This product is the tuberous root of the perennial herbaceous plant of the Zingiberaceae family, Curcuma Root (Curcuma wenyujin Y. H. Chen et C. Ling), Turmeric (C. longa L.), Guangxi Zedoary Rhizome (C. kwangsiensis S. G. Lee et C. F. Liang), or Peng Zedoary Rhizome (C. phaeocaulis Val.). It is mainly produced in Zhejiang and Sichuan. The tubers are harvested after the stems and leaves wither in winter, the fibrous roots are removed, and they are steamed or boiled until thoroughly cooked, then dried. They are used sliced or crushed, either raw or stir-fried with alum water.

There are two varieties of Curcuma Root: Guang Curcuma Root (Yellow Curcuma Root) and Chuan Curcuma Root (Black Curcuma Root). Guang Curcuma Root is mainly produced in Sichuan and is the tuberous root of Turmeric, with a bright yellow color. Chuan Curcuma Root is mainly produced in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, also known as Wen Curcuma Root, and is the tuberous root of Curcuma Root, with a dark gray color. The effects of the two are similar but slightly different: Guang Curcuma Root is more inclined towards regulating qi and relieving depression, while Chuan Curcuma Root is more inclined towards invigorating blood and resolving stasis.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Acrid and bitter, cold. Act on liver, gallbladder and heart meridians.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Invigorating blood and removing stagnation, relieving pain, alleviating depression, clearing the heart, benefiting yin and reducing jaundice, cooling blood.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for chest, hypochondriac, and abdominal pain due to qi stagnation and blood stasis. This herb has a pungent flavor that can disperse and move, capable of both activating blood and regulating qi and relieving depression to achieve pain relief. It is often paired with Aucklandia Root, with a double dose of Aucklandia Root for cases of qi depression, and a double dose of Curcuma Root for cases of blood stasis, as in the Yizong Jinjian's Inverted Wood and Metal Powder; clinically, it is also commonly used in combination with Salvia, Bupleurum, Cyperus, and other medicinal combinations. For treating women's dysmenorrhea and breast distension, which are due to liver depression with heat and qi-blood stasis, it is paired with Bupleurum, hawthorn fruit, etc., such as in Fuqingzhu Gynecology's Xuan Yu Tong Jing Tang; for chest and hypochondriac injuries with chest tightness and pain, it is paired with Salvia, Yan Hu, Bitter Apricot Seed, etc., to soothe the liver, ventilate the lung, dredge collaterals, and relieve pain; for hypochondriac masses, it is paired with turtle carapace, Zedoary Rhizome, etc., to transform stasis and dissolve masses.
2. Used for unconsciousness due to Rebing, epilepsy, and phlegm obstruction. This herb has a pungent and bitter nature that can resolve depression and resuscitate, and its cold nature also has the function of clearing the heart. For dampness-warm disease with dampness turbidity obscuring the heart orifice, it is paired with Acorus, Gardenia, etc., such as in Acorus Curcuma Root Decoction; for manic and depressive psychosis, epilepsy with phlegm-fire obscuring the heart, it is paired with Alum, such as in Alum and Curcuma Pill.
3. Used for the pattern of dampness-heat in the liver and gallbladder. This herb has a cold nature and enters the liver and gallbladder meridians, capable of clearing heat and promoting the function of the gallbladder to reduce jaundice. For liver-gallbladder dampness-heat jaundice, it is paired with Virgate Wormwood, Gardenia, etc.; if dampness-heat is condensed into stones causing gallstones, it is often paired with Christina Loosestrife, etc., to promote bile flow and expel stones.
4. Used for hematemesis, nosebleeds, and women's vicarious menstruation due to qi-fire rising causing hemorrhagic syndrome. This herb has a bitter and pungent flavor with a cold nature, capable of smoothing qi, reducing fire, cooling blood, and stopping bleeding. It is often paired with Unprocessed Rehmannia Root, Gardenia, etc., such as in Yixue Xinwu's Unprocessed Rehmannia Root Decoction; if there is heat accumulation in the lower energizer damaging the blood collaterals causing hematuria, blood stranguria, it can also be used, often paired with Unprocessed Rehmannia Root, Small Thistle, etc. Modern clinical practice uses this herb as the main treatment for stone diseases, effective for dampness-heat type, qi stagnation and blood stasis type, etc.; there are also uses of Sichuan Curcuma Root powder or tablets to treat premature beats.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Bencao Gangmu: "Treats blood and qi, heart and abdominal pain, postpartum blood stasis rushing to the heart causing near-death, and manic-depressive psychosis."
2. "Mucao Jing Shu": "Curcuma Root, originally a qi medicine that enters the blood aspect, treats the aforementioned hemorrhagic syndromes by addressing the upward movement of blood, which is all due to internal heat and fire inflammation. This medicine can descend qi, and when qi descends... the blood does not flow recklessly."
3. Bencao Beiyao: "Moves qi, relieves depression, discharges blood, breaks blood stasis. Cools heart heat, disperses liver depression, treats women's reversed Jingmai."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

Decoct and take 5-12g; take as powder, 2-5g.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

This product contains volatile oil, curcumin, starch, fatty oil, etc.

• Curcuma Root has the effect of reducing hyperlipidemia and can significantly prevent the formation of membrane patches in the main stirred pulse, coronary stirred pulse, and their branches in rabbits;
• it can promote the secretion and excretion of bile and inhibit most microorganisms present in the gallbladder;
• it has analgesic effects;
• curcumin has a protective effect on liver injury;
• it can significantly dilate the microvessels and arteriovenous vessels of the rat mesentery and affect immune function, exhibiting anti-inflammatory effects.