Debao Morinda Root

Debao Morinda Root

　　Deqing County in Guangdong Province is the main production area of Morinda officinalis, with a long history of cultivation. By the year 2000, the actual planting area of Morinda in Deqing reached 50,000 mu, with a total yield of 3,400 tons, making it the largest in scale, highest in output, highest in yield per unit area, and best in quality nationwide. In 2000, Gaoliang Town was listed as one of Guangdong Province’s “One Township, One Product” projects for supporting the development of southern medicinal herbs (Morinda officinalis). Products derived from Debao Morinda include: premium refined Morinda root, Morinda tonic wine, Morinda juice, Morinda dew, Morinda soft candy, ready-to-eat Morinda preserves, and other products.

　　Morinda is a renowned specialty of Deqing. Deqing County in Guangdong Province is the main production area of Morinda officinalis, with a long history of cultivation. Morinda has a long growth period—plants require 7–8 years of vigorous growth before they can be harvested. By the year 2000, the actual planting area of Morinda in Deqing reached 50,000 mu, with a total yield of 3,400 tons, making it the largest in scale, highest in output, highest in yield per unit area, and best in quality nationwide. In 2000, Gaoliang Town was listed as one of Guangdong Province’s “One Township, One Product” projects for supporting the development of southern medicinal herbs (Morinda officinalis). Products derived from Debao Morinda include: premium refined Morinda root, Morinda tonic wine, Morinda juice, Morinda dew, Morinda soft candy, ready-to-eat Morinda preserves, and other products.

　　Morinda is a renowned specialty of Deqing.

　　Debao Morinda, a vine plant of the Rubiaceae family commonly known as Chicken Intestine Wind, with the scientific name Morinda officinalis, is one of the Four Major Southern Medicinal Herbs. It has remarkable effects such as enriching blood and qi, strengthening tendons and bones, dispelling rheumatism, and nourishing kidney yang.

　　Morinda has a long growth period—plants require 7–8 years of vigorous growth before they can be harvested. Moreover, the longer Morinda is cultivated, the higher the yield and the better the quality. Although Morinda is found throughout southern China, its authentic origin is Deqing, especially in high-quality varieties from areas such as Gaoliang, Fengcun, and Wulong within the county, with an annual production of about 50,000 kilograms countywide.

　　Introduction to Morinda

　　【Characteristics】The root is flat and cylindrical, slightly curved. The surface is grayish-yellow or dark gray, with longitudinal striations and transverse cracks. The cortex sometimes separates horizontally, exposing the woody part in a beaded pattern. It is tough in texture; the cross-section shows a thick purple or pale purple cortex that is easily separated from the yellowish-brown or yellowish-white woody part. It is odorless, with a sweet and slightly astringent taste.

　　【Chemical Composition】Preliminary tests indicate the root contains anthraquinones and flavonoids.

　　【Taste and Nature】Slightly warm in nature, sweet and acrid in taste.

　　Debao’s Morinda juice (wine) has a rich and mellow flavor, with benefits such as nourishing liver and kidney, strengthening tendons and bones, and consolidating essence. It is used to treat conditions such as internal injury due to overexertion, soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, flaccidity of tendons and bones, frequent urination, dizziness, and blurred vision.

　　Efficacy

　　【Functions and Indications】Nourishes kidney yang, strengthens tendons and bones, and dispels rheumatism. Used for impotence and spermatorrhea, cold uterus leading to infertility, irregular menstruation, lower abdominal cold pain, rheumatic arthralgia, and flaccidity of tendons and bones. Morinda officinalis can nourish kidney yang, enrich essence and blood, strengthen tendons and bones, and dispel rheumatism. It treats impotence, infertility, irregular menstruation, and lower abdominal cold pain caused by kidney yang deficiency. It also treats flaccidity of tendons and bones, soreness in the lower back and knees, or difficulty walking due to long-term rheumatic invasion caused by liver-kidney insufficiency.

　　【Single Herb Prescriptions】

　　1. For treating deficiency, weakness, erectile dysfunction, and various disorders from overstrain: Morinda officinalis and raw Achyranthes bidentata, each three jin. Soak in five dou of wine, remove dregs and take warm. Ensure the wine’s effect is maintained without causing drunken vomiting. (from “Qianjin Fang”)

　　2. For treating women with chronic cold uterus, irregular menstruation, excessive or scanty flow, or leukorrhea: Morinda three liang, Galangal six liang, Purplevine sixteen liang, Salt two liang, Cinnamon (peeled) and Evodia rutaecarpa, each four liang. Grind into powder, form into pills with wine paste. Take twenty pills each time, sent down with warm salted wine or salt soup. Take one dose at noon and one at bedtime. (from “Jufang” Morinda Pills)

　　3. For treating wind-cold lumbar and hip pain, making walking difficult: Morinda one and a half liang, Achyranthes bidentata three liang (remove roots), Notopterygium one and a half liang, Cinnamon bark one and a half liang, Lycium chinense root bark one and a half liang, Eucommia ulmoides two liang (remove rough skin, slightly charred and sliced), Dried ginger one and a half liang (charred and sliced). Pound all ingredients into powder, mix with refined honey, and form into pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take thirty pills before meals with warm wine. (from “Shenghui Fang” Morinda Pills)

　　4. For treating urinary incontinence: Alpinia oxyphylla seed, Morinda officinalis (remove heart; both boiled in salt and wine), Mantidis ootheca, and Cuscuta seed (steamed in wine), equal parts. Grind into fine powder, cook with wine paste to form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take twenty pills before meals with salted wine or salt soup. (from “Qixiao Liangfang”)

　　5. For treating white turbidity: Cuscuta seed (boiled in wine for one day, dried), Morinda (remove heart, soaked and boiled in wine), Psoralea corylifolia (fried), Deer antler, Chinese yam, Halloysite, and Schisandra fruit, each one liang. Grind into powder, form into wine paste pills. Take on an empty stomach with salt soup. (from “Puji Fang”)