Available online 2018-06-09, published 2018-06-15, Korean Herb. Med. Inf. 2018;6(1)

처방 중심으로 본 한약재 시체(柿蔕)의 한의학적 소고(小考)

New insight of Korean traditional medicinal perspective in Diospyros kaki Thunb. based on herbal medicinal formula

Authors : 김대욱(Kim Dae Uk), 박정환(Park Jeong Hwan), 강영민(Kang Youngmin)

Abstract
Diospyros kaki has been widely cultivated throughout East Asia, including South Korea. The calyx of this fruit has also been used to stop hiccups for a long time. In this study, Kaki Calyx was examined from a herbal medicinal perspective and 21 herbal formulas containing Kaki Calyx were reviewed so as to see if the nature of this Korean herb was reflected in those formulas. This study will be a good source of future studies of calyx based herbs. Firstly, the origins of Kaki Calyx were compared through the Pharmacopoeia of each country. Mature Kaki Calyx was used in China, Japan and Taiwan but there is no mention of maturity of Kaki Calyx in Korean pharmacopoeia. Secondly, the herbal medicinal perspective of Kaki Calyx was analyzed. It was sorted as an order Qi medicine (理氣藥) which breaks the blocked Qi. Kaki Calyx was specially used to stop hiccups. Lastly, 9 old literatures from the 14th century to the 19th century were thoroughly examined. 21 herbal formulas which contain Kaki Calyx were found and three of them were continually mentioned within the old literatures, which indicates that these 3 formulas were widely used in the past. In addition, it was noticed that Kaki Calyx was used constantly with Syzygii Flos in 18 out of the 21 formulas. This study shows that the calyx of persimmon was a clearly medicinal-purposed herb, so calyx of other herbs might also have medicinal characteristics. It is required to study the reason why Kaki Calyx and Syzygii Flos were used together. Also, future studies of other calyx based herbs will be necessary.

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