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Cultivated purple perilla fruit is the dried mature fruit of the plant Perilla Leaf from the Lamiaceae family. It is mostly cultivated and primarily produced in Hubei, Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, and other regions. The original plant grows in wetlands, roadsides, rural areas, wastelands, or is cultivated. It prefers warm and humid climates and thrives best in loose, fertile, and sunny locations. It has a pungent taste and warm nature, belonging to the lung meridian. Its effects include descending qi, dispersing phlegm, relieving cough and asthma, and moistening the intestines. Clinical names include perilla fruit, fried perilla fruit, honey-fried perilla fruit, and perilla fruit frost.

bubble_chart Compendium of Materia Medica

Mingyi Bielu: Pungent in taste, warm in nature. Mainly lowers qi and dispels cold in the middle.

Yaoxing Lun: Non-toxic. Mainly treats upper qi cough, cold qi, and dampness stroke in the waist and feet. Grinding the seeds and boiling them into porridge is beneficial; long-term consumption makes one plump, fair, and fragrant. Mix with Lesser Galangal Rhizome, tangerine peel, and honey to make pills; take ten pills on an empty stomach. It dispels all stagnant cold qi and dampness stroke in the feet.

Rihuazi Bencao: Mainly regulates the middle, benefits the five viscera, lowers qi, stops cholera, vomiting, and regurgitation. Tonifies deficiency and fatigue, makes one strong, benefits urination and defecation, breaks masses, dissolves diaphragmatic obstructions, stops cough, moistens the heart and lungs, and disperses phlegm.

Bencao Gangmu: Treats wind and smooths qi, benefits the diaphragm, and widens the intestines.

Cultivated purple perilla fruit has the same effects as the leaves. To disperse wind qi, use the leaves; to clear and benefit the upper and lower body, use the seeds.

Bencao Jingshu: Cultivated purple perilla fruit, pungent in taste, warm in nature, non-toxic. Mainly lowers qi and dispels cold in the middle. Zhen Quan used it to treat upper qi cough, cold qi, dampness stroke in the waist and feet, and wind-accumulated qi. Grinding the seeds and boiling them into porridge for regular consumption makes one plump, fair, and fragrant. Rihuazi states it can stop cholera, vomiting, regurgitation, dissolve diaphragmatic obstructions, disperse phlegm, stop cough, and moisten the heart and lungs. Kou Zong-shi used it to treat lung qi asthma. Its pungent and warm nature can disperse masses and has moistening and purgative effects.

Caution: Cultivated purple perilla leaf has a fragrant aroma, pungent taste, and warm nature, being a pure yang herb. Thus, it is good at dispersing and inducing sweating. For diseases of yin deficiency, cold and heat, aversion to cold, or headache, use with caution, as these conditions require astringency and tonification. For rising fire causing vomiting, it is also not suitable, but the seeds can be used.

Yaoxing Jie: Sweet and pungent in taste, warm in nature, non-toxic, enters the lung and spleen meridians. The leaves can induce sweating, disperse externally, warm the stomach, harmonize the middle, and relieve headache and limb pain. The double-sided purple variety is best. For those who cannot use Ephedra, this can be a substitute. The stems can smooth qi and calm the fetus. The seeds can open stagnation, lower qi, stabilize asthma, and disperse phlegm.

Note: Pungent enters the lung, sweet enters the spleen. Pungent dispersing agents lower qi most quickly; use sparingly for qi deficiency.

Bencao Beiyao: Cultivated purple perilla fruit has the same effects as the leaves, moistens the heart and lungs, especially lowers qi and stabilizes asthma, stops cough and disperses phlegm, benefits the diaphragm, widens the intestines, warms the middle, and opens stagnation. There is a Perilla Fruit Qi-Descending Decoction.

Benjing Fengyuan: All fragrant herbs are drying, but cultivated purple perilla fruit is uniquely moistening, making it a specific remedy for deficiency fatigue cough. Its nature lowers qi, making it suitable for chest and diaphragm discomfort. With red tangerine exocarp, it is a good remedy for asthma, cough, dispersing phlegm, and smoothing qi. However, its nature is dispersing; thus, it is not suitable for qi deficiency with long-term counterflow, yin deficiency with counterflow asthma, or spleen deficiency with loose stools.

Depei Bencao: Lowers qi and stabilizes asthma, widens the intestines, opens stagnation, benefits urination and defecation, warms the middle and dispels cold, disperses phlegm and stops cough.

Combined with Sichuan Fritillaria, it lowers qi and stops cough; with radish seeds and White Mulberry Root-Bark, it treats consumptive thirst turning into water. Taking this makes water exit through urination. Grind into powder, cook into porridge, and eat with scallions, pepper, ginger, and fermented soybeans to treat wind-cold-dampness impediment.

For slippery intestines with qi deficiency, rising qi counterflow, and frequent vomiting, it is contraindicated.

Bencao Fenjing: Cultivated purple perilla fruit lowers qi and disperses phlegm, opens stagnation and warms the middle, moistens the heart and lungs, and stops asthma and cough. Its strength is double that of cultivated purple perilla leaves.

Cultivated purple perilla stems smooth qi and calm the fetus, with mild effects.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

1. Cultivated purple perilla fruit can enhance learning and memory functions. Its active component is perilla fruit oil, which promotes learning and memory functions in mice. This effect is related to the content of nucleic acid proteins and monoamine neurotransmitters in the mouse brain.
2. Cultivated purple perilla fruit has a lipid-lowering effect.
3. Cultivated purple perilla fruit has a blood pressure-lowering effect, and its active component is α-linolenic acid.
4. Cultivated purple perilla fruit has an inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation, and its active component is α-linolenic acid.
5. Cultivated purple perilla fruit has preservative and antioxidant effects, and can be used for long-term storage of food and drugs.
6. Cultivated purple perilla fruit has anti-cancer effects.
7. Cultivated purple perilla fruit has antibacterial effects. 0.1% perilla fruit oil inhibits Proteus, yeast, black mold, Penicillium, and various molds in nature.