There are quite a few decoction methods for Chinese herbs described on this website, each with its own characteristics and shortcomings. Here we recommend the content prepared by Wu Yu, in which I have modified some parts.
I. Do I need to wash my herbs before decocting them?
Most of the herbs are raw and are usually processed and prepared before they are sold, so there is no need to wash them before decoction. If you feel that the herbs are dirty, you can rinse them with water quickly before soaking, but do not soak and rinse them to prevent the loss of a large amount of active ingredients that are easily soluble in water, thus affecting the efficacy of the herbs.
What kind of utensils should be used for decocting Chinese herbs?
The decoction vessels are generally tile jars and casseroles, but enamel and stainless steel can also be used, but avoid using aluminum, iron and copper vessels to prevent these metal objects from reacting with the drugs and affecting the efficacy of the drugs or even causing harm to the human body. Li Shizhen once said: “Where the decoction and avoid copper and iron, it is appropriate to use silverware tile pot”. Nowadays, ceramic casserole with cover is commonly used.
What is the decoction procedure of Chinese medicine?
①Soak Pour the medicine into the pot and spread it out, then add cold water (do not use cold boiling water) until it is 1 to 2 cm above the level of the medicine and soak for 1 to 2 hours.
If there are more flowers and leaves in the formula and the water absorption is larger, add additional water before decoction.
②Heating fire Generally, use martial fire (rapid fire) before the drug is boiled, and change to civil fire (slow fire) after boiling. However, some herbal medicines for external diseases can also be decocted for about 5 minutes after boiling without changing the fire.
The decoction time should be determined according to the nature of the drug and disease, the difficulty of dissolving the active ingredients and the medication situation. Generally speaking, it takes 20-25 minutes for the first decoction to start boiling, 15-20 minutes for the second decoction, 10-15 minutes for the first decoction and 10 minutes for the second decoction of antiphlogistic drugs. For tonic, the first decoction should be boiled for 30~40 minutes, and the second decoction should be boiled for 25~30 minutes, and the first decoction should be boiled for 10~30 minutes, and the second decoction should be added to the pot in the last 5~10 minutes.
④Second decoction (re-decoction) After the first decoction, strain out the juice, re-add cold water to about 0.5~1 cm above the level of the medicine, and continue to decoct on martial fire until it boils and then change to civil fire for 15~20 minutes.
4. Instructions on decoction, post-decoction, packet decoction, punching and melting of drugs
(1) First decoction
The purpose of first decoction is to increase the solubility of the drug, reduce the toxicity of the drug, and give full play to the therapeutic effect.
(1) Ores: Shells and horns are hard and the active ingredients are not easy to be decocted, so they must be decocted first. Such as raw gypsum, cold water stone, red stone fat, Ling magnetic stone, ochre, sea floating stone, pores, natural copper, oyster, stone cassia, mother of pearl, sea clam shells, corrugated, turtle plate, turtle shell, piercing nail, dragon bone, dragon tooth, turtle shell, buffalo horn, etc., can be broken first decoction 30 minutes.
②Toxic drugs: such as aconite, sophora, shanglu, etc., to first decoction for 1 to 2 hours, first decoction, long decoction can achieve the purpose of reducing or removing toxicity.
(3) Certain botanicals: such as azuki, fire hemp seeds, only first decoction is effective.
(2) After decoction
The purpose of post decoction is to reduce the loss of volatile oil and prevent the active ingredients from decomposition and destruction.
(1) Drugs with aromatic smell and volatile oil, such as mint, patchouli, wood, cardamom, sand, grass cardamom, sandalwood, descending incense, incense, artemisia, pine, etc. should be decocted afterwards, usually 5 to 10 minutes before the decoction of Chinese medicine can be entered.
② Drugs that should not be decocted for a long time, such as hooked vine, almond, rhubarb, senna, etc. should be put down afterwards.
(3) Package decoction
①Pollen drugs such as Pu Huang, small seeds such as Scapularia, fine powder such as Qing Dai, etc. should be decocted.
② Drugs containing more starch and mucilage, such as psyllium, are easy to stick to the pot during decoction, so they need to be decocted.
(3) For drugs with fluff, such as raspberry, decoction should be wrapped to avoid irritating the throat and causing coughing when the fluff is mixed into the soup.
(4) Melting and rushing in
For some viscous gum or sugar drugs, such as gum, antler gum, honey, caramel, etc., it is recommended to dissolve them with appropriate amount of boiling water and then punch them into the soup or melt them into the soup. If mixed decoction, it will lead to the viscosity of the liquid, affecting the dissolution of other ingredients, gum is also subject to certain losses.
(5) Decoction of soup instead of water
General volume of large water absorption of drugs such as loofah, Zao Xin Tu, money grass, glutinous rice root, etc. should first be decocted with water, the resulting juice to remove the dregs and then used to decoct other drugs.
(6) Dissolving
Such as mangosteen, xuanming powder, etc. can be dissolved and rushed into the soup.
(7) Blending in after another decoction
Some valuable drugs such as ginseng, American ginseng, deer antler, etc. can be decocted separately and their juice blended into the decocted soup.
(8) Blending in raw juice
Such as fresh raw earth juice, raw lotus root, pear juice, leek juice, ginger juice, white foxglove juice, bamboo leach, etc., should not be added to the decoction, can be added to the boiled soup to take.
(9) Combination of drugs for dosing
Certain valuable drugs whose active ingredients are not dissolved in water or whose active ingredients are easily decomposed after heating, such as ginseng powder, niuhuang powder, antelope powder, panax ginseng powder, musk powder, whole scorpion powder, cinnamon powder, gansui powder, etc., should be combined with the decoction and taken after stirring.
How many times should a pair of Chinese herbal medicines be decocted?
Generally speaking, the active ingredients in a pair of Chinese herbs are greatly reduced after two decoctions, so it is better to decoct twice. However, for prescriptions with a large amount of medicine, the active ingredients may be more after two decoctions, so it can be decocted a third time and taken three times a day to save Chinese medicine resources and improve the efficacy to a certain extent.