How to Decoct Traditional Chinese Medicine —— Correct Decocting Method of Traditional Chinese Medicine

How to decoct 20 17- the correct decoction method of Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine is mostly used for decoction, which is also a university question. Many people hold Chinese medicine bags and don't know how to decoct medicine correctly. Here are some common sense of decocting Chinese medicine. The following is the knowledge I brought to you about the correct decocting method of traditional Chinese medicine. Welcome to reading.

Selection of decocting instruments

The quality of traditional Chinese medicine decoction is closely related to the selected decocting instruments. It is better to use casserole now, because the material of casserole is relatively stable, it will not react chemically with pharmaceutical ingredients, and the heat transfer is even and mild, which is one of the reasons why it has been used since ancient times. In addition, enamel pot, stainless steel pot and glass frying pan can also be selected. However, iron pots and copper pots cannot be used, mainly because of their unstable chemical properties and easy oxidation. When decocting, it can react with the chemical components contained in traditional Chinese medicine. For example, it can form ferric tannic acid with tannic acid to deepen the color of the liquid medicine. It can form insoluble polymers with flavonoids. It can form salts with organic acids. All these will affect the quality of decoction and directly affect the clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine decoction.

Decoction with water

The amount of water added in decoction is also very important, which directly affects the quality of decoction. If less water is added, the medicine will not be decocted thoroughly and the effective components will not be leached completely. If more water is added, more liquid medicine will be decocted, which will bring inconvenience to patients. Due to the different textures of Chinese herbal medicines, their water absorption varies greatly, and the water addition is generally controlled at 5- 10 times. Drugs with the same weight, loose texture, large volume and natural water absorption. If the texture is solid, its volume will be small and its water absorption will be less. Therefore, flowers, leaves and whole herbs should be decocted with more water. Cooking minerals and shellfish requires less water. According to the traditional method of adding water, the medicine is put into a pot, and the amount of water added for the first decoction is 3-5 cm above the surface of the medicine, and that for the second decoction is 3 cm above the surface of the medicine. This method of adding water is simple and easy to master.

Problems needing attention in decocting medicine

1, soaking before decocting:

The medicine must be soaked before decoction, because most Chinese medicines from plants are dry. Soaking in water can soften the medicinal materials and restore the natural state after the tissue cells expand, which is beneficial to the leaching of effective components during decoction. Generally, the soaking time of drugs mainly composed of flowers, leaves and stems is 1- 1.5 hours. The soaking time of the medicine mainly consisting of roots, seeds, rhizomes and fruits is 2-3 hours.

2. Decocting times:

The effect of multiple decoctions is better than that of one long decoction. Practice has proved that the decoction can decoct about 80% of its components twice, so it is appropriate to decoct twice or three times.

3. Decocting temperature:

What is the temperature of decocting medicine in Chinese medicine? Temperature? Commonly known as Slow fire? Or? Wu huo? . The so-called slow fire is a weak fire, the temperature rises slowly and the water evaporates slowly. The so-called fierce fire means that the fire is big, the temperature rises quickly, and the water evaporates quickly. If the heat is too large, the water will evaporate quickly, which will affect the leaching of effective components and make it easy to paste the pot. On the contrary, if the heat is weak, the effect of decocting will be poor. Generally, strong fire is used before cooking, and then slow fire is used after cooking, which can slow down the evaporation of water and facilitate the frying of effective ingredients.

4. Decocting time:

Mainly depends on the nature of drugs and diseases and the situation of drugs. Generally speaking, the first frying takes 20-30 minutes, and the second frying takes 30-40 minutes. Drugs for treating cold, the first decoction 10- 15 minutes, the second decoction 15-20 minutes. The tonic medicine is decocted for 30-40 minutes for the first time and 40-50 minutes for the second time.

5. The amount of liquid medicine retained:

Generally, it refers to the amount of liquid medicine after one dose of medicine is decocted twice. Adults take 400-600 ml twice a day. Children take 200-300ml twice or three times a day.

6, the method of taking medicine:

Generally, one dose of medicine is decocted twice and then mixed with liquid medicine, which is taken twice. Children can take it in 2-3 times. Drugs for colds, fever, enteritis and diarrhea can also be taken frequently, that is, once every 4 hours, 30-40 ml each time, and then taken after recovery, 2-3 times a day, and children should take it several times more.

7, special medicine decoction:

Doctors will prescribe drugs with footnotes according to the patient's condition and the nature of the drugs.

(1) First decoct drugs: Generally speaking, some minerals, shells and crustaceans are hard to decoct, so they should be decocted for 30-40 minutes before being mixed with other drugs. Common gypsum, raw keel, mother of pearl, raw ochre, etc. In addition, toxic drugs can be decocted first and then decocted for a long time, so as to achieve the purpose of attenuation or detoxification. For example, aconitine can be decomposed into aconitine after long-term decoction, and its toxicity is only 1/2000. For example, taking aconite decoction for a long time can not only reduce toxicity but also increase cardiotonic effect.

(2) After taking the medicine: generally, the medicine with aromatic smell and volatile oil or difficult to decoct for a long time should be put into the pot 10- 15 minutes before the medicine is decocted. Common ones are Pogostemon cablin, Uncaria rhynchophylla and rhubarb. For example, if the decoction time exceeds 20 minutes, the antihypertensive components contained in Uncaria rhynchophylla will be easily destroyed. Rhubarb, a component with purgative and heat-clearing effects, is rhein, but it is unstable to heat and will decompose when heated for a long time. The purgative effect of rhein is stronger than that of aglycone, and it is not easy to decoct for a long time. The purgative method is often used.

(3) Decocting: Generally, seeds and single pollen medicine are put into gauze bags and decocted in group medicine. Common ones are plantain seeds, Inula flowers and so on. For example, plantain seeds are easy to stick to the pan, gelatinize and coke. So it needs to be fried. Inula health care can prevent fluff from falling off and mix with soup to stimulate the throat.

(4) Dissolving: dissolving the medicine with hot liquid medicine and taking it. Common drugs are sodium sulfate and mirabilite.

(5) Melting: Mainly some gum drugs, which are taken after being dissolved with hot water. If the liquid medicine is mixed and decocted, the viscosity of the liquid medicine is high, which will affect the leaching of other components, and gum drugs will also lose to some extent, so the method of melting is adopted. Common raw donkey-hide gelatin, antler glue and tortoise plastron glue.

(6) add the decoction again. Some expensive medicines should be decocted separately, and then the liquid medicine should be taken together. Common ginseng, American ginseng, velvet antler and so on.

(7) For oral administration, some precious drug fine powders can't be decocted together with the ingredients, but are generally taken orally, that is, the powder is dissolved in the liquid medicine. This not only helps to play the role of drugs, but also saves medicinal materials. The common ones are Sanqi noodles, antelope horn noodles and bezoar noodles.

Attention should be paid to the selection of instruments, the amount of water added, the time and temperature of decocting Chinese medicine, etc. It takes patience and care to decoct traditional Chinese medicine. Only by concentrating on decocting a pair of traditional Chinese medicine can a good medicine be decocted.

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