Goubei is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It consists of galls found on the leaves of plants in the genus Rhus of the Anacardiaceae family, specifically Rhus chinensis Mill., Rhus potaninii Maxim., or Rhus punjabensis Stew. var. sinica (Diels) Rehd. et Wils. These galls are primarily formed by parasitism from the Chinese gall aphid, Melaphis chinensis (Bell) Baker.It has the effects of tonifying the lungs and reducing internal heat, relieving cough and stopping spontaneous sweating, astringing the intestines and stopping diarrhea, consolidating essence and preventing seminal emission, astringing to stop bleeding, and drying dampness to heal sores. It is primarily used to treat cough, hemoptysis, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, chronic diarrhea, chronic dysentery, nocturnal emission, premature ejaculation, metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, bloody stools and hemorrhoidal bleeding, damp sores, and swollen abscesses.
Gallnut
Goubei is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It consists of galls found on the leaves of plants in the genus Rhus of the Anacardiaceae family, specifically Rhus chinensis Mill., Rhus potaninii Maxim., or Rhus punjabensis Stew. var. sinica (Diels) Rehd. et Wils. These galls are primarily formed by parasitism from the Chinese gall aphid, Melaphis chinensis (Bell) Baker.It has the effects of tonifying the lungs and reducing internal heat, relieving cough and stopping spontaneous sweating, astringing the intestines and stopping diarrhea, consolidating essence and preventing seminal emission, astringing to stop bleeding, and drying dampness to heal sores. It is primarily used to treat cough, hemoptysis, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, chronic diarrhea, chronic dysentery, nocturnal emission, premature ejaculation, metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, bloody stools and hemorrhoidal bleeding, damp sores, and swollen abscesses.
Chinese Name : 五倍子
Latin Name : Galla Chinensis
Aliases : Salt-glutinous-wheat-leaf-top-spores, Chinese clams, Hundred-Insect-Granary, Wood-Aconite, Lacquer-Beizi, Red-Leaf-Peach, Dry-Beizi, Black-Salt-Soaked
Authentic Producing Area : Mainly produced in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Guangxi, and other regions.
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sour and astringent; nature: cold; enters the Lung, Large Intestine, and Kidney meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
It consolidates the lungs and reduces fire, stops coughing and sweating, astringes the intestines to stop diarrhea, secures essence to prevent seminal emission, astrings to stop bleeding, and dries dampness to heal sores.
Indications
Used for chronic cough due to lung deficiency, cough with phlegm caused by lung heat, chronic diarrhea and dysentery, night sweats, diabetes insipidus, blood in stools or from hemorrhoids, bleeding from external injuries, abscesses, swellings, and toxic sores, and skin ulcers with exudate.
Usage and Dosage
1. Internal use: Decocted as a soup, 3–10 g; ground into powder, 1.5–6 g; or incorporated into pills or powders. 2. External use: As needed; decocted for fumigation or washing; ground into powder for sprinkling or mixed into a paste for application.
Precautions
Contraindicated for coughs caused by exogenous wind-cold or real heat in the lungs, as well as for diarrhea or dysentery where food stagnation has not been fully resolved.
Chemical Constituents
This product primarily contains gallic tannins (60%–70%), gallic acid (2%–4%), as well as resins, fats, waxes, and starch.
Pharmacological Actions
Gallic acid has a protein-precipitating effect; upon contact with ulcerated areas of the skin or mucous membranes, the tissue proteins are coagulated, forming a protective film that exerts an astringent effect. The coagulation of proteins in glandular cells inhibits secretion, leading to mucosal dryness; the precipitation of proteins at nerve endings may produce a mild local anesthetic effect.It forms insoluble compounds with certain metals and alkaloid glycosides, and is therefore used as an antidote. It has an astringent effect on the small intestine, which can alleviate intestinal inflammation and relieve diarrhea.In addition, it exerts inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Shigella, Bacillus anthracis, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Supplement to the Materia Medica*: “For diarrhea and dysentery due to intestinal weakness, grind into a powder and take with hot water.”
2. *Compendium of Materia Medica*: “It astringes the lungs and reduces internal heat, resolves phlegm and fluid retention, and alleviates cough, diabetes, night sweats, vomiting, blood loss, and chronic dysentery…It treats redness and moist, ulcerated eyes; reduces swelling and toxicity; alleviates sore throat; heals ulcers and wounds; and retracts prolapsed rectum and intestines.” Furthermore, “Its taste is sour and salty; it can tonify the lungs, stop bleeding, resolve phlegm, quench thirst, and reduce sweating. Its nature is cold; it can dispel heat, treat toxic sores, and reduce swelling. Its astringent nature can eliminate diarrhea, dysentery, and moist, ulcerated conditions.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. To treat chronic cough due to lung deficiency, combine with Schisandra berries, poppy shells, and other herbs.
2. To treat cough with phlegm caused by lung heat, combine with Trichosanthes fruit, Scutellaria root, Fritillaria bulb, and other herbs.
3. To treat heat scorching the lung collaterals and coughing up blood, combine with lotus root nodes, Bletilla rhizome, and other herbs.
4. To treat spontaneous sweating and night sweats, it may be used alone by grinding into a powder, mixing with buckwheat flour in equal parts to form cakes, baking until cooked, and consuming; or the powder may be mixed with water and applied as a poultice to the navel.
5. To treat chronic diarrhea and dysentery, combine with Chebulic Myrobalan and Schisandra to enhance its astringent effect on the intestines.
6. For seminal emission and premature ejaculation caused by kidney deficiency and instability of the semen gate, combine with dragon bone and poria, as in the Yu Suo Dan formula (from *Formulas of the Bureau of Harmonious Preparations*).
7. For metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, use alone or in combination with charred palm fiber and charred human hair.
8. To treat bloody stools and bleeding from hemorrhoids, combine with Sophora japonica flower and Sanguisorba officinalis, or decoct into a solution for fumigation and washing of the affected area.
9. To treat weeping damp sores, non-healing ulcers, boils and abscesses, prolapsed rectum that fails to retract, and uterine prolapse, it may be used alone or combined with calcined alum; grind into a powder for topical application or decoct into a solution for fumigation and washing.
Related Compatibility
1. Gallnut Combined with Sanguisorba: Gallnut has a sour and astringent taste and a cold nature; it possesses astringent properties and excels at astringing to stop bleeding, while also clearing superficial heat from the Lung Meridian and reducing internal heat. Sanguisorba has a bitter taste that promotes descent, a sour and astringent nature, and a slightly cold nature that clears heat; it is an excellent herb for clearing heat, cooling the blood, and astringing to stop bleeding.When these two herbs are combined, they enhance the astringent and hemostatic effects. Furthermore, since the lung and large intestine are paired organs, clearing the superficial heat in the lung naturally calms the large intestine as well. This combination is suitable for conditions such as bloody stools and bleeding from hemorrhoids.
2. Gallnut Combined with Poria: Gallnut is sour, astringent, and astringent in nature; it enters the Large Intestine Meridian and has the function of astringing the intestines to stop diarrhea;Poria is sweet and neutral; its sweetness nourishes, while its blandness promotes drainage, excelling at strengthening the spleen, tonifying the middle, and stopping diarrhea. When combined, one addresses the root cause by strengthening the spleen and tonifying the middle, while the other treats the symptoms by astringing the intestines and stopping diarrhea. This combination is suitable for cases of spleen deficiency with excessive dampness, persistent diarrhea and dysentery, and chronic diarrhea with blood in the stool.
3. Gallnut Combined with Calcined Alum: When used externally, gallnut excels at detoxifying, reducing swelling, and astringing to heal sores; white alum, when calcined, is called calcined alum. It has astringent properties and is effective at removing necrotic tissue, promoting the growth of healthy tissue, drying dampness and turbidity, clearing heat toxins, and alleviating swelling and sores.When used together, these two herbs can dispel dampness, promote wound healing, reduce swelling, and regenerate tissue. Grind them into a powder, mix with glycerin to form a paste, apply to a piece of gauze with a bandage, and apply to the eroded area to treat cervical erosion.
4. Gallnut Combined with Schisandra: Schisandra tonifies the lungs and nourishes the kidneys, curbs and stops sweating, generates body fluids to quench thirst, and astringes essence to stop diarrhea; gallnut tonifies the lungs and reduces fire, curbs and stops sweating, and astringes the intestines to stop diarrhea. When these two herbs are combined, they effectively tonify the kidneys, consolidate essence, curb and stop sweating, and astring the intestines to stop diarrhea.This combination is indicated for conditions such as spontaneous sweating due to qi deficiency and night sweats due to yin deficiency; chronic cough and wheezing due to lung deficiency; chronic diarrhea and dysentery caused by intestinal instability; seminal emission and premature ejaculation in men; and red or white vaginal discharge, as well as metrorrhagia and menorrhagia in women. Additionally, it may be used for rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse, and various cases of visceral laxity or prolapse.
Medicinal Identification
1. Schisandra (Wuweizi) and Gallnut (Wubeizi): Not only do these two herbs share similar names, but their functions are also closely related. Both are sour in taste and astringent in nature, serving to consolidate the lungs and relieve cough, curb spontaneous sweating and night sweats, astringe essence to prevent seminal emission, and astringe the intestines to stop diarrhea. They are both used to treat chronic cough due to lung deficiency, spontaneous sweating and night sweats, seminal emission and premature ejaculation, and persistent diarrhea.However, Gallnut is cold in nature and also has the functions of clearing lung heat, reducing fire, and astringing to stop bleeding; it can treat coughs due to lung heat, metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, hematochezia, hematuria, and bleeding from external injuries; when applied topically, it can detoxify, reduce swelling, and astringe to heal sores.Schisandra, on the other hand, nourishes the kidneys, tonifies qi, generates body fluids to quench thirst, and calms the heart and mind; it can treat wheezing due to lung and kidney deficiency, thirst caused by fluid depletion, and palpitations and insomnia. In summary, Schisandra and Gallnut have similar therapeutic effects, but Schisandra is warm in nature and combines nourishing properties with its astringent and sour actions; Gallnut is cold in nature, specializing in astringent effects and reducing internal heat, but lacks nourishing properties.
2. Black Plum and Gallnut: Both are astringent herbs that consolidate the lungs to stop coughing and astringe the intestines to stop diarrhea; they are used for chronic cough due to lung deficiency, as well as chronic diarrhea and dysentery.However, black plum is sour and astringent, with a neutral nature; it also has the effects of calming roundworms and relieving pain, as well as promoting fluid production and quenching thirst. It is used for abdominal pain and vomiting caused by roundworms, the syndrome of “roundworm-induced cold extremities” (characterized by cold limbs), and deficiency-heat with restlessness and thirst.Gallnut is sour, astringent, and astringent in nature, with a cold nature. Its cold property clears heat; it can both tonify the lungs and relieve coughs, as well as clear heat and reduce fire. Therefore, it is suitable for both chronic coughs due to lung deficiency and coughs with phlegm caused by lung heat. Gallnut also has the effects of consolidating essence to stop seminal emission, and astringing to stop sweating and bleeding; it is used for seminal emission and premature ejaculation, spontaneous sweating and night sweats, as well as metrorrhagia, menorrhagia, or bleeding from hemorrhoids.
Related Medicines
Phlegm-Cough Relief Tablets (Powder), Pediatric Spleen-Strengthening Plaster.
Related Prescriptions
Guchong Decoction (*Medicine: Integrating Chinese and Western Principles*).
Medicinal Diet Therapy
Stewed Male Black Chicken with Gallnuts:
1. Effects: Astringes the lungs, astringes the intestines, consolidates essence, stops bleeding, and detoxifies. Suitable for conditions such as chronic cough due to lung deficiency, chronic dysentery, chronic diarrhea, rectal prolapse, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, premature ejaculation, nocturnal emissions, blood in the stool, and nosebleeds.
2. Ingredients: 1 male black chicken, 30 grams of gallnut, 5 grams of ginger, 10 grams of cooking wine, 5 grams of salt, 3 grams of MSG, 10 grams of scallions, and 3 grams of ground pepper.
3. Preparation: Wash the gallnut. Slaughter the male black chicken, then remove the feathers, internal organs, and claws. Lightly crush the ginger and cut the scallions into sections.Place the gallnuts, male black chicken, ginger, scallions, and cooking wine in a stew pot. Add 2,800 milliliters of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Add salt, MSG, and ground pepper to taste, and serve.
4. Usage: Serve with meals twice daily.
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with Chinese herbal medicine should first consult a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital to receive a prescription following a professional TCM differential diagnosis.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest gall cones in the fall. Boil to kill any internal parasites, then dry. Use raw.
Processing Methods
1. Gallnut: Take the raw herbal material, crack it open, remove insect residue and impurities, and crush it.
2. Roasted Gallnut: Take the cleaned gallnut, place it in a pan, and roast over low heat until it turns slightly yellow. Remove and allow to cool; when ready for use, crack it open and remove the insect eggs.
Storage Methods
Store in a dry container in a well-ventilated, dry place.
Crude Drug Identification
Identification
Take 0.5 g of the powdered sample, add 5 mL of methanol, sonicate for 15 minutes, and filter; the filtrate serves as the test solution. Separately, take 0.5 g of gallnut reference material and prepare a reference solution using the same method. Further, take gallic acid reference standard and dissolve it in methanol to prepare a solution containing 1 mg per mL, which serves as the reference solution.Test by thin-layer chromatography (General Chapter 0502): Pipette 2 μl of each of the three solutions and apply them separately onto the same silica gel GF254 plate. Develop with a mobile phase of chloroform–ethyl formate–formic acid (5:5:1), remove the plate, allow it to air-dry, and examine under ultraviolet light (254 nm).In the chromatogram of the test sample, spots of the same color appear at positions corresponding to those in the chromatograms of the reference herbal material and the reference substance.
Properties of Crude Drugs
1. Horn-shaped segments: Rhombic, ovoid, or spindle-shaped, 3–8 cm long and 2–5 cm in diameter, with irregular horn-like branches. The surface is grayish-yellow or pale yellowish-brown, covered with grayish-white, soft, smooth, short pubescence. The texture is hard and brittle; when broken, they are hollow. The fracture surface is horny and glossy.with a wall thickness of 1–2 mm. The inner wall is smooth, with numerous dark brown dead aphids, black powdery aphid eggs, and excrement adhering to it; occasionally, 1–2 pairs of white silk clumps float freely within the Jiao Bei, their surfaces also covered with numerous aphid carcasses. The inner wall is coated with a white, powdery or crystalline waxy substance.It has a distinctive odor and an astringent taste.
2. Abdominal Gall: Oblong or spindle-shaped, slightly flattened, without horn-like branches; the surface is dark grayish-yellowish-green with numerous shallow longitudinal striations and sparse soft hairs; the wall is approximately 3 mm thick. The best specimens are large, intact, thick-walled, grayish-brown in color, and free of impurities. According to experience, those with a inner wall densely covered with aphids are considered superior.
Properties of Processed Slices
1. Gallnut: Irregular, horn-like fragments with a luster; the surface shows traces of scraping. It has a distinctive odor and an astringent taste.
2. Roasted Gallnut: Resembles the gallnut in shape, with a slightly yellowish surface.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Galls formed on the leaves of plants in the genus Rhamnus of the Anacardiaceae family, such as Rhamnus, Qingfu Yang, and Hongfu Yang.
Morphological Characteristics
1. Saltbush: A deciduous small tree or shrub, 2–10 m tall. Twigs are brownish-red, covered with rust-colored soft hairs, and bear small, round lenticels. Odd-pinnate compound leaves are alternate; the rachis and petioles are often winged; there are 5–13 leaflets, which are sessile;The leaflets are papery, polymorphic, usually ovate, elliptic-ovate, or oblong, 6–12 cm long and 3–7 cm wide. The apex is acute, the base is rounded, and the margin is coarsely serrate or rounded-serrate. The upper surface is dark green, the lower surface is powdery green and covered with a white powdery coating; the upper surface is sparsely pubescent along the midrib or nearly glabrous, while the lower surface is covered with rust-colored soft hairs.The panicles are broad, terminal, and highly branched; the male inflorescences are 30–40 cm long, while the female inflorescences are shorter and densely covered with rust-colored soft hairs; the flowers are small, hermaphroditic, and yellowish-white;In male flowers, the calyx lobes are long-ovate, about 1 mm long; the petals are obovate-oblong, about 2 mm long, curling outward at flowering; the stamens are exserted, with filaments linear and anthers ovate; in female flowers, the calyx lobes are shorter, about 0.6 mm long, and the petals are elliptic-ovate, about 1.6 mm long;The disk is glabrous; the ovary is ovate, about 1 mm long, densely covered with white, fine pubescence; there are 3 styles, with capitate stigmas. The drupe is spherical, slightly flattened, about 4–5 mm in diameter, covered with nodular pubescence and glandular hairs; it turns red when ripe, with a seed diameter of 3–4 mm. Flowering occurs from August to September, and fruiting in October.
2. Green-bark Poplar: A deciduous tree, 5–8 m tall. The bark is grayish-brown, and the twigs are glabrous. The leaves are odd-pinnate and alternate; the rachis is cylindrical, sometimes with narrow wings between the upper leaflets; there are 7–11 leaflets, each with a short petiole;leaflets are ovate-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 5–10 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, with an acuminate apex, a more or less oblique, nearly rounded base, entire margins, and both surfaces along the midrib finely pubescent or nearly glabrous. Panicles are terminal, 10–20 cm long, and finely pubescent; bracts are awl-shaped, about 1 mm long, and finely pubescent;Flowers are white, 2.5–3 mm in diameter; pedicels are about 1 mm long, finely pubescent; calyx is finely pubescent on the outside, with ovate lobes about 1 mm long, finely pubescent on both surfaces, margins ciliate, and apices reflexed at flowering; filaments are linear, about 2 mm long (shorter in female flowers), with ovate anthers;The disk is thick and glabrous; the ovary is globose, about 0.7 mm in diameter, densely covered with white soft hairs. The fruit cluster is pendulous; the drupe is nearly globose, 3–4 mm in diameter, densely covered with nodular soft hairs and glandular hairs, turning red when ripe; it contains a single seed.
3. Red Poplar: A deciduous tree or small tree, 4–15 m tall.The bark is grayish-brown; young twigs are covered with fine pubescence. The leaves are odd-pinnate and alternate, with narrow wings on the upper part of the rachis; there are 7–13 leaflets, sessile or nearly sessile, ovate-oblong or oblong, 5–12 cm long and 2–4.5 cm wide, with an acuminate or long-acuminate apex, a rounded or nearly cordate base, entire margins, and fine hairs along the veins on the underside.Panicles are terminal, 15–20 cm long, densely covered with fine tomentum; flowers are small, hermaphroditic, and white; calyx lobes are narrowly triangular; petals are oblong, with tips curling outward at flowering; filaments are linear;the anthers are ovate; the disk is thick, purplish-red, and glabrous; the ovary is globose, about 1 mm in diameter, unilocular, with three styles. The fruit cluster is pendulous; the drupe is nearly globose, slightly flattened, about 4 mm in diameter, dark purplish-red when ripe, and covered with nodular soft hairs and glandular hairs. The seeds are small. Flowering occurs in May; fruiting occurs from September to October.
Distribution Area
1. Saltbush: Distributed throughout China (except Xinjiang and Qinghai). 2. Green-bark Poplar: Distributed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, and other areas. 3. Red-bark Poplar: Distributed in Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, and other areas.