As we all know, the Chinese medicines we see in life are colorful and varied, so what are the requirements for these different shapes of Chinese medicine?
In fact, Chinese medicine slices are part of Chinese medicine processing. It is a processing process in which the washed and softened medicinal materials are cut into slices by machine or manually according to the hardness, size, thickness, etc. of the texture.
What are the benefits of cutting Chinese medicinal materials into different shapes? Here we have to sort it out.
There are 4 major benefits of Chinese medicine slices
01. It is easy to decoct the effective ingredients
The cutting of medicinal slices adopts the cutting principle of "thin for hard texture" and "thick for loose texture" according to the different textures of the medicinal materials, so as to facilitate the decoction of the effective ingredients of the medicine, such as white peony root should be cut into thin slices, and Adenophora australis should be cut into thick slices. At the same time, due to the increase in the contact surface between the medicinal slices and the solvent, the decoction rate of the effective ingredients can be increased, and the phenomenon of gelatinization and sticking to the pan during the decoction process can be avoided, showing the characteristics of the medicinal slices being "fine but not powdery".
02. Convenient for processing
After the medicinal slices are cut into pieces, it is convenient to control the heat during processing and make the medicine evenly heated. It is also conducive to the uniform contact and absorption of various auxiliary materials and medicines, and improves the processing effect. Such as salt-fried Alisma orientalis.
03. Convenient for preparation and preparation
After the medicinal slices are cut into pieces, the volume is moderate, which is convenient for formulation, such as astragalus and licorice. When preparing liquid dosage forms, the medicinal slices can increase the leaching effect. When preparing solid dosage forms, the cut products are easy to crush, so that the drug ratio in the prescription is relatively stable.
04. Convenient for identification
For medicinal materials with similar properties, cutting them into slices of a certain specification reveals the characteristics of their organizational structure, which is conducive to distinguishing different medicinal materials and preventing confusion. Such as white qian and white wei.
Chinese herbal medicine slices are divided into 8 categories according to thickness
1. Ultra-thin slices: thickness is less than 0.5mm, suitable for woody, animal, and keratinous herbs, such as antelope horns, deer horns, sappan wood, and agarwood.
2. Thin slices: thickness is 1~2mm, suitable for herbs with dense and solid texture, which are not easy to break when sliced thinly, such as white peony, lindera, trillium, and gastrodia.
3. Thick slices: thickness is 2~4mm, suitable for herbs with loose texture, high viscosity, and easy to break when sliced thinly, such as Poria, yam, radix trichosanthis, rhubarb, rhubarb, etc.
4. Oblique slices: thickness is 2~4mm, suitable for long and fibrous herbs, such as licorice, astragalus, and millettia reticulata.
5. Straight slices (straight slices): The thickness is 2~4mm, suitable for medicinal materials with large shape, dense tissue, bright color, and need to highlight their identification characteristics, such as Atractylodes macrocephala, Rhubarb, Radix Trichosanthis, Cimicifuga, Aconite, etc.
6. Silk (including thin silk and wide silk): Thin silk is 2~3mm, and wide silk is 5~10mm. Suitable for skin, leaves, and thin fruit peels. For example, Phellodendron chinense, Magnolia officinalis, Citrus albizzia peel, Citrus reticulata peel, etc. are all cut into thin silk; lotus leaf, Epimedium, wax gourd peel, Cucurbita chinensis peel, etc. are all cut into wide silk.
7. Segment: The length is 10~15mm, the long segment is also called "section", and the short segment is called "ju". Suitable for whole herbs and slender shapes, and the ingredients contained are easy to decoct. Such as mint, Nepeta tenuifolia, Leonurus japonicus, Codonopsis pilosula, Achyranthes bidentata, Adenophora acuta, Imperata root, Equisetum arvense, Phragmites australis, Ephedra sinica, Lonicera japonica, etc.
8. Block: A cubic block with a side length of 8~12mm. Some medicinal materials are easy to gelatinize when decocted and need to be cut into different blocks, such as donkey-hide gelatin.
Due to the development of Chinese medicine for nearly a thousand years and the increasing maturity of technology, most of the cutting of Chinese medicine has been achieved by machine cutting. However, some types of slices that cannot be met by machines are still cut manually, such as betel nut, Fritillaria thunbergii, deer antler, and other thin slices. Special treatment is required for wood, animal bones, and horns. Pounding slices are mostly used for animal horns, such as antelope horns and buffalo horns; shavings are mostly used for wood-based medicinal materials, such as sandalwood, pine knots, and hematite; filing, some medicinal materials are used to use powder, such as antelope horns and buffalo horns; splitting is mostly used for wood-based medicinal materials and animal bones, such as agarwood and pine knots.
In the daily application of traditional Chinese medicine, some Chinese medicines are not restricted to a certain shape. As long as they meet the quality requirements of the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia", we can choose them, such as donkey-hide gelatin cubes and donkey-hide gelatin powder, Poria tablets and Poria cubes, licorice round tablets and licorice oblique tablets, etc.