Kajian perubatan masyarakat Cina menunjukkan daging arnab yang dimasak bersama Wolfberry dapat merawat penyakit kencing manis.
Latin:
Fructus Lycii
Origin:
Wolfberry fruit is the dried mature fruit of the deciduous shrub Lycium barbarum L., of the family Solanaceae. Native to east Asia and Europe, it grows wild on hillsides in the cooler regions of northern China and Europe. However, it is also grown as a cultivated plant in almost all parts of China and in some other regions of Asia, as well as naturalized in Britain, the Middle East and North America. In China, the best wolfberry fruits are produced in the provinces Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai.
Wolfberry fruit is a shrub that grows to about 2.5 m by 2 m at a medium rate. It is in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees. The plant can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.
Harvested in late summer or early autumn when the fruit is mature, dried in the shade until the cortex is wrinkled, and dried in the sun until the fruit is crusted with the pulp still soft. It is used unprepared.
The root also has healing properties and is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, which is called Wolfberry Bark. The root can be used either fresh or dried.
The leaves are edible and are a common vegetable.
It is called Wolfberry. Also called Lycium Fruit, Matrimony Vine Fruit, Chinese Desertthorn Fruit, Box Thorn Fruit and Chinese Wolfberry Fruit. See also Food, Vegetables,
Wolfberry; and Herbs, Tonics for Deficiency Syndromes, Yin Tonics,
Wolfberry Fruit.
Properties:
Sweet in flavor, mild in nature, it is related to the liver, kidney and lung channels.
Functions:
Nourishes the kidney yin and liver blood, improves one's eyesight, and moistens lungs.
Applications:
The first recorded use of wolfberry fruit as a medicinal herb is from the first century A.D. For thousands of years it is used as both a yin tonic for liver and kidney, and as a blood tonic.
Wolfberry fruit possesses an action antagonistic to fat deposition, especially in the liver. So it is often applied in obese patients and in liver disease with lipidosis. It lowers the level of blood sugar and is beneficial to diabetes.
1. To treat aching and general weakness due to deficient kidney, manifesting dizziness, impaired eyesight, tinnitus (ringing noise in the ears), impotence, weak waist and knee, night sweat: a) Wolfberry fruit is often used in combination with rehmannia root, dodder seed, dogwood fruit and other herbs for tonifying the liver and kidney. b) Immerse 30-60 g wolfberry fruit in 60 percent liquor for at least 7 days (the longer, the better). Drink 5-10 ml each day.
2. To treat weak or blurred vision due to yin deficiency of the liver and kidney: The food-herb is often used in combination with chrysanthemum flower, rehmannia root, Chinese yam and other herbs for nourishing yin and improving vision, such as Qi Ju Dihuang Pill.
3. For the aged and infirm: Prepare 25 g fruit to make rice porridge. Use porridge as a regular meal once or twice daily.
4. To treat diabetes mellitus (relative or absolute lack of insulin leading to uncontrolled carbohydrate metabolism): Prepare 15 g fruit, 250 g rabbit meat and cook it under slow fire until the meat is well done. Add salt and flavoring and serve as a side dish.
Dosage and Administration:
5-lO g. Decoction.
Cautions on Use:
People who have a fever due to infection or who have diarrhea or bloating is advised not to take wolfberry fruit.
Although no records of toxicity have been seen, some caution should be exercised with this species, particularly with regard to its edible leaves, since it belongs to a family that often contains toxins. However, use of the leaves is well documented and fairly widespread in some areas. The unripe fruit might also be suspect though the ripe fruit is wholesome.
Reference Materials:
Toxic or Side Effects:
There are no reported side effects from taking wolfberry fruit. Wolfberry fruit has been used for centuries, both as a healing herb and as a food.
Modern Researches:
Wolfberry fruit is rich in carotene, polysaccharide, betaine, linoleic acid, vitamins B1, B2 and C. The fruit also contains crude fat, thick protein, thiamine, riboflavin, ascorbic acid, nicotinic acid, amino acids, zeaxanthin, iron, and trace elements including zinc, copper, selenium, calcium, and phosphorus.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is extracellular accumulation of senile plaques composed primarily of aggregated -amyloid (A) peptide. Treatment of cultured neurons with A peptide induces neuronal death in which apoptosis is suggested to be one of the mechanisms. A group of researchers at the Anatomy Department of the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, took the lead in discovering a "Double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase, PKR," plays a significant role in mediating A peptide-induced neuronal death (see Raymond Chuen-Chung Chang, Ka-Chun Suen, Chi-Him Ma, Wassim Elyaman, Ho-Keung Ng and Jacques Hugon, "Involvement of double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase and phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor-2a in neuronal degeneration," Journal of Neurochemistry Vol. 83, Issue 5 (December 2002), pp. 1,215¡V1,225).
After having discovered that PKR plays a significant role in causing Alzheimer's disease, the Anatomy Department of the University of Hong Kong has since embarked on trying to figure out a way to prevent the disease with traditional Chinese medicine. Since wolfberry fruit has long been considered to have anti-aging effects by traditional Chinese medical theories, researchers have tried injecting laboratory mice with extracts of wolfberry fruit. What they have found is that the extracts could indeed protect mice neurons from PKR and other neurotoxicities (see Kwok-fai So and Raymond Chuen-Chung Chang, "Neuroprotective effects of an anti-aging oriental medicine Lycium barbarum" 20th IUBMB International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and 11th FAOBMB Congress (June 18-23, 2006, Kyoto, Japan), 77 No. S89-1). Next steps for the researchers to do are a) to isolate the exact ingredients in wolfberry fruit that have neuroprotective effects; and b) to find out whether wolfberry fruit could help treat existing patients of Alzheimer's disease, other than its known preventive effects.
Wolfberry fruit has also been shown to be able to lower the level of blood sugar. A group of Chinese researchers have confirmed that the polysaccharide in wolfberry fruit can stimulate myocytes (muscle cells), causing them to have more glut-4 (receptor of glucose), and making the cells to absorb more blood sugar (see Rui Zhao, Qingwang Li, and Bo Xiao, "Effect of Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide on the Improvement of Insulin Resistance in NIDDM Rats," Yakugaku Zasshi (Journal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan), Vol. 125, No. 12 (December 2005), pp. 981-988).
In an experiment of laboratory mice, wolfberry fruit has also been confirmed to be able to reduce triglyceride (lipoproteins) and increase high density lipoproteins (the 'good" cholesterol) (see Qiong Luo, Yizhong Cai, Jun Yan, Mei Sun and Harold Corke, "Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects and antioxidant activity of fruit extracts from Lycium barbarum," Life Sciences Vol. 76, Issue 2 (26 November 2004), pp. 137-149).
Wolfberry fruit has the effects of enhancing phagocytosis (uptake of material, such as microorganisms or cell fragments into a cell) of the reticuloendothelial system (including the fixed macrophages of tissues, liver and spleen), increasing peripheral white blood cells, enhancing humoral and cellular immunity and promoting hematopoietic (give rise to distinct daughter blood cells) function.
Betaine, a biological stimulant, has the effects of stimulating growth, reducing blood sugar and blood lipid, inhibiting the fat deposition in liver cells and promoting the regeneration of liver cells. The herb has the cholinomimetic effects of reducing blood pressure, inhibiting the heart, exciting intestines, and has estrogen-like effects.
It was demonstrated that this fruit yields a prominent action in protecting the liver from lipid accumulation. When mice were poisoned with CC1 in the laboratory, those receiving administration of extracts from this fruit yielded no liver function impairment, while the control group, which received no protection, were mostly poisoned and killed.
Wolfberry fruit is traditionally believed to have many different effects upon the body. In addition to being a general longevity herb, it is said to raise the spirits, fight depression, and increase cheerfulness. Berries are made into a blood tonic that is given for general weakness, to improve circulation, and increase the cells' ability to absorb nutrients. When blended with more yang herbs, wolfberry fruit is used as a sexual tonic.
In Chinese medicine, the liver is associated with the function of the eyes. Wolfberry fruit is used as a liver tonic to brighten the eyes, improve poor eyesight, treat blurred vision, sensitivity to light, and other general eye weaknesses.
One of the qualities ascribed to wolfberry root is that it "cools the blood." It is used to reduce fever and to treat other conditions of "excess heat." These include traditional uses to relieve excess sweating, stop nosebleeds, reduce vomiting, and treat dizziness. Some herbalists use a tea made of wolfberry root and Scutellaria (skullcap or Huang Qin) to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. Wolfberry is also used to treat certain types of coughs and asthma.
Modern herbalists use wolfberry roots to treat high blood pressure. There is some scientific basis for this treatment, since extracts from the root have been shown in laboratory experiments to relax the involuntary muscles, including artery muscles. This relaxation lowers blood pressure.
Other modern scientific studies have shown that extracts of wolfberry root can reduce fever, including fever associated with malaria. One Korean study published in 1999 looked at the effect extracts from the berries and roots had on the blood of mice that were exposed to whole body x rays. They concluded that the mice that received doses of root extract replaced leukocytes, erythrocytes, and thrombocytes faster than those that did not receive the extract. This effect may account for wolfberry fruit's reputation for creating good health, vigor, and long life.
