Lotus Seed Heart is a name in traditional Chinese medicine referring to the dried young leaves and radicle from the mature seeds of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., a plant of the genus Nelumbo in the Nymphaeaceae family. This product has the effects of clearing the heart and calming the mind, harmonizing the heart and kidneys, and astringing essence to stop bleeding. It is primarily used to treat heat invading the pericardium, mental confusion and delirium, disharmony between the heart and kidneys, insomnia and nocturnal emission, and hemoptysis due to blood heat.
Lotus Seed Heart
Lotus Seed Heart is a name in traditional Chinese medicine referring to the dried young leaves and radicle from the mature seeds of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., a plant of the genus Nelumbo in the Nymphaeaceae family. This product has the effects of clearing the heart and calming the mind, harmonizing the heart and kidneys, and astringing essence to stop bleeding. It is primarily used to treat heat invading the pericardium, mental confusion and delirium, disharmony between the heart and kidneys, insomnia and nocturnal emission, and hemoptysis due to blood heat.
Chinese Name : 莲子心
Latin Name : Nelumbinis Plumula
Aliases : Coix Seed, Bitter Coix Seed, Lotus Coix Seed, Coix Seed with Heart
Authentic Producing Area : Mainly produced in the marshes, ponds, and lakes of Hunan, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other southern regions
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Cold in nature, bitter in taste; enters the Heart and Kidney meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Clears the heart and calms the spirit; facilitates communication between the heart and kidneys; astringes essence and stops bleeding.
Indications
Heat invading the pericardium, mental confusion and delirium; disharmony between the Heart and Kidney, insomnia and nocturnal emission; blood heat causing hemoptysis.
Usage and Dosage
Internal use: Decocted as a soup, 1.5–3 g; or incorporated into powdered formulations.
Precautions
Contraindicated for those with spleen and stomach deficiency-cold.
Chemical Constituents
Lotus seed hearts contain lotusine, isolotusine, methyl-lotusine, lotus leaf alkaloid, proto-lotus leaf alkaloid, oxytropine, methyl-cyanidin, demethyl-hengzhou-wuyao alkaloid, amygdalin, and lotusine, among others.In addition, it contains luteolin, hyperoside, rutin, β-sitosterol, β-sitosterol fatty acid esters, palmitic acid, unsaturated ketonic acids, and chlorophyll, among others.
Pharmacological Actions
This product has hypotensive, antiarrhythmic, and antiplatelet aggregation effects.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Shixing Bencao*: “Treats blood-related thirst and postpartum thirst.”
2. *Bencao Zaixin*: “Clears heart fire, pacifies liver fire, drains spleen fire, reduces lung fire, relieves summer heat and restlessness, promotes fluid production to quench thirst, and treats redness and swelling of the eyes.”
3. *Ben Cao Qiu Yuan*: “Treats hemoptysis due to mental exhaustion and seminal emission.”
4. *Sui Xi Ju Dietary Spectrum*: “Consolidates body fluids and stops sweating; clears heat and nourishes the spirit; stops bleeding and consolidates essence.”
5. *Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicines*: “Has a blood-pressure-lowering effect and can treat hypertension.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. For Taiyin warm diseases with excessive sweating, mental confusion, and delirium: 3 qian of Scrophularia root heart, 0.5 fen of lotus seed heart, 2 qian of rolled bamboo leaf heart, 2 qian of forsythia heart, 2 qian of rhinoceros horn tip (ground and dissolved in hot water), and 3 qian of Ophiopogon tuber with heart. Decoct in water and take orally. (Qinggong Decoction from *Treatise on the Differentiation of Warm Diseases*)
2. For chronic seminal emission and seminal leakage due to long-term deficiency: One pinch of lotus seed hearts, one fen of cinnabar. Grind into a powder. Take two qian per dose on an empty stomach with plain hot water. (From *Comprehensive Medicine Through the Ages*, citing *Prescriptions for Health*)
3. For hemoptysis and hematemesis caused by mental exhaustion: Seven lotus seed hearts, twenty-one grains of glutinous rice. Grind into a powder. Mix with wine and take orally. (Lotus Seed Heart Powder from *Continuation of Easy and Simple Formulas*)
4. For treating hematemesis: 5 qian of glutinous rice, 7 lotus seed hearts. Grind into a fine powder. Mix with aged ink to form pills the size of a Chinese jujube, and take with a child’s urine. (From *Simple and Effective Formulas for the Four Medical Specialties*)
5. For treating vomiting in children: Seven lotus seed hearts, three cloves, and three cun of ginseng. Grind the ingredients into a fine powder. Wrap the powder in cotton soaked in milk, then dip the cotton in milk and apply the powder to the surface, allowing the child to suck on it. (From *Formulas for Universal Relief*)
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with traditional Chinese medicine should first consult a licensed TCM hospital, where a TCM practitioner will conduct a professional pattern differentiation and issue a prescription.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Split open the lotus seeds and remove the green embryo (lotus seed heart); dry in the sun.
Processing Methods
Take the raw materials, remove impurities, and sift out any dust or debris.
Storage Methods
Store in a dry container, seal tightly, and place in a well-ventilated, dry location to prevent mold and insect infestation.
Crude Drug Identification
Identification
1. The powder of this product is grayish-green. The epidermal cells are slightly rectangular with thin walls. The parenchyma cells have thin walls and are nearly circular; they contain numerous starch granules and green pigments. The radicle cells are rectangular, arranged in an orderly manner, with very thin walls; some contain fat oil droplets. The intercellular spaces in young leaf tissue are relatively large.
2. Take 2 g of the powdered sample, add 30 mL of methanol, subject to ultrasonic treatment for 30 minutes, filter, and evaporate the filtrate to dryness. Dissolve the residue in 1 mL of methanol to prepare the test solution. Separately, take a reference standard of lotus seed alkaloid perchlorate and dissolve it in methanol to prepare a solution containing 1 mg per mL as the reference solution.Perform the test according to the thin-layer chromatography method (General Chapter 0502). Pipette 4–6 μL of the test solution and 4 μL of the reference solution, and apply them separately onto the same silica gel G plate. Develop the plate using a mobile phase of chloroform–ethyl acetate–diethylamine (5:4:1), remove the plate, allow it to air-dry,and sprayed with a dilute potassium bismuth iodide solution. In the test sample chromatogram, spots of the same color appear at positions corresponding to those in the reference standard chromatogram.
Properties of Crude Drugs
This product is slightly cylindrical in shape, 1–1.4 cm long, and approximately 0.2 cm in diameter. The young leaves are green; one is long and the other short, rolled into an arrow-like shape, with the tips folded downward. A tiny embryo is visible between the two young leaves. The radicle is cylindrical, approximately 3 mm long, and yellowish-white. It is brittle and breaks easily; the fracture surface has several small pores. It has a faint odor and a bitter taste.
Properties of Processed Slices
Characteristics of the herbal material.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Nelumbo nucifera, a plant of the genus Nelumbo in the family Nymphaeaceae.
Morphological Characteristics
A perennial aquatic herb. The rhizome grows horizontally; it is thick and fleshy, with swollen internodes containing numerous longitudinal air pores, and bears external filiform adventitious roots.Leaves emerge from the nodes and rise above the water surface; the petiole is attached to the center of the leaf’s underside, is stout and cylindrical, and is covered with numerous spines; the leaf blade is round, 25–90 cm in diameter, with entire or slightly wavy margins; the upper surface is pale green, while the lower surface features veins radiating from the center with 1–2 orders of forked branches. Flowers are solitary at the tip of the peduncle, which is as long as or slightly longer than the petiole and also bears scattered small spines;The flower is 10–20 cm in diameter, fragrant, and red, pink, or white; the petals are elliptical or obovate, 5–10 cm long and 3–5 cm wide; there are numerous stamens with linear anthers and slender filaments attached below the receptacle; there are numerous carpels buried within the swollen receptacle, with an elliptical ovary and an extremely short style.After flowering, it produces a “lotus pod” that is inversely conical, 5–10 cm in diameter, with 20–30 small openings, each containing a single fruit; the nut is elliptical or ovate, 1.5–2.5 cm long, with a leathery, hard pericarp that turns dark brown when ripe.The seeds are ovate or elliptical, 1.2–1.7 cm long, with a red or white seed coat. Flowering occurs from June to August, and fruiting from August to October.
Distribution Area
It is widely distributed throughout northern and southern China.
Growth Habits
It prefers a warm and humid climate; when the soil temperature reaches 10°C or higher, the apical buds of the seed lotus root begin to sprout; when the air temperature reaches 15°C or higher, the stems and leaves grow; 20–30°C is optimal for stem and leaf growth as well as flowering and fruiting; 25–35°C is optimal for lotus root formation; when the air temperature drops below 15°C, the plant stops growing.Water level requirements: 5–10 cm is optimal during the early growth stage; 20–30 cm during the peak growth period; the water level should not submerge the erect leaves.
Propagation Methods
Propagation is carried out using lateral rhizomes and daughter rhizomes.
Cultivation Techniques
Use lateral rhizomes and daughter rhizomes as planting material, and select paddy fields with fertile soil that retains water and nutrients.Planting rhizomes should generally have two nodes; plant two daughter rhizomes per planting hole, or one parent rhizome and one daughter rhizome per hole. Plant 7,500–12,000 rhizomes per hectare; when planting, dig furrows according to the shape of the rhizomes, place the rhizomes horizontally with the apical bud tilted downward, cover the furrows with soil, and press firmly to prevent them from floating.
Pest and Disease Control
1. For the long-legged water leaf beetle, mix 30 kg of 40% ethion powder per 1 hm² with 375 kg of fine soil, apply the mixture to the field surface, and till it into the soil after the field is flooded with shallow water.
2. For the lotus narrow-winged midge, spray a 1,000–1,500-fold dilution of 90% diazinon during the larval stage.
3. For black spot disease and brown spot disease of lotus rhizomes, spray a mixture of 50% carbendazim diluted 500 times and 0.3% laundry detergent as soon as symptoms appear; promptly remove diseased leaves.