. Take Prunes, soften in hot water; pour off the liquor, remove the stones and force the pulp through a sieve, pressing it with a wooden spoon. (Dispensarium Lippiacum, 1792)
1. Not suitable for those with Cold and weak digestion.
-‘The fresh and crude loosen the Belly, but they easily putrify, and therefore are not to be eaten much, especially after meat’. (Schroder)
Main Preparations used:
Preserved Plums, Pulp of Plums, Electuary Diaprunus, Diaprunum compound
1. Pulp of Prunes:
i. Take Prunes, soften in hot water; pour off the liquor, remove the stones and force the pulp through a sieve, pressing it with a wooden spoon. (Dispensarium Lippiacum, 1792)