Sichuan Pepper – 1 lb (454 g)

Sichuan Pepper, known in Chinese as 花椒 (Huājiāo) and scientifically as Pericarpium Zanthoxyli, is a valued herb in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This TCM herb has been traditionally used to support natural wellness, maintain vitality, and encourage holistic balance. At TCMforyou.com, we provide premium-quality Sichuan Pepper carefully sourced to preserve its therapeutic properties.

As a herbal supplement, Sichuan Pepper helps promote overall well-being and supports natural energy, immunity, and balance. Integrating this herb into your wellness routine offers a gentle, time-tested approach to enhancing daily health. Whether brewed as tea, added to herbal remedies, or taken as part of a TCM formula, Sichuan Pepper provides a safe, natural way to experience the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine.

Trusted for centuries, Sichuan Pepper has been used in TCM to harmonize the body and encourage optimal functioning of key systems. At TCMforyou, we prioritize authenticity and quality. Each batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure purity and potency, delivering an herbal product aligned with traditional practices.

Experience the natural support of Sichuan Pepper, promoting immune health, vitality, and holistic well-being. Embrace the wisdom of TCM and incorporate this gentle, effective herbal remedy into your daily wellness journey.

[Overview] This herb is also known as Qin Jiao, Shu Jiao, Ba Jiao, and Chuan Jiao. It is the mature pericarp of plants from the Rutaceae family: Zanthoxylum schinifolium Sieb. et Zucc. (Qing Jiao) or Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. (Hua Jiao). The former is mainly produced in Northeast China, Jiangsu, and Guangdong; the latter is mainly produced in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei, etc. The best quality is considered to be from Hanyuan, Sichuan, commonly called “Da Hong Pao” (Big Red Robe). The mature fruits are harvested in autumn, sun-dried, and seeds or impurities are removed.

[Properties] Pungent in taste, hot in nature, slightly toxic. Enters the Spleen, Stomach, Lung, and Kidney meridians.

[Actions] Warms the middle burner and relieves pain; kills parasites and stops itching.

[Applications]
1. Used for spleen and stomach deficiency cold, with cold pain in the epigastrium and abdomen, vomiting, and diarrhea. For middle qi deficiency cold with abdominal pain and vomiting, often combined with dried ginger and ginseng, as in Da Jian Zhong Tang. For cold pain in the heart and abdomen, stir-fried Sichuan pepper wrapped in cloth can be applied as a hot compress. For diarrhea caused by cold-damp injuring the middle or summer damp-heat diarrhea, it is combined with Atractylodes and Nutmeg, as in Chuan Jiao Wan.
2. Used for abdominal pain and vomiting caused by roundworms, often combined with Wu Mei and Areca nut. If accompanied by cold symptoms such as pale face, cold limbs, and reversed cold in hands and feet, cinnamon and dried ginger are added; if accompanied by heat symptoms such as body heat, flushed face, and irritability, Huang Bai and Huang Qin are added. Currently, this herb is commonly used to treat roundworm intestinal obstruction and biliary ascariasis.
3. Used for cold hernia abdominal pain and toothache. For the former, it can be combined with fennel and lychee seed; for the latter, it is often decocted for mouthwash or ground into powder to rub on the painful tooth area, or combined with Asarum, Angelica dahurica, and Piper longum.
4. Used for eczema and vulvar itching, either alone or combined with Sophora flavescens, Kochia scoparia, and Cnidium monnieri for decoction to fumigate and wash the affected area. For pediatric pinworm anal itching, a retention enema with Sichuan pepper liquid can be used alone.
Additionally, this herb can warm the lungs, disperse cold, relieve cough, and calm asthma, used for cold-phlegm cough and asthma, often combined with apricot kernel and Lepidium seed.

[Dosage and Administration] Internal use: decoction, 3–6 g; or incorporated into pills or powders. External use: appropriate amount, ground into powder for topical application or decoction for fumigation and washing.

[Cautions] Contraindicated in cases of yin deficiency with fire hyperactivity; use with caution during pregnancy.

[Modern Research]
1. Chemical constituents: Sichuan pepper fruit contains volatile oils including limonene, terpinen-4-ol, and linalool. It also contains sterols and unsaturated organic acids. Qing Jiao fruit contains volatile oils with about 90% camphor, as well as coumarin, benzoic acid, eugenol glycosides, and alkaloids.
2. Pharmacological effects: Sichuan pepper has anti-experimental gastric ulcer effects; it has bidirectional regulation on intestinal smooth muscle, stimulating at low concentrations and inhibiting at high concentrations; aqueous extracts can prevent carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in rats by reducing serum ALT, showing hepatoprotective effects; it has local anesthetic and analgesic effects; inhibits platelet aggregation and experimental cerebral thrombosis; volatile oils inhibit and kill 11 species of dermatophytes and 4 species of deep fungi; chloroform extracts have strong contact-killing effects on scabies mites.
3. Clinical reports:
1) Biliary ascariasis: 20 g Sichuan pepper powder stir-fried with 50 g sesame oil and one egg yolk until nearly scorched, taken immediately. In 5 patients with biliary ascariasis pain, pain stopped within 3–5 minutes after administration. [Henan Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1983,(6):7]
2) Pinworm disease: 60 g Sichuan pepper, 150 g Stemona root, 200 g Sophora flavescens, 10 g alum boiled in 500 ml water for 20–30 minutes, filtered. Adults use 40 ml retention enema before sleep, children reduced dose, once daily. In 50 cases, all effective, usually 2–4 treatments, some required more than 4. [Hubei Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1981,(3):37]
3) Fungal vaginitis: suppositories made from Sichuan pepper oil (4 g each), one inserted vaginally each night for 5 days per course, usually 1–2 courses. In 418 cases, total cure rate was 82.3%. [Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 1988,(5):291]
4) Refractory tinea: 25 g seedless Sichuan pepper and 100 g purple-skinned garlic ground into paste and applied externally. In 45 cases of chronic tinea, all cured after 1–3 courses. [Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1990,10(4):211]
5) Asthma: Sichuan pepper oil made into capsules (15–30 g oil content), each containing 200 ml raw herb, 600–1000 ml taken 3 times daily, children reduced dose. In 172 acute asthma cases, total effective rate was 78.5%. [Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1987,28(12):19]
6) Insufficient lactation: 14–16 fresh Sichuan pepper fruits (~0.4 g) ground into powder, encapsulated, taken 3 times daily starting postpartum for 3–4 days. In 163 cases, effective rate was 93.9%. [Journal of Second Military Medical University, 1987,(3):232]