People who have been exposed to TCM most often encounter oral Chinese medicine soup, also known as soup liquid, soup medicine, it is one of the common dosage forms of Chinese medicine, “soup, swallow also”, soup has the advantages of fast absorption, rapid effect, strong effect, individualized and flexible prescription, can give full play to the role of all drugs in Chinese medicine prescription, clinical application by They are very popular among doctors and patients. However, in addition to accurate prescriptions and good quality of herbs, it is also very important to learn how to decoct herbs properly in order to achieve the best effect of Chinese medicine. So, do you know how to decoct tonics? Most of the oral tonics are compounded, and the drugs can promote and control each other, so as to enhance the efficacy and moderate the medicinal properties, and the correct decoction process can make them work better. 1.Decoction apparatus. Decoction utensils have a close relationship with the quality of the liquid. The ancients emphasized the use of pottery because it does not react chemically with the various ingredients contained in the drug and does not affect the medicinal properties, and because the casserole has uniform heat conduction, moderate heat and low price, it is used and recommended to this day. Enamelware and stainless steel pots and pans, with acid and alkali resistance, can avoid chemical changes with the composition of Chinese medicine, the general preparation of a large number of tonics more choice. Aluminum pots are not resistant to strong acids and bases, and can still be used for compound tonics that are not very acidic or alkaline, but they are not ideal for decoction because they are not good at mastering the acid-base nature of the compound. Most of the remaining metal utensils can react chemically with certain ingredients in the herbs, so it is generally believed that iron, copper and tin-plated utensils are not suitable for decoction applications. The ancient people also advocated the use of silver decoction, but its chemical properties are stable, but expensive and not easy to obtain, and because of the strong thermal conductivity, the temperature at the bottom of the pot is very high, the components that do not resist high temperature are easy to destroy, the water evaporates quickly, and the herbs are easy to produce paste bottom coking phenomenon, so there is no practical application. At present, most hospitals use automatic decoction machine, which can automatically control the temperature and time of decoction, which is convenient and hygienic, and is also a suitable decoction apparatus. 2.Decoction method. The decoction method of oral tonics is also related to the quality of the decoction. Before decoction, the drug should be soaked in cold water for an appropriate period of time to moisten and saturate the herbs to facilitate the dissolution and leaching of the active ingredients. The amount of water for decoction is controlled by placing the drug in the decoction pot, adding water until it exceeds 3-5cm above the surface of the drug, and the second decoction exceeds 1-2cm above the dregs of the drug; the fire is usually controlled by using large fire (also called “martial fire”) before boiling, and then changing to small fire (also called “civil fire “The decoction time should be increased or decreased according to the nature and texture of the ingredients, the amount and the size of the apparatus, etc. Generally speaking, the decoction time should be 10-15 minutes for the first decoction, 10 minutes for the second decoction, 30-40 minutes for the first decoction and 25-30 minutes for the second decoction for the tonic medicine. In general, the first decoction is 20-25 minutes and the second decoction is 15-20 minutes for drugs of general nature; the number of decoctions is generally 2-3 times, too many decoctions not only consume time but also increase impurities in the decoction; after the decoction is obtained, it should be filtered while it is hot to minimize the residue of the decoction in the dregs. 3. Decoction method of special drugs. It is also important to deal with special Chinese medicines in oral tonics. Some medicines in the prescription of tonics should not be decocted at the same time with the group of medicines in the formula, and should be treated differently. (1) First decoction: Ores, shells, horns and nails are hard and the active ingredients are not easy to be decocted, so they can be broken and decocted for 30 minutes, such as gypsum, oyster, turtle shell and buffalo horn. Toxic drugs should be decocted for 1 to 2 hours first, such as aconite, sophora, shanglu, etc. First decoction and long decoction can achieve the purpose of reducing toxicity. (2) After decoction: Drugs with aromatic smell and containing volatile oil can generally be decocted 5 to 10 minutes before the decoction of Chinese herbal soup, such as peppermint, patchouli, rose hips, etc. Drugs with long decoction that can easily reduce the effect should also be decocted later, such as hook vine, almond, rhubarb, senna, etc., generally 10 to 15 minutes before the decoction is ready. (3) Melting: Some gum or sugar drugs, such as gum, turtle plate gum, deer horn gum, syrup, etc., should be melted with appropriate amount of boiling water and then washed into the soup or added to the soup to be melted. If decocted with the group of drugs in the formula, it will not only increase the viscosity of the decoction and make it easy to stick to the pot, but also affect the diffusion of other drug ingredients. (4) Separate decoction: Some precious Chinese medicines, such as ginseng, American ginseng, deer antler, cordyceps, etc., can be decocted separately to avoid waste and taken into the decoction of the soup. (5) Flushing: Some drugs that are difficult to dissolve in water, such as niu huang, panax ginseng, antelope horn, vermilion, etc., should be ground into a very fine powder and then flushed with soup. (6) Juice: some drugs need to take fresh juice application, such as fresh raw earth, raw root, pear, fresh ginger, fresh white foxglove, etc. juice, into the soup to take. Bamboo leach is also not suitable for decoction, but can be taken into the soup.