Product Specifications
| Markets: |
North America,South America,Eastern Europe,Southeast Asia,Africa,Oceania,Mid East,Eastern Asia,Western Europe |
| Type: |
Herbal Extract |
| Form: |
Powder |
Product Description
Asparagus
Botanical Name
Family Liliaceae
Asparagus officinalis
Common Name
Sparrow Grass
Cautions
Workers in canning factories are prone to asparagus scabies.
Description
Asparagus is a slender-stemmed perennial growing to about six feet. It has long fronds of delicate needle-like leaves and bell-shaped yellow-green flowers that produce small bright red berries. The plant grows in central and southern Europe, the Middle East, western Siberia, and northern Africa and is also cultivated worldwide, often in home gardens. Known mainly as a vegetable looking like long spears, it is the root that is used medicinally and unearthed after the shoots have been cut.
History
Judging from ancient Egyptian tomb drawings, asparagus was cultivated as long ago as 4,000 BCE.
In the 1st century CE, Dioscorides, the Green physician, recommended a decoction of the root to improve urine flow and to treat kidney problems, jaundice, and sciatica. He also recommended holding the chewed root against aching teeth.
Key Actions
bitter
diuretic
mild laxative
mild sedative
Key Components
asparagine
bitter glycosides
flavonoids
steroidal glycosides (asparagosides)
Medicinal Parts
Roots, shoots
Asparagine is a strong diuretic.
Remedies
commercial tablets available for convenience
tinctures for kidney stones and cardiac insufficiency
infusions for internal flushing-out therapy
decoctions to increase urine flow
Traditional Uses
In Chinese medicine, the root is used to treat irritable cough, coughing with blood, dry mouth and throat, and constipation.
Traditional use of the root includes application for non-specific inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract and for prevention of kidney and bladder stones. Because it is strongly diuretic, the herb helps to hasten the flushing of waste products that accumulate in the joints, thus helping arthritis and rheumatism sufferers.
It is also used for dropsy, rheumatic conditions, liver disease, bronchial asthma, and gout
