Pinellia ternata

Pinellia ternata

　　Pinellia ternata, listed as a toxic plant in the Chinese Plant Atlas Database, is poisonous throughout its entire structure, with the tuber being especially toxic. Ingesting just 0.1–1.8g of the raw plant can cause poisoning. It strongly irritates the mouth, throat, and digestive tract mucosa; small amounts may cause numbness of the tongue and mouth, while larger doses lead to burning pain, swelling, loss of voice, drooling, vomiting, whole-body numbness, slow and irregular breathing, convulsions, difficulty breathing, and eventually death from paralysis. There have been cases where excessive consumption of raw Pinellia ternata resulted in permanent loss of voice. The LD50 of Pinellia ternata extract injected intraperitoneally into mice is equivalent to 13.142g/kg of tuber. Chronic poisoning leading to death may be related to intestinal irritation causing diarrhea; injection of 20g/kg of ethanol extract of the tuber caused most subjects to experience ataxia and die.

Clinical Applications:

1. For excessive phlegm and cough. The underground part of Pinellia ternata is used to make Pinellia Syrup, which treats conditions such as phlegm-dampness obstruction and rebellious cough, often combined with dried tangerine peel and poria. For excessive phlegm and cough, it is also commonly paired with fritillaria. It can treat cold-phlegm and is suitable for use with white mustard seed and fresh ginger; due to its strong phlegm-resolving ability, it can also treat heat-phlegm and wind-phlegm. For heat-phlegm, it can be combined with trichosanthes fruit and skullcap; for wind-phlegm, it is suitable to use with arisaema.

2. For chest and epigastric fullness, chest impediment, and bound chest. For phlegm-dampness internal blockage and chest and epigastric fullness, it can be combined with dried tangerine peel and poria. In cases of cold-heat intermingling, it can be paired with skullcap, coptis, and dried ginger. Additionally, it is often used for chest impediment pain, combined with trichosanthes fruit and allium macrostemon. For bound chest, it can be used with trichosanthes fruit and coptis.

3. For goiter, scrofula, sores and swellings, and plum-pit qi. For goiter, scrofula, and phlegm nodules, it is combined with sargassum, kelp, and fritillaria. For unruptured abscesses and boils, raw Pinellia ternata can be ground with raw arisaema and applied externally mixed with vinegar to disperse nodules and reduce swelling. For plum-pit qi, it can be combined with magnolia bark and perilla leaf.

4. For upward rebellion of stomach qi and nausea/vomiting. For cold stomach vomiting, it can be combined with fresh ginger or agastache and clove; for hot stomach vomiting, it can be paired with coptis and bamboo shavings; for pregnancy-related vomiting, it can be combined with hearth soil; for deficiency vomiting of the stomach, it can be used with ginseng and honey.