This product is the mature seed of the perennial herb Plantago asiatica (Plantago asiatica L.) or Plantago depressa (P. depressa Willd.) of the Plantaginaceae family. The former is distributed throughout the country, while the latter is found in the northern provinces. It is mainly produced in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hebei, and other regions. The seeds are harvested when mature during the summer and autumn seasons and used either raw or processed with saltwater.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Sweet, cold. Act on kidney, liver and lung meridians.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Diuretic and draining dampness, checking diarrhea, clearing heat and improving vision, clearing the lungs and resolving phlegm.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for edema, stranguria. This product is sweet and smooth, cold and cool to clear heat, and has the effect of promoting urination and relieving strangury. It is especially suitable for those with dampness-heat pouring down into the bladder causing dribbling urination and painful urination. It is often used with Akebia Stem, Talc, Grass of Common KnotGrass, and other heat-clearing and dampness-draining herbs, such as Eight-Ingredient Rectification Powder.
2. Used for summerheat dampness diarrhea. This product can promote urination, separate the clear from the turbid, and stop diarrhea, i.e., promote urination to solidify stool. Therefore, it is used to treat watery diarrhea due to dampness in the large intestine with difficulty in urination. It can be used alone by grinding it into powder and taking it with rice water. Or it can be used with White Atractylodes Rhizome, Poria, Alisma, etc.
3. Used for red eye with painful urination, blurred vision, and nebula. Because it is good at clearing liver heat and improving vision, it is often used with Chrysanthemum Flower, Cassia Seed, etc., to treat red eye with painful urination. If there is liver and kidney yin deficiency, blurred vision, or internal visual obstruction, it should be combined with Prepared Rehmannia Root, Dodder Seed, and other blood-nourishing and vision-improving herbs, such as Permanent Eyesight Pill.
4. Used for phlegm-heat cough. This product enters the lung meridian and can clear the lung and resolve phlegm to stop coughing. It is used to treat lung heat cough with excessive phlegm, often used with Trichosanthis Fruit, Fritillaria Bulb, loquat leaf, and other lung-clearing and phlegm-resolving herbs.
5. In addition, for treating hypertension, this product can be decocted and taken as tea.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Benjing: "Dominant qi, relieves pain, promotes urination, eliminates fixed arthralgia."
2. Bielu: "Injuries in men, strangury during pregnancy in women, anorexia. Nourishes the lungs, strengthens the yin, benefits essence, promotes fertility, improves vision, treats red and painful eyes."
3. Bencao Gangmu: "Drains small intestine heat, stops summerheat dampness diarrhea."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

Decoct and take 10-15g. It is advisable to wrap it in a cloth.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

Plantain Seed contains a significant amount of mucilage, amber acid, plantainol, adenine, choline, plantain seed base, fatty oil, vitamins A and B, among others. This product has a notable diuretic effect and can also promote the secretion of mucus in the respiratory tract, thereby thinning phlegm, which contributes to its phlegm-dispelling properties. It exhibits inhibitory effects against various bacilli and staphylococci.

bubble_chart Supplementary Medicinals

Plantain Herb: The entire plant of Plantago. Its properties and functions are the same as those of Plantain Seed, and it can clear heat and remove toxins. It is used to treat heat-toxin abscesses, either taken orally or applied externally as a poultice made from fresh herbs. Dosage: 10-20g. Double the amount for fresh herbs. Apply an appropriate amount for external use.