Jie Geng (Platycodon Root)

Name

Jie Geng (Radix Platycodi), from Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Shen Nong's Herbal)

Source and quality

The dry root of the perennial herbaceous plant Platycodon grandiflorum (Jacq.) A. DC. of the family Campanulaceae. It is produced in most areas of China and collected in spring and autumn.

It has a slight odor and a taste that is lightly sweet at first and then bitter. The best grade is large, white and firm, and bitter.

It is used raw or stir-baked.

Nature and action

Bitter, pungent and neutral. It enters the lung meridian.

It ventilates the lung, dispels phlegm, relieves sore throat and expels pus.

Indications

Cough with profuse phlegm and oppression in the chest

This herb is good at opening and dispersing lung qi so as to ease the chest and diaphragm, and it is also good at eliminating phlegm and relieving cough. It is therefore a key herb for treating cough with profuse phlegm and oppression in the chest, and it can be combined with other herbs for both cold-phlegm and heat-phlegm patterns.

• For cough due to wind-cold, it is usually combined with herbs that dispel wind-cold, ventilate the lung and resolve phlegm, such as Zi Su and Xing Ren in Xing Su San from Wen Bing Tiao Bian.
• For cough due to wind-heat invading the lung, it is combined with herbs that dispel wind, clear heat and relieve cough, such as Sang Ye, Ju Hua and Xing Ren in Sang Ju Yin from Wen Bing Tiao Bian.
• For stuffiness and oppression in the chest caused by phlegm obstruction and qi stagnation that disrupt the lifting and lowering of qi, it is usually combined with Zhi Qiao so that qi ascends and descends, regulating qi and easing the chest.

Swollen and painful throat and aphonia

This herb is good at dispersing and opening lung qi to relieve sore throat and restore the voice. It suits painful throat and hoarse voice caused by contraction of an external pathogen, by upward invasion of heat-toxin, and by yin deficiency with flaring up of deficient fire.

• For painful throat and aphonia due to wind-heat invading the lung, it is usually combined with herbs that disperse wind-heat, relieve toxicity and relieve sore throat, such as Gan Cao, Bo He and Niu Bang Zi in Jia Wei Gan Jie Tang from Yi Xue Xin Wu.
• For swollen and painful throat due to exuberant heat-toxin, it is combined with herbs that clear heat-toxin and relieve sore throat and resolve swelling, such as She Gan, Shan Dou Gen and Ban Lan Gen.
• For swollen and painful throat due to yin deficiency with effulgent fire and flaring up of deficient fire, it is combined with herbs that clear heat, nourish yin and generate fluids, such as Sheng Di Huang and Xuan Shen, so as to nourish yin, lower fire and relieve sore throat.

Lung abscess with pyemesis

This herb can regulate the lung and dispel phlegm and pus.

• For lung abscess with pyemesis and cough with chest pain, it is combined with herbs that resolve phlegm and relieve toxicity, such as Gan Cao in Jiegeng Tang from Jin Kui Yao Lue.
• It is also combined with herbs that clear heat and relieve toxicity and that dispel phlegm and pus, such as Yu Xing Cao and Dong Gua Ren, so as to strengthen the actions of clearing the lung and dispelling pus.

Dosage and administration

Decoct 3~10 g, or make it into pills and powder.

Cautions

An overdose can cause nausea and vomiting.