Pharmaceutical name﹕

英文藥名:

 Semen Ginkgo Bilobae

Latin botanical name﹕

拉丁名:

 Ginkgo biloba L.

Pronounced in Japanese﹕

日語發音:

 ginkyo (yin guo)

Pronounced in Korean﹕

韓語發音:

 unhaeng (yin xing)

Pronounced in Cantonese﹕

粵語發音:

 baak6 gwo2, ngan4 hang5

Pronounced in Cantonese﹕

粵語發音:

 bak kwo, ngen kwo, ngen heng

Other Names﹕

別名:

yin xing 銀杏  , yin guo 銀果

Common Name﹕

英文名:

 ginkgo nut

Distribution﹕

分佈:

 throughout China, from temperate zone to subtropical zone and some parts of north America. In the subtropical zone, usually they are found in the higher altitude where the climate is cooler.

全中國。亞熱帶到溫帶都有。北美有些地區。亞熱帶的較高地帶。

Parts Being Used﹕

應用部份:

Traditionally, seeds were used. Now leaves are also being used for making extracts.

傳統上是用種子。現代也用葉來提煉有效成份。

Characteristics﹕

性味: 

sweet, bitter, astringent, neutral, mildly toxic and very toxic for children. 

In the classical text of "Ben Cao Pin Hui Jing Yao" it states that the characteristics of the leaves of yin xing are bitter sweet, astringent, neutral. and belong to the lung meridian and can control the lungs and calm asthma, calm the mind and arrest pain, rid of water retention and stop diarrhea.

甘﹐苦﹐澀﹐性平﹐對成人有小毒﹔但對小孩則很毒。

《本草品匯精要》中記載銀杏葉“味甘苦，澀 ，性平,歸肺經,能斂肺平喘，益心止痛，化濕止泄”。

channel (meridian) relation﹕

歸經:

nuts: kidney, lung 

leaves: lung

種子﹕腎﹐肺。

葉﹕肺。

Actions & Indications﹕

主治:

Uses of bai guo nuts:

As a tonic. Lowers sludge level in blood. Expels phlegm and stops wheezing cough. Eliminates damp heat,  dampness and stops vaginal discharge in yeast infection. For incontinence, spermatorrhea (involuntary discharge of semen without orgasm), and frequent urination.

果實用于﹕

可作進補用﹐去淤血﹐補肺定喘﹐去痰﹐止百日咳﹐去濕熱﹐補虛止白帶﹐治遺精﹐ 對年老力衰，小便清長，夜間尿多者，有補腎縮尿的作用。

Uses of extract of ginkgo leaves:

1. cardiovascular diseases and diseases of the blood vessels of the brain: angina, arrhythmia, ischemia of the brain, edema of the brain, hardening of the brain arteries, brain infarction, high viscosity of blood, high blood lipids, high cholesterol,  claudication (間歇性跛行), arterial embolization, plebitis, vein dysfunction etc.

2. neurological diseases: premature senility, vascular dementia,   memory impairment, aphasia, reading difficulty, Parkinson's disease, swallowing disorder after stroke, vestibular disorder (前庭障礙), para-sympathetic nervous system disorder, dizziness, vascular type of headache, anxiety, depression, stress ect.

3. Meniere's disease, tinnitus,  

4. optical neuropathy, disease of the retina, macular degeneration  , diabetic retinopathy, retina arterial sclerosis.

5. Diseases of the respiratory system: chronic bronchitis, TB, baby pneumonia, respiratory tract syncytial virus pneumonia (pneumoviridae), bronchopneumonia (capillary bronchitis), children chronic bronchitis, children asthmatic diseases.

6. Diseases of the urinary tract: urolithiasis, incontinence, frequent urination.

7. Other applications: protection in transplant rejection, pimples, anti fungus, scalding from hot liquid, allergies, chronic hepatitis B, acute pancreatitis, leukorrhea.

The main usage of the ginkgo leave extract is in cardiovascular therapy (including dementia caused by circulation dysfunction.)

Chemical ingredients:

化學成份：

From the seeds:

1. Flavin type of compounds (黄酮類化合物)

(1) flavonol:

kaempferol ⁽山奈黄素^)[1], kaempferol-3-rhamnoglucoside^[2]  hepatasacetyl kaempferol glucoside^[3], kaempferol-3(6'-p-coumaroyl-glucosy1)-b-1,rh-amnoside] ^[4], quercetin (槲皮素), isorthamnetin (異鼠李黄素^)[1], octaacetyl quercetin 3-glucoside ^[3], rutin ^[2].

(2) flavin and its glucosides﹕

heptaacetyl luteolin glucoside, octaaccetyldelphidenon glucoside^[3].

(3) dihydro-flavonol

 dihydro-catechin-pentaacetate, dihydro-epicatechin-pentaacetate, dihydro-gallocatechin-hexacetate, dihydro-epigallocatechin-hexacetate, are derivatives of catechin ^[3].

(4) bi-flavonol

bilobetin, ginkgetin, sciadopitysin, I-5'-methoxy-bilobetin, a-mentoflavone ^[5]

2. Phenols

ginkgolic acid, hydroginkgolic acid, ginkgolinic acid, ginkgol, bilobol ^[6], anacardic acid.

3. Organic acids

quinic acid, linoleic acid, shikimic acid, asorbic acid ^[3]. Skin contains formic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, caprylic acid.

4. Alcohol groups

a-hexenol, sequoyitol, pinite, hexacosanol-1, octacosanol-1^[3] , b-sitosterol , nonacosyl alcohol-10^[10] ,ginnol ^[6].

5. Trace minerals and others

ginkgo-B (a saponin), d-sesamin ^[3]. Seed contains small amount of cyanophoric glucoside, gibberellin, cytokininlike substances. Protein 6.4, fat 2.4, carbohydrates 36%,  calcium10 mg, phophorus 218 mg, iron, carotene 320 mg,  riboflavine 50 mg, various amino acids. External skin contains asparagine.

From the leaves and branches:

bilobalide, (白果内酯),  ginkgolide,B, (銀杏萜内酯B), ginkgolide C, (銀杏萜内酯C ), vanillic acid,   (香草酸), protocatechuic acid, (原兒茶酸 ),  daucosterol,  (胡蘿蔔貳)，octacosanol, (二十八醇 ),  triacontanoic acid, (三十烷酸).
 

Medical functions:

Medical functions:

1. Effect on Respiratory System

2. Effect on Smooth Muscles

3. Effect on Circulatory System

4. Effect on Brain Circulation

5. Effect on Free Radicals

6. Effect of Anti Bacteria 

7. Other Effects

8. Toxicity Side Effect

 Raw ginkgo nuts are toxic. Over consuming can cause vomiting, pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, muscle spasm, anxiety and difficulty in breathy. [31] Some classical medical literature reported that over consuming had caused death in a group of refugees. The outer skin of the fruit contains ginkgo toxin. Ginkgo phenols and ginkgo toxin possess effect of hemolysis. Ginkgo toxin possesses an anesthetic effect on the central nervous system of frogs. A venous injection of 0.2g/kg on rabbits caused temporary raising of blood pressure then with subsequent dropping of blood pressure, breathing difficulty, panic and death. Using the neutral portion of the gingko seed for skin injection of 6mg/kg had also caused death in mice.[3] Using a large dosage of ginkgo leaf extract for venous injection continually for one week on dogs causes salivating, vomiting, diarrhea, and lack of appetite. In lab examination of tissues, it shows the increase of mucus secretion of the lower abdomen. Local injection causes local blood vessels to harden. It shows that in dogs and rabbits under anesthesia, the movement of intestines increases. A normal amount of flavonol does not affect the blood clotting time. A large dosage can interfere with the blood clotting time. Venous injections of 242mg/kg, in 95% of the cases, 229.6~256.2/kg could be the fatal limits), of di-flavonol were applied to mice and caused acute toxicity symptoms of rapid breathing, sprawling still, and eventually all died of breathing paralysis.[31]
 

1。對呼吸系統作用
2。對平滑肌作用
3。對循環系統作用
4。對腦循環作用
5。對自由基作用
6。抗細菌的影響
7。其他影響
8。毒副作用

Present Day Applications:   

1. Labyrinthine syndrome

2. Pimples

3. Urolithiasis (formation of calculi in the urinary tract.)

Formulae: root of gingko biloba 120 g, rock cane sugar 120 g. Boil with water. Taken orally. 4~5 doses a week. If there is infection of urinary track, use Ba Zheng San with bai hua she she cao. Drink plenty of liquid and exercise (editor note: preferably qigong dong gong). Out of fifty patients, thirty two were healed. Ten patients were improved. Eight patients did not improve.  Average treatment time was 133 days. ^[3]

^{See usages of leaf extract.}

1。內耳炎綜合徵

2。粉刺

3。尿路結石

處方：銀杏 根120克，冰糖120克的根源。水煎。內服。 每週4〜5劑。如果有尿路感染，用八正散與白花蛇舌草。喝大量的水並運動。（編者注：最好是練動功）。50例患者，32 例痊癒。 10例好轉。八名患者沒有改善。平均治療時間為133天。 [3]

看白果樹葉提取物的用法。

Sample of Formulae:

處方舉例：

Ding Chuan Tang for asthma, formulae for yeast infection, 

定喘湯 治哮喘。帶下方。

Warning:

Bai guo nuts are very toxic for children. When using bai guo for asthma therapy, the effective dosage is very close to toxic quantity. Cooking can only destroy the cyanide by hydrolysis but cannot destroy the toxicity caused by ginkgo phenols and ginkgo toxin. 

A normal amount of flavonol does not affect the blood clotting time. A large dosage can interfere with the blood clotting time. Venous injections of 242mg/kg (in 95% of the cases, 229.6~256.2/kg could be  the fatal limits), of  di-flavonol were applied to mice  and caused acute toxicity symptoms of rapid breathing, sprawling still, and eventually all  died of breathing paralysis.^[31]

白果對小孩很毒。當使用白果對哮喘的治療中，有效劑量是非常接近有毒的劑量。烹煮只能通過水解破壞氰化物，但不能破壞銀杏酚和銀杏毒素的毒性。
黃酮醇的量正常，不影響血液凝固的時間。大劑量可隨血液凝血時間干擾。 242mg/kg二黃酮醇的（在95％的情況下，229.6〜256.2/kg可能是致命的限量），靜脈注射於小鼠，可導致呼吸急促的急性毒性症狀，仍然蔓延，最終全部死亡於呼吸麻痺。[31]