Buckwheat is a name used in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the seeds of Fagopyrum esculentum Moench [F. sagittatum Gilib.; Polygonum fagopyrum L.], a plant belonging to the genus Fagopyrum in the Polygonaceae family. It has the therapeutic effects of strengthening the spleen and eliminating food stagnation, regulating qi and relieving intestinal obstruction, and detoxifying and promoting wound healing.It is primarily used to treat gastrointestinal stagnation, diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal colic, leukorrhea, vaginal discharge, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, herpes, erysipelas, boils and abscesses, back sores, scrofula, and burns and scalds.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is a name used in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the seeds of Fagopyrum esculentum Moench [F. sagittatum Gilib.; Polygonum fagopyrum L.], a plant belonging to the genus Fagopyrum in the Polygonaceae family. It has the therapeutic effects of strengthening the spleen and eliminating food stagnation, regulating qi and relieving intestinal obstruction, and detoxifying and promoting wound healing.It is primarily used to treat gastrointestinal stagnation, diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal colic, leukorrhea, vaginal discharge, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, herpes, erysipelas, boils and abscesses, back sores, scrofula, and burns and scalds.
Chinese Name : 荞麦
Aliases : Flowered Barley, Black Barley, Oat Barley, Flowered Buckwheat, Sweet Buckwheat, Buckwheat Seeds, Triangular Barley
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sweet, slightly sour; Nature: cold; Enters the Spleen, Stomach, and Large Intestine meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Strengthens the spleen and eliminates food stagnation; descends qi and relieves intestinal distension; detoxifies and promotes wound healing.
Indications
Mainly used to treat gastrointestinal stagnation, diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal colic, leukorrhea, vaginal discharge, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, herpes, erysipelas, boils and abscesses, back sores, scrofula, and burns and scalds.
Usage and Dosage
Internal use: Incorporate into pills or powders, or prepare as flour for consumption. External use: Grind into powder and mix or apply as a poultice.
Precautions
Not suitable for long-term use. Contraindicated for those with spleen and stomach deficiency-cold. 1. *Qianjin Fang*: “Buckwheat is difficult to digest and can induce severe heat-wind. The Yellow Emperor said: ‘If you make flour from it and mix it with pork or mutton to eat while hot, after no more than eight or nine meals, it will cause heat-wind, causing one’s eyebrows and beard to fall out; though they may grow back, such cases are rare.’” 2. *Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica*: “Buckwheat should not be consumed in large quantities, as it can also induce wind-related disorders, causing dizziness and vertigo.” 3. *Daily-Use Materia Medica*: “Prolonged consumption causes illness or may lead to leprosy.” 4. *Essentials of Medicinal Classification*: “Must not be consumed with Pingwei Powder or alum.” 5. *Compendium of Medical Forest*: “Buckwheat, when eaten after spring, stirs cold energy and triggers chronic diseases.” 6. *Materia Medica of Compatible Combinations*: “Contraindicated for those with spleen and stomach deficiency-cold.” 7. *Essentials of Medicinal Properties and Practical Applications*: “Contraindicated for those with a deficient stomach and no heat.” 8. *A Study of Foods*: “Its drying nature damages the blood.” 9. *Essentials of Materia Medica*: “Eating it with mutton triggers chronic diseases; eating it with yellow croaker or white alum is harmful.”
Chemical Constituents
1. The achenes contain salicylic acid, 4-hydroxybenzylamine, and N-salicyloxy-salicylamine. 2. The seeds contain flavonoids: quercetin, quercetin glycosides, hyperoside, and rutin; fatty acids: oleic acid and linolenic acid; as well as o- and p-β-D-glucoxybenzylamine, carotenoids, and three types of trypsin inhibitors—TI1, TI2, and TI4.
Pharmacological Actions
1. It helps protect eyesight, soften blood vessels, and lower blood lipid levels. 2. It effectively prevents cerebral hemorrhage and possesses anti-inflammatory properties. 3. Rich in dietary fiber, it promotes gastrointestinal motility and relieves constipation, making it highly effective in preventing constipation. 4. It also lowers blood sugar and blood lipids, and effectively reduces cholesterol.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Dietary Therapy Materia Medica*: “It fortifies the stomach and intestines, boosts vitality, restores mental vigor, and purifies impurities from the five internal organs.”
2. *The Four-Tone Materia Medica*: “When prepared as a meal, it effectively neutralizes the toxicity of cinnabar and other minerals.”
3. *The Baoqing Materia Medica: A Synthesis*: “It treats severe skin rashes, tissue ulceration and decay, and foul-smelling pus and blood.”
4. *Herbal for Daily Use*: “Treats red, swollen rashes in children caused by internal heat.”
5. *Compendium of Materia Medica*: “Descends qi and relieves intestinal distension; breaks down food stagnation; alleviates heat, swelling, and wind-induced pain; eliminates leukorrhea and white discharge; and treats spleen stagnation and diarrhea.”
6. *Essentials of Materia Medica*: “Relieves alcohol-induced indigestion.”
7. Chai Yi, *Shijian Bencao*: “Treats intestinal and gastric stagnation, diarrhea with turbid discharge; applied topically to treat ulcerated smallpox sores and burns from hot liquids or fire.”
8. *Yilin Zuanyao*: “Removes intestinal and gastric stagnation and impurities; alleviates heat toxins.”
9. *Yaoxing Qieyong*: “Resolves stagnation and soothes the stomach; descends qi and relieves chest congestion.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. To treat stagnant masses in men and stagnant blood in women without disturbing the vital energy: Grind 3 qian of buckwheat flour and 2.5 qian of rhubarb into a powder. Take it mixed with wine before bedtime. (Tongxian San, cited in *Compendium of Materia Medica* from *Duoneng Bishi*)
2. To treat dysentery with loss of speech: Take 2 qian of buckwheat flour per dose, mixed with sugar water. (Cited in *Compendium of Materia Medica* from *Tanxian Jiexiao Fang*)
3. To treat leukorrhea in men and red-and-white vaginal discharge in women: Roast buckwheat until charred, grind into a powder, mix with egg white, and form into pills the size of goji berries. Take fifty pills at a time with salted water; repeat three times. (From *Compendium of Materia Medica*, citing Wei Yuanjun’s *Jisheng Dan*)
4. For coughing and shortness of breath: Mix four liang of buckwheat flour, two qian of tea powder, and two liang of raw honey with one bowl of water. Stir vigorously until dry, then consume. If shortness of breath persists for a long time, the condition will be cured. (From *Rumen Shiquin*)
5. For edema and wheezing: Mix one qian of raw Euphorbia and two qian of buckwheat flour with water to form a cake, roast until cooked, and grind into powder.Take on an empty stomach with tea, continuing until bowel movements and urination return to normal. (《Shenghui Fang》)
6. For headaches and wind-induced eye disorders: Make buckwheat cakes the size of a coin, apply them to the four corners of the eyes, and moxibustion them with moxa cones the size of a grain of rice; the effect is miraculous. (《Compendium of Materia Medica》)
7. For night sweats: Make glutinous rice balls from buckwheat flour in the morning; consume on an empty stomach without oil or salt. (《Essentials of Formulas and Syndromes》)
8. For severe skin eruptions where the flesh has ulcerated and rotted, with foul-smelling pus and blood: Spread buckwheat flour on a thick cloth mat and have the patient lie on it, turning from side to side. Within a few days, the scabs will fall off on their own, leaving no scars. (*Baoqing Bencao Zhezhong*)
9. For boils and abscesses on the back, and all types of swollen, toxic sores: Take two liang each of buckwheat flour and sulfur. Grind into a powder, mix with well water to form cakes, and dry in the sun. For each application, grind one cake into a paste with water and apply it as a poultice; if there is pain, it will relieve it; if there is no pain, it will induce it. (*Ren Zhai Zhi Zhi Fang*)
10. For treating corns on the feet: Mix water chestnut juice with buckwheat flour and apply the paste to the corn. After three days, the corn and any accompanying abscess will be drawn out. (*Essentials of Materia Medica*)
11. For treating snake-coiled scrofula encircling the neck: Buckwheat (roasted, hulled), seaweed, and white silkworm pupae (roasted, silk removed)—in equal parts.Grind into a powder; soak white plums in hot water, remove the flesh, reduce the volume by half, and mix to form pills the size of mung beans.
Take sixty to seventy pills per dose with rice water after meals and before bedtime; take five doses daily. The toxin should be expelled through the stool. It is especially effective when taken in combination with mussels. Mussels grow on seaweed and are also effective for this condition. Avoid tofu, chicken, mutton, alcohol, and wheat flour. (Compendium of Materia Medica)
12. For treatment of scalds and burns: Roast buckwheat flour until golden yellow, then mix with well water and apply as a poultice. (*Remarkably Effective Formulas*)
13. For small intestine hernia: Take four liang each of buckwheat kernels (roasted, tips removed) and fenugreek (soaked in wine and sun-dried), and one liang of fennel seeds (roasted). Grind into a powder, mix with wine paste to form pills the size of a Chinese gooseberry. Take fifty pills on an empty stomach with salt and wine. After two months, white pus will be expelled with the stool, eradicating the root of the condition. (*Compendium of Materia Medica*, citing *Sun Tianren’s Collection of Effective Formulas*)
Medicinal Diet Therapy
Beef Bone Marrow Fried Noodles
1. Benefits: Tonifies the kidneys and replenishes bone marrow; strengthens the spleen and dispels dampness; promotes blood circulation and enhances brain function. Effective for neurasthenia, amnesia syndrome, menopausal syndrome, and senile dementia.
2. Ingredients: 500 grams buckwheat flour, 20 grams walnut kernels, 10 grams sunflower seeds, 150 grams beef bone marrow oil, 40 grams sesame seeds, and white sugar and sugar-coated osmanthus flowers to taste.
3. Preparation: Lightly stir-fry the buckwheat flour, then sift it back into the original pan. Heat the beef bone marrow oil in another pan until it reaches 80% heat, then pour it over the stir-fried flour and mix well.Lightly toast the sesame seeds and walnut kernels over low heat. Grind the walnut kernels into a fine powder, then mix them with the sesame seeds and sunflower seeds into the toasted buckwheat flour mixture. Dissolve the sugar-preserved osmanthus flowers in cool boiled water to make a syrup. Place the oil-toasted buckwheat flour mixture in a bowl, pour boiling water over it to form a thick paste, then add the white sugar and osmanthus syrup, and stir until well combined.
4. Usage: Serve as a side dish with meals; portion size is at your discretion.
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
Harvest when the seeds ripen around the time of the Frost Descent solar term; thresh the seeds and sun-dry them.
Storage Methods
Store in a dry place to prevent moisture and mold.
Crude Drug Identification
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum), a plant of the Polygonaceae family.
Morphological Characteristics
An annual herb, 40–100 cm tall. The stem is erect, highly branched, smooth, pale green or reddish-brown, and sometimes bears sparse papillate projections.Leaves are alternate; lower leaves have long petioles, while upper leaves are nearly sessile; stipule sheaths are short and tubular, with oblique, flat-truncated apices, and fall off early; leaf blades are triangular or ovate-triangular, with acuminate apices and cordate or lanceolate bases, entire margins, and glabrous on both surfaces or hairy only along the veins. Inflorescences are racemose or paniculate, terminal or axillary;flower pedicels are long; flowers are pale red or white, densely arranged; perianth deeply 5-lobed, with oblong lobes; stamens 8, shorter than the perianth; styles 3, with capitate stigmas. Achenes are ovate, with three sharp ridges, longer than wide, gradually tapering to a point at the apex, yellowish-brown, and smooth. Flowering and fruiting occur from July to October.
Distribution Area
Native to Central Asia, it is currently cultivated throughout China.
Propagation Methods
Propagated by seed.