Traditional Medicine - 7

Solubility of some chemical components in medicinal herbs in the soaking solution.

STT

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* Note: T is solubility

Some chemical components solubility also depends on many different factors at the same time.

* Soaking time:

Depends on the specific medicine

- Soak until the soaking solution is completely absorbed into the medicine.

- Same medicine but soak longer in winter than in summer

- Soak to achieve your own purpose.

For example

Soak aconite until it loses its numbing and spicy taste.

Soak Pinellia until the "opaque white core" is gone. Soak Chinese yam until the water is absorbed completely.

2.2.2.2 Incubation

Use water or auxiliary liquid to soak the medicine for several hours to several days, use cloth to incubate until it meets specific technical requirements.

- Incubate to increase the therapeutic effect thanks to the synergistic effect between the drug and the excipients.

For example

+ Pinellia soaked in licorice and ginger juice to increase the effect of cough relief, expectoration, and anti-emetic.

+ Astragalus soaked in honey to increase the tonic effect...

- Incubate to ferment: incubation time varies depending on each specific medicinal herb, incubate until a layer of mold grows evenly, the mold can be white or yellow.

For example

+ Processed rehmannia glutinosa into raw rehmannia glutinosa

+ God of War

+ Pinellia ternata

- Softening medicine: convenient for dividing medicine.

2.2.2.3. Cleaning

Bleach: Use alcohol to soak and soak the medicine.

Washing: Use water to wash away mechanical impurities.

2.2.2.4. Watercraft

Water pulverization is a method of grinding medicine into a fine powder in water, often applied to some medicines of mineral origin such as cinnabar.

Purpose:

Avoid temperature increase during grinding due to friction. Obtain fine powder.

Avoid flying dust

How to prepare: Put the medicine in a ceramic or porcelain mortar, add water and grind thoroughly, stir well, remove impurities, and decant the cloudy liquid containing fine drug particles. Add more water, continue grinding until the sediment at the bottom is removed, then decant again. Do this many times until all the medicine is collected.

Let the powder settle, then decant the clear water. Dry the resulting powder (you can use alcohol instead of water).

2.3. Water and fire combination (method of processing combining water and fire)

Hydro-fire fusion is a method that uses the action of water at boiling temperature.

2.3.1. Steaming

Boil the medicine with water or liquid of the auxiliary ingredients.

2.3.1.1. Purpose:

Drug metabolism in water conditions at high temperature of about 100 0 C. Example: Steaming raw rehmannia glutinosa to make cooked rehmannia glutinosa.

Reduce side effects of drugs

For example: Polygala has an itchy taste. Steamed Polygala has a sweet taste and stops itching.

2.3.1.2. How to make

Medicines using liquid additives are put into a small pot. All are placed in a large pot containing water. Boil until it reaches the standard and the boiling process requires adding liquid additives to the medicine and water in the outer pot.

2.3.1.3. Distillation time:

Traditional: Steamed using the "nine times steamed, nine times dried" method (9 times steamed, 9 times dried; steamed at night, dried during the day)

Currently: Steam continuously for 3 days, 3 nights, dry (or bake). Marinate until the steaming liquid is gone, then dry and bake until dry.

For example: Cooked rehmannia glutinosa and polygala tenuifolia.

Note: If not steamed long enough, the medicine will easily get moldy. If steamed long enough and meets technical standards, the medicine will be fragrant, can be preserved for a long time, and will not get moldy or moth-eaten.

2.3.2. Excerpt

Extraction is a method of soaking one or more types of auxiliary liquids into a medicinal herb, incubating until it is evenly absorbed, then roasting or baking. The selection of specific auxiliary liquids for each medicinal herb is based on the theory of the five elements.

2.3.2.1 Purpose

- Increase the therapeutic effect

For example

+ Pinellia ternata extract with ginger juice to increase anti-emetic effect, licorice extract to increase expectorant effect, reduce cough.

+ Atractylodes macrocephala extracted from honey to increase the effects of laxative, spleen tonic, and qi tonic.

- Change the properties and effects of the drug.

For example

+ Increase the warm property, reduce the cold property, reduce the stagnation of the medicine used: ginger juice, cardamom alcohol, wine.

+ Reduce dryness and increase the laxative properties of the medicine by using rice water, licorice water, black bean water, copper coins, honey, and milk.

+ To increase the effect of the drug, mix it with alcohol.

+ To increase the pain-relieving effect, prepare with vinegar.

+ To increase the sedative effect, prepare with salt water.

- Changing the pH of the environment: pH affects the solubility of chemical components in the drug. Many different pH solutions and gases impregnated with the drug will change the pH of the drug.

2.3.2.2. Extracted materials

Admixtures are often prepared in the form of liquid, alcohol, or solution. Some commonly used admixtures are: Ginger water, cardamom wine, licorice water, rice water, black bean water, yellow earth, green earth, honey solution, salt water solution, vinegar, and alcohol.

2.3.3. Objects

Use boiling steam to soften medicine, disperse unpleasant odors of medicine or cook medicine, stabilize medicine.

Note: Medicines with active ingredients that are volatile substances such as essential oils should not be cooked.

2.3.4. Cooking

Cook the medicine directly with water or liquid additives until it is absorbed into the medicine.

2.3.5. Color (advance)

Cook the medicine many times, collect the liquid, combine it, and concentrate it for use.

Decoction is often used to extract medicinal decoctions or medicinal extracts. There are two decoction methods for medicinal decoctions:

- Simmer: Boil the medicine over low heat for 1-4 hours, usually applied to medicines with a solid, firm structure such as tonics. Simmer to absorb the flavor of the medicine.

- Fire: Boil the medicine with high heat, the medicine liquid boils strongly, the boiling time is about 15-30 minutes. Fire is often used to boil medicine containing essential oils such as: Cinnamon branch soup, tang cuc am... medicines that have the effect of relieving the exterior, dispersing wind and cold, and promoting stagnant qi. Fire is used to collect the qi of the medicine.

2.3.6. I

I am the method of heating the medicinal herbs at high temperature, then dipping them in water or a bag of additives. I often apply it to medicinal herbs derived from minerals such as: Cuu Khong, Mau Le, Tran Chau Mau.

I aim to

- Reduces the mechanical strength of the drug

- Reduces adverse chemical components generated during firing.

For example: Long-term heating of the sample, nine holes can form CaO, decoction or dissolution with water forms Ca(OH) 2. Quench in vinegar to neutralize Ca(OH) 2

2.4. Some other processing methods

2.4.1. Frying oil

Frying in oil is a method of boiling medicine in vegetable oil.

2.4.1.1. Purpose

Using the high temperature effect of boiling vegetable oil (boiling temperature of vegetable oil is about 200 0 C).

Use the action of low polarity solvents to dissolve some low polarity (oil-soluble) chemical components.

2.4.1.2. Some commonly used oils are peanut oil and sesame oil.

2.4.1.3. How to make

Boil oil, add medicine, continue to boil until it reaches the standard. Take medicine out, let all oil drain, use tissue paper to dry.

For example: Ma tien (seeds) are boiled in boiling oil until they turn amber and have a slightly bitter taste.

2.4.2. Other forms of medicine (cake form)

The medicine is prepared in the form of cakes such as Shen Qu and Pinellia.

- General formula: 10 - 20 parts of medicine powder

80 – 90 parts flour

- Processing process: Grind the medicine (1 or many flavors) into dry powder, add flour, mix well with water to form a paste, put into a mold and press into cakes of 20 - 40g. Leave in a shady place until mold grows evenly, then dry completely.