fo shou, Complementary and Alternative Healing University

fo shou 佛手 (in English and Chinese 中英文)

Edited by: Joe Hing kwok Chu

Pharmaceutical name:

英文藥名﹕

Fructus Citri Sarcodactylis

Botanical name:

學名﹕

Citrus medica, L. var, ascrodactyllis, Sw.

Citrus medica, var, chirocarpus, Lonr.

Pron. in Japanese:

日語發音﹕

bushukan (fo shou gan)

Pron. in Korean:

韓語發音﹕

pusu

Pron. in Cantonese:

粵音﹕

fat6 sau2

Other Names:

別名﹕

chen fo shou 陳佛手, fo shou gan 佛手柑, fou shou xiang yuan 佛手香櫞（《閩書》）, mi tong gan 蜜筩柑（《黔書》）, mi luo gan 蜜羅柑（《古州雜記》）, fu shou gan 福壽柑（《民間常用草藥匯編》）, wu zhi gan 五指柑（曠西中藥志》）。

Common Name:

英文名﹕

Fingered Citron

Distribution:

產地﹕

Sichuan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Yunnan provinces of China.

主產于廣東﹐ 四川﹐ 浙江福建 ﹐ 云南等地,

Properties

characteristics)﹕

性味﹕

acrid, bitter and warm.

味辛﹐ 苦, 性温。

Channels meridians) entered:

歸經﹕

liver, stomach, spleen, and lung.

肝，胃，脾，肺。

Medical functions:

藥理﹕

anti-asthma effect
anti-spasm effect on the smooth muscle of the intestine of rats
inhibiting effect on CNS: injection of fo shou alcohol extract of 20g/kg, the instantaneous activity of rats obviously decreases.
effect on circulatory system: alcohol extract of fo shou showed it significantly increased the in vitro guinea pig heart coronary blood flow and improve hypoxia tolerance in mice. In rats, it showed a protective effect on myocardial ischemia caused by the posterior pituitary. In guinea pigs it improved the electrocardiogram changes caused by coronary artery ligation. It showed preventive effect on arrhythmias caused by chloroform - adrenaline.
anti-inflammation effect

平喘作用
對胃﹐ 腸平滑肌作用:佛手醇提取物對大鼠﹐ 免離體腸管有明顯解痙作用。
3﹐ 對中枢的抑制作用
小鼠腹腔注射佛手醇提取物20g/kg, 自發活動明顯减少并维持2小時。
對心血管系统的作用
佛手醇提取能顯著增加豚鼠離體心臟的冠脉流量和提高小鼠的耐缺氧能力, 對大鼠因垂体後葉互引起的心肌缺血有保護作用, 并使豚鼠因结扎冠狀動脉引起的心電圖變化有所改善, 對氯仿-腎上腺素引起的心律失常也有预防作用。
抗炎作用

Actions & Indications:

主治﹕

for

tightness in chest, pain in the rib cage,
flatulence, burping, nausea, and lack of appetite due to weak digestion,
chronic cough with abundance of phlegm.

主治:

肝氣郁結之脅痛﹐ 胸悶,
脾胃積滯之脘腹脹滿﹐ 噯氣﹐ 惡心,
久咳痰多。

Chemical ingredients:[1]

化學成份﹕[1]

含揮發油和黃酮。揮發油主成分為枸櫞醛(citral)、牻牛兒醇(geraniol)、芳樟醇(linalool)、鄰氨基苯甲酸甲酯(methylanthranilate)；黃酮苷有柚皮苷(naringin)、新橙皮苷(neohesperidin)等。

Citropten, Limettin 0.007%	檸檬油素(檸檬內酯) 0.007%
6, 7-dimethoxycoumarin	6, 7-二甲氧基香豆精
3,5, 8-trihydroxy-4', 7-dimethoxy- flavone	3, 5, 8-三羥基-4', 7-二甲氧基黃酮門
limonin	檸檬苦素
nomillin	鬧米林
daucosterol	胡蘿卜甙
β-sitosterol	β-谷甾醇
p-hydroxy phenylpropenoic acid	對-羥基苯丙烯酸
palmitic acid	棕櫚酸
succinic acid	琥珀酸
cis-head-to-tail-limettin dimer	順式-頭-尾3, 4, 3', 4'-檸檬油素二聚體
cis- head-to-head-limettin dimer	順式-頭－頭-3, 4, 3', 4'-檸檬油素二聚體
3,5,6-trihydroxy-4',7-dimethoxyflavone	3, 5, 6-三羥基-4', 7-二甲氧基黃酮
3, 5, 6-trihydroxy-7, 3', 4'-trimethoxyflavone	3, 5, 6-三羥基-7, 3', 4'-三甲氧基黃酮
Diosmin and hesperidin	痕量的香葉木甙(Diosmin)和橙皮甙(Hesperidin)
Also contains:	另含
3, 5, 6-trihydroxy-4'-7- dimethoxyfavone	3, 5, 6-三羥基-4', 7-二甲氧基黃酮
3, 5, 6- trihydroxy-3',4',7-trimethoxy-flavone	3, 5, 6-三羥基-3',4',7-三甲氧基黃酮

Dosage:

用量﹕

3 to 5 g.

3～5克。

Samples of formulae:

處方舉例﹕

For cough with phlegm: use stale fo shou 6-9 g. Boil with water and take orally.

For flatulence and swelling of abdomen: fresh fo shou (remove the white part) 120 g, ren zhong bai 90 g, make into powder. Drink with boil water with empty stomach.[4]

For acute hepatitis of small children:

1 to 3 years old : stale fo shou 10 - 15 g,
3-5 years old: 15-20 g,
5-7 years old: 20-25 g,
7-10 years old 30 g,

Add bai jiang cao 1 g per every year old. For above 10 years old, every 2 years add 1 g. Boil with water for 10 - 15 minutes. Make into 3 servings. Take orally.

7 - 10 days is one therapy period.

Treated 65 patients. Jaundice cleared in average of 4-5 days. Energy and appetite became better.[3]

For vaginal yeast infection: fo shou 15 - 30 g, pig small intestine 1 foot long. Boil with water and take orally. [2]

治痰氣咳嗽：陳佛手二至三錢。水煎飲。（《閩南民間草藥》）

治鼓脹發腫：香櫞去瓤四兩, 人中白三兩。共為末, 空腹白湯下。（《嶺南採藥錄》）

治婦女白帶：佛手五錢至一兩, 豬小腸一尺。水煎服。（《閩南民間草藥》）

治療小兒傳染性肝炎 1～3歲每日取陳佛手10～15克, 3～5歲15～20克, 5～7歲20～25克, 7～10歲30克；加敗醬草每日每歲1克, 10歲以上每2歲增加1克, 水煎10～15分鐘, 分3次服。
7～10天為一療程。
治療64例, 平均4～5天黃疸消失, 精神及食欲轉佳。（顏正華主編《中藥學》人民衛生出版社1991年出版第402頁）

Modern Research:

現代研究﹕

Toxicity & Cautions:

毒素與禁忌﹕

Do not use in those with yinxu with fire and without qizi (qi stagnation) . Do not use during pregnancy.

avoid strong strong sunlight while taking this herb.

陰虚火旺，無氣滯症狀者慎服。

本經逢原：痢久氣虛，非其所宜。

孕婦忌服。

避免暴露於強陽光下。

[1] Zhong Hua Ben Cao 《中華本草》

[2] Folk's Medicine of Fujian Province 《閩南民間草藥》