Peach, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the fruit of the peach (Amygdalus persica L.) or wild peach (Amygdalus davidiana (Carrière) de Vosex Henry), both plants of the Rosaceae family.Peaches are native to China and are widely cultivated throughout the country. Wild peaches are distributed in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and other regions. They have the effects of promoting saliva production, moistening the intestines, invigorating blood circulation, and eliminating food stagnation. They are used to treat dry mouth due to insufficient body fluids, constipation caused by intestinal dryness, amenorrhea, and abdominal masses.
Peach
Peach, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the fruit of the peach (Amygdalus persica L.) or wild peach (Amygdalus davidiana (Carrière) de Vosex Henry), both plants of the Rosaceae family.Peaches are native to China and are widely cultivated throughout the country. Wild peaches are distributed in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and other regions. They have the effects of promoting saliva production, moistening the intestines, invigorating blood circulation, and eliminating food stagnation. They are used to treat dry mouth due to insufficient body fluids, constipation caused by intestinal dryness, amenorrhea, and abdominal masses.
Chinese Name : 桃子
Aliases : Peach Fruit
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sweet and sour; nature: warm. Enters the Lung and Large Intestine meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Promotes the production of body fluids, moistens the intestines, invigorates blood circulation, and eliminates food stagnation.
Indications
Used for fluid deficiency with thirst, intestinal dryness with constipation, amenorrhea, and abdominal masses.
Usage and Dosage
Internal use: Take in appropriate amounts, eaten fresh or as dried fruit. External use: Take in appropriate amounts, pounded and applied as a poultice.
Precautions
1. Should not be consumed in excess. 2. *Herbal Compendium of Southern Yunnan*: “Excessive consumption agitates the spleen and promotes heat, causing bloating and the development of sores and boils. Eating peaches and then bathing in water causes diarrhea.” 3. *Herbal Compendium for Daily Use*: “Eating peaches with soft-shelled turtle causes chest pain; those taking Atractylodes should avoid them.”
Relevant Discussions
*Compendium of Medical Essentials: Properties of Medicinal Herbs*: “Nourishes the lungs; drains the lungs.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
Medicinal Dietary Therapy:
Fried Peach Slices:
Effects: Nourishes the stomach, generates body fluids, nourishes yin, and moistens dryness. Effective for stomach yin deficiency, dry mouth due to fluid depletion, dry cough caused by lung dryness, sore throat and hoarseness, constipation, and general debility.
Ingredients: 750g peaches, 5 eggs, flour, white sugar, and milk (all to taste), a small amount of vanilla powder, and 500ml peanut oil.
Instructions: Wash the peaches, peel them, and remove the pits. Slice them into thin pieces, place them in a bowl, and add white sugar. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg yolks, flour, vanilla powder, and white sugar, then add water. Stir until a batter forms. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the milk batter until well combined.Heat the peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Dip the peach slices into the batter and fry until golden brown. Remove from the oil, arrange on a plate, and sprinkle with sugar while still hot.
Usage: Enjoy as desired.
Related Compatibility
To treat skin sores in children: Pound peaches and apply the paste mixed with vinegar to the affected area. (From *Pu Ji Fang*)
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest when the fruit is ripe; use fresh or make into dried fruit.
Crude Drug Identification
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Peach or wild peach, a plant of the Rosaceae family.
Morphological Characteristics
1. The peach, also known as the hairy peach. A tree reaching 3–8 meters in height; the crown is broad and spreading; the bark is dark reddish-brown, becoming rough and scaly with age;slender, glabrous, glossy green twigs that turn red in sunny areas and bear numerous small lenticels; winter buds are conical with blunt tips, covered with short soft hairs, and often clustered in groups of 2–3, with a leaf bud in the center and flower buds on either side.Leaves are oblong-lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or obovate-lanceolate, 7–15 cm long and 2–3.5 cm wide, with an acuminate apex and a broadly cuneate base; the upper surface is glabrous, while the lower surface has a few short soft hairs or is glabrous in the axils of the veins; the margins are finely or coarsely serrate, with or without glands at the tips of the teeth;The petioles are stout, 1–2 cm long, often bearing 1 to several glands, and sometimes glabrous. Flowers are solitary, blooming before the leaves, 2.5–3.5 cm in diameter; the pedicels are extremely short or nearly absent; the calyx tube is campanulate, pubescent, rarely nearly glabrous, green with red spots; the sepals are ovate to oblong, rounded-obtuse at the apex, and pubescent on the outer surface;petals oblong-elliptic to broadly obovate, pink, rarely white; stamens about 20–30, anthers scarlet; style nearly as long as or slightly shorter than the stamens; ovary pubescent.The fruit varies in shape and size, being ovate, broadly elliptic, or flattened-orbicular, (3)5–7(12) cm in diameter, with length nearly equal to width; color ranges from pale greenish-white to orange-yellow, often with a reddish blush on the sun-exposed side; the exterior is densely covered with short soft hairs, rarely glabrous; the ventral suture is distinct, and the fruit stalk is short and deeply embedded in the fruit cavity;The flesh is white, pale greenish-white, yellow, orange-yellow, or red; it is juicy and fragrant, with a sweet or sweet-and-sour flavor; the pit is large, free or adherent, elliptical or nearly round, flattened on both sides, tapering to a point at the apex, and the surface bears longitudinal and transverse grooves and pits; the seed kernel is bitter, rarely sweet. Flowering occurs from March to April; fruit ripening varies by variety but typically occurs from August to September.2. Mountain Peach, also known as: Yutao, wild peach, or mountain wild peach. A tree that can reach up to 10 meters in height; the crown is spreading, and the bark is dark purple and smooth; the twigs are slender and elongated, erect, glabrous when young, and brown when mature.Leaves are ovate-lanceolate, 5–13 cm long and 1.5–4 cm wide, with an acuminate apex, a cuneate base, glabrous on both surfaces, and finely serrate margins; petioles are 1–2 cm long, glabrous, and often bear glands.Flowers are solitary, blooming before the leaves, 2–3 cm in diameter; pedicels are extremely short or nearly absent; the calyx is glabrous; the calyx tube is bell-shaped; sepals are ovate to ovate-oblong, purple, with rounded-obtuse apices;petals obovate or nearly round, 10–15 mm long, 8–12 mm wide, pink, with rounded-blunt apices, rarely slightly concave; stamens numerous, nearly as long as or slightly shorter than the petals; ovary pubescent, style longer than or nearly as long as the stamens.The fruit is nearly spherical, 2.5–3.5 cm in diameter, pale yellow, densely covered with short soft hairs on the outside, with a short pedicel that extends deep into the fruit cavity; the pulp is thin and dry, inedible, and does not split open when ripe; the seed is spherical or nearly spherical, not flattened on either side, with a rounded apex and a truncate base, the surface bearing longitudinal and transverse grooves and pits, and is separate from the pulp.Flowering period: March–April; fruiting period: July–August.
Distribution Area
1. Peach: Native to China and widely cultivated throughout the country. 2. Wild Peach: Found in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and other regions.