Studies of Chinese Crude Drug "Ge-gen". (1). Herbological Study of Collection Season / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

Ge-gen, a Chinese crude drug derived from the root of <i>Pueraria lobata</i> Ohwi of the family Leguminosae, is collected in the winter nowadays both in China and in Japan. However, in the old descriptions of materia medica written in ancient China, it was said that the proper collection season was May or in the early summer on Chinese calendar. Present herbological study resulted that the collection season had been changed in the Yuan or Ming dynasty in China, mainly because of the confusion with eating Ge-gen, which was collected in the winter. The Ge-gen collected in the early summer should be dispensed in the prescriptions written in the old medical books such as Shang-han-lun and Jin-kui-yao-lue.