This product is the dried whole herb of the Portulaca oleracea L. plant from the Portulacaceae family. It grows in moist and fertile soil in fields, roadsides, and near houses. It is distributed across most regions of the country and widely spread throughout tropical and temperate zones worldwide. It is an annual succulent herb; harvested in summer and autumn. The entire plant is uprooted, residual roots and impurities are removed, washed, slightly steamed or scalded, and then dried in the sun. It can be used fresh or raw.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Sweet and sour, cool. Act on liver, large intestine and bladder meridians.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Clearing heat and removing toxins, cooling blood and stopping dysentery, promoting urination and removing dampness, relieving constipation, improving vision.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for dampness-heat dysentery. Purslane Herb is cool in nature and smooth in quality, sour to astringe, enters the large intestine meridian, and has the effects of clearing heat and removing toxin, cooling blood and stopping bleeding, making it a common medication for treating dysentery. It can be used alone by decocting with water, or the fresh product can be mashed into juice and mixed with honey for oral administration, or it can be used together with Skullcap Root, Coptis Rhizome, etc.
2. Used for heat toxin sore and ulcer. Purslane Herb has the effects of clearing heat and removing toxin, cooling blood and reducing swelling, so it can be used for abscesses, sores, and ulcers. It can be used alone by decocting for internal use or external washing, or the fresh product can be mashed for external application, or it can be used in combination with other heat-clearing and detoxicating medicinals.
3. Used for menorrhagia and metrostaxis bloody stool. Purslane Herb is slightly cold, enters the liver meridian, and also has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood to stop bleeding. For treating reckless movement of blood due to heat, menorrhagia and metrostaxis with bleeding, it can be used alone by mashing into juice for oral administration or as an injection, with a significant effect of contracting the uterus to stop bleeding; for treating large intestine wind-heat bloody stool and hemorrhoid bleeding, it can be used alone or in combination with Sanguisorba, Chinese Honeylocust Fruit, Chinese brake herb.
4. In addition, it is used for heat stranguria and blood stranguria. It can be used alone or in combination with other hemostatic and stranguria-relieving medicinals.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Xinxiu Bencao: "Mainly treats various tumors, wart eye (verruca vulgaris), pound and rub it; drinking the juice treats nausea, various types of strangury, incised wound bleeding; use the sweat to wash lips, facial sores."
2. Bencao Gangmu: "Disperses blood and reduces swelling, benefits the intestines, habitual abortion, removing toxin, promotes urination, treats postpartum sweating."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

30-60 grams. Decoct in water, cook in porridge, or pound to extract juice. Double the amount for fresh products. For external use, apply an appropriate amount, decoct in water for washing, or pound and apply topically.

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

Deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach, contraindicated for those with intestinal slippage and diarrhea. Contraindicated for pregnant women.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

Purslane Herb contains large amounts of L-noradrenaline and dopamine, as well as small amounts of dopa. It also contains vitamins B1, B2, P, C, carotene, lysine, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, and more. Red amaranth contains potassium, sodium, magnesium, and chlorine. Purslane Herb comes in two varieties, green and red, both of which can be consumed as vegetables and are effective in treating dampness-heat enteritis and dysentery. However, it should be used with caution in cases of deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach with chronic diarrhea, and is contraindicated for pregnant women. Decoctions of Purslane Herb have been shown to inhibit various types of dysentery bacilli, cold-damage disease bacilli, and Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. They also exhibit inhibitory effects on certain pathogenic fungi. Injections of Purslane Herb have a significant stimulating effect on the smooth muscle of the uterus. Additionally, it can enhance intestinal peristalsis and has diuretic effects.