Is it better to decoct Chinese herbs by hand or by machine?

Chinese medicine decoction has a history of more than 2000 years. The purpose of decoction is to transfer the active ingredients in the medicine, through physical and chemical effects (such as dissolution, diffusion, infiltration and desorption, etc.), into the broth. Correct decoction of Chinese medicine is also an important part of exerting the therapeutic effect of Chinese medicine. Qing Dynasty physician Xu Lingyi said, "the method of decoction is most appropriate to speak y, the effect of the medicine and not effective, all lies in this". Li Shizhen in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" proposed: "Where the service of the soup medicine, although the product is specialized in fine, repair treatment, such as the law, and the decoction of the recklessness of the times, the water and fire is bad, the fire is out of order, the medicine is also no work." Therefore, the drug decoction after the active ingredients of the more or less become the main problem.

Since the decoction of Chinese medicine is a very important part, the quality of the decoction is related to the patient's therapeutic effect. Then, Chinese medicine is the traditional "pot boiling" good, or the popular "machine decoction" good? Today we will analyze the following aspects:

1. Hygienic indicators

The whole process of decoction of medicine pots is carried out in an open state, the liquid is easy to be contaminated, after storage is also easy to fermentation and mildew, inconvenient to store, carry, the quality of the liquid is difficult to control; and decocting machine and packaging machine, decoctions and packaging for the closed process to reduce the contamination of the bag using non-toxic, sterile materials, hygiene and sanitation. Non-toxic, sterile materials, good hygiene.

2. Active ingredient ratio

For roots, stems and leaves and other general herbs, decoction machine and artificial decoction is not a big difference; and for volatile components of the drug, due to the decoction machine is in the closed decoction, is not easy to volatilize the machine decoction than the traditional method of the active ingredient content of a number of; there are also a number of minerals, shellfish solid texture of the medicinal herbs in the decoction machine at high temperatures and high pressures, it is easy to Improve the decoction rate, so these drugs, machine decoction is also higher than the artificial decoction content of active ingredients.

3. Impurity content

The medicine decocted by the decoction machine is obtained through the filters on the gauze bag and packaging machine, which is more thorough in filtering the sediments and particles. As for the traditional method of decoction, the control of impurities by machine decoction appears to be more stable due to the fact that the operation level and method of decoction varies from person to person, and some people operate the filtration incompletely, while others omit the filtration process. In addition, the traditional method of decocting medicines is exposed to air for operation, which is prone to oxidizing reaction of the medicines, while decocting machines, compared with the traditional method of decocting medicines, are operated in a sealed machine, which reduces the oxidizing reaction. This is also the reason why people feel that the medicine decocted by the machine is lighter.

4. Special remedies

From the above comparison, it can be seen that the decoction machine is not inferior to the traditional decoction pot in general. But Chinese medicine is a complex science, many doctors prescribe medicines and some special requirements: for example, some special herbs, if they contain free alkaloids, need to add a little vinegar or wine, and some also use wine to impregnate the herbs; there are also some toxic herbs, such as raw nanxing, raw half-summer and raw Chuan, CaoWu, etc., advocating that the first decoction of a period of time, to the mouth to taste the sensation of no numbness of the tongue. These more complex manual processes, is the machine decoction can not be done. For these cases, I am afraid that the decoction pot is still needed in person.

In summary, with the development of science and technology, the advantages of the decoction machine has been able to highlight the advantages of the decoction of Chinese herbal medicine is better, of course, manual decoction for some special requirements of the Chinese herbal medicine is more flexible, the two are complementary, the choice of decoction also need to look at the physician has no special requirements, of course, Luck's Tongren old pharmacy provides a variety of decoction for you! For choice, to provide patients with comprehensive medical services, to make a contribution to the culture of Chinese medicine.