Ginkgo Leaf, a name in traditional Chinese medicine, refers to the dried leaves of Ginkgo biloba L., a plant of the Ginkgoaceae family. It is primarily produced in Sichuan, Shandong, and Henan. This product has the effects of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, unblocking meridians and relieving pain, tonifying the lungs and alleviating wheezing, and clearing turbidity and lowering lipids. It is mainly used to treat blood stasis obstructing the meridians, chest pain due to heart disease, hemiplegia caused by stroke, cough and wheezing due to lung deficiency, and hyperlipidemia.
Ginkgo Leaf
Ginkgo Leaf, a name in traditional Chinese medicine, refers to the dried leaves of Ginkgo biloba L., a plant of the Ginkgoaceae family. It is primarily produced in Sichuan, Shandong, and Henan. This product has the effects of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, unblocking meridians and relieving pain, tonifying the lungs and alleviating wheezing, and clearing turbidity and lowering lipids. It is mainly used to treat blood stasis obstructing the meridians, chest pain due to heart disease, hemiplegia caused by stroke, cough and wheezing due to lung deficiency, and hyperlipidemia.
Chinese Name : 银杏叶
Latin Name : Ginkgo Folium
Aliases : Moth Leaf, Duckfoot, Ginkgo Leaf
Authentic Producing Area : Sichuan, Shandong, Henan
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Neutral in nature; sweet, bitter, and astringent in taste; enters the Heart and Lung meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis; unblocks meridians and relieves pain; tonifies the lungs and alleviates wheezing; clears turbidity and lowers lipids.
Indications
Mainly used to treat blood stasis obstructing the meridians, chest pain due to heart obstruction, hemiplegia caused by stroke, cough and wheezing due to lung deficiency, and hyperlipidemia.
Usage and Dosage
1. Internal use: Decocted as a soup, 3–9 g; or taken as tablets made from the extract; or incorporated into pills or powders. 2. External use: Apply an appropriate amount, pounded into a paste and applied as a poultice or rubbed on the skin; or decocted in water for washing.
Precautions
Contraindicated in cases of excess pathogenic factors.
Chemical Constituents
This product primarily contains flavonoids, terpenoids, polypenol lipids, polysaccharides, organic acids, and essential oils.
Pharmacological Actions
This product exhibits pharmacological effects including anti-myocardial ischemia, anti-cerebral ischemia, anti-atherosclerosis, protection against liver and kidney damage, antioxidant, and anti-aging properties.
Relevant Discussions
*Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicines*: “Promotes blood circulation and relieves pain. Primarily used to treat angina pectoris associated with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, hypercholesterolemia, dysentery, and elephantiasis.”
Applications
Related Compatibility
1. Ginkgo biloba leaves combined with safflower: Ginkgo biloba leaves are bitter and have the effects of purging, clearing turbidity, and lowering lipids; safflower is pungent and dispersing, promoting blood circulation and unblocking the meridians. When used in combination, these two herbs not only promote blood circulation and unblock the vessels but also clear turbidity and lower lipids, making them suitable for patients with hyperlipidemia and chest pain due to chest obstruction.
2. Ginkgo Leaf Combined with Salvia Root: Ginkgo leaf promotes blood circulation, dispels blood stasis, unblocks meridians, and relieves pain; Salvia root promotes blood circulation and cools the blood, and is particularly effective at promoting blood circulation and unblocking meridians, making it a key herb for treating chest pain. When used together, they enhance the effect of promoting blood circulation and unblocking meridians, thereby alleviating the severity of chest pain, making this combination suitable for treating chest pain.
3. Ginkgo leaves combined with walnut kernels: Ginkgo leaves have an astringent nature that consolidates the lungs and calms wheezing; walnut kernels have a sweet taste that tonifies the lungs, nourishes the kidneys, and alleviates wheezing. When combined, these two herbs both tonify the lungs and kidneys and relieve coughing and wheezing, enhancing the efficacy of alleviating these symptoms. This combination is suitable for coughing and wheezing caused by deficiency of both the lungs and kidneys.
Medicinal Identification
Ginkgo leaves and white ginkgo nuts: Both are derived from the same plant and share astringent properties that consolidate the lungs. However, ginkgo leaves are primarily used to promote blood circulation, dispel blood stasis, clear turbidity, and lower lipids, making them commonly used for chest pain due to chest obstruction and hyperlipidemia. White ginkgo nuts are primarily used to consolidate the lungs, relieve wheezing, stop leukorrhea, and reduce urination, making them frequently used for persistent cough and wheezing, as well as symptoms such as white, turbid leukorrhea, frequent urination, and seminal emission or premature ejaculation.
Related Medicines
Ginkgo Leaf Capsules (oral solution, tablets).
Related Prescriptions
Ginkgo Leaf Powder (Formula from *Wu’s Family Secrets*, cited in *Comprehensive Treatise on Surgical Medicine*).
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with Chinese herbal medicine should first consult a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital, where a TCM practitioner will conduct a professional pattern differentiation and prescribe an herbal formula.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest in the fall while the leaves are still green, and dry promptly.
Storage Methods
Store in a well-ventilated, dry place.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
This product is often wrinkled or broken; intact leaves are fan-shaped, 3–12 cm long and 5–15 cm wide. They are yellow-green or light brownish-yellow, with an irregularly wavy upper margin; some have a central indentation that can extend to as much as 4/5 of the leaf’s length. They feature dichotomous parallel veins that are fine and dense; the surface is smooth and hairless, and the leaves tear easily lengthwise.The leaf base is wedge-shaped, and the petiole is 2–8 cm long. It is light in weight. It has a faint odor and a slightly bitter taste.
Properties of Processed Slices
Characteristics are the same as those of the medicinal material.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Ginkgo biloba, genus Ginkgo, family Ginkgoaceae.
Morphological Characteristics
A deciduous large tree, 30–40 meters tall, entirely glabrous, with a breast height diameter of up to 4 meters. The bark of young trees is nearly smooth and light gray; in mature trees, it is gray-brown and irregularly fissured longitudinally. The tree bears long branches and slow-growing, serrated short branches.Leaves are alternate; on long branches, they are scattered radially, while on short branches they are clustered in groups of 3–5. They have slender petioles and are fan-shaped, pale green on both surfaces, with the broad apical margin more or less notched or bifid, 5–8 (–15) centimeters wide, and bearing numerous forked, parallel veins.The plant is dioecious, rarely monoecious; cones are solitary in the leaf axils of short branches; male cones are in catkin-like inflorescences, with numerous stamens, each bearing two anthers; female cones have long stalks, the tips of which are usually bifurcated (rarely 3–5-forked), with one ovule bearing a disc-shaped receptacle at the end of each fork; usually one ovule develops into a seed.Seeds mature from September to October.
Distribution Area
It is endemic to China and is generally cultivated. Cultivated areas extend north to Liaoning, south to Guangdong, east to Zhejiang, west to Shaanxi and Gansu, and southwest to Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan.