Henbane Seed – 1 lb (454 g)

Henbane Seed, known in Chinese as 天仙子 (Tiānxiānzǐ) and scientifically as Semen Hyoscyami, 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 Henbane Seed carefully sourced to preserve its therapeutic properties.

As a herbal supplement, Henbane Seed 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, Henbane Seed provides a safe, natural way to experience the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine.

Trusted for centuries, Henbane Seed 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 Henbane Seed, 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 Langdangzi, Langdangshi, Yatongzi, and Little Thorn Apple Seed. It is the mature seed of plants from the Solanaceae family: Hyoscyamus niger L. or Hyoscyamus bohemicus F.W.Schmidt. The former is found in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, and provinces including Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Sichuan, and Tibet; the latter is found in Northeast China and Hebei. The fruit is harvested in summer and autumn when the pericarp turns yellow, then sun-dried, seeds are extracted by beating, and the pericarp and stems are sieved out before drying.

[Properties] Bitter and pungent in taste, warm in nature, highly toxic. Enters the Heart, Liver, and Stomach meridians.

[Actions] Relieves spasm and pain, calms the spirit and relieves asthma, astringes the intestines to stop dysentery.

[Applications]
1. Used for various pain syndromes such as stomach pain, abdominal pain, renal colic, rheumatic arthralgia, toothache, and traumatic swelling and pain. It can be ground into powder or decocted in water. For dysentery with umbilical and abdominal pain, it can be combined with rhubarb as a powder called Miaogong San (妙功散). For rheumatic arthralgia, it can be combined with Aconitum, licorice, and Myrrha as pills. For toothache, Tianxianzi can be chewed at the painful site or powdered and applied topically; it can also be decocted with Asarum.
2. Used for epilepsy, convulsions, and madness. Tianxianzi is ground into powder, soaked in wine to remove dregs, and made into pills; or combined with Calculus Bovis, carp gallbladder, cinnamon heart, and pig testicle as in Langdangzi San formula.
3. Used for chronic cough and asthma by smoking the herb; alternatively, Tianxianzi can be cooked with jujube and the jujube eaten to treat long-standing cough and reduce toxicity. Currently, Tianxianzi is often used to treat chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma, mostly prepared as injections.
4. Used for chronic dysentery with prolapse of the rectum, often stir-fried before use. For prolonged watery diarrhea, Tianxianzi wrapped in jujube pulp is burned to preserve its nature and taken with millet gruel; for prolapse of the rectum that does not retract, powder can be applied externally.

[Dosage and Administration] Internal use: decoction 0.6–1.2 g; or powder 0.06–0.6 g. External use: appropriate amount, powdered and applied topically or decoction used for washing.

[Cautions] This herb is toxic; internal use should be cautious, avoiding overdose and long-term use. Contraindicated in patients with glaucoma, heart disease, and pregnant women.

[Modern Research]
1. Chemical constituents: Seeds contain alkaloids mainly including hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and atropine, as well as fatty oils, sterols, and tannins.
2. Pharmacological effects: Hyoscyamine, atropine, and scopolamine block acetylcholine M-cholinergic receptor activation, producing effects such as relieving vagal inhibition on the heart, useful for treating conduction block and arrhythmia caused by excessive vagal activity. Large doses act directly on small blood vessels and capillaries to improve microcirculation and can be used to treat shock. Small doses of atropine stimulate the vagus nerve and respiratory center; toxic doses cause central nervous system excitation, restlessness, agitation, hallucinations, and delirium. It causes mydriasis, increased intraocular pressure, and cycloplegia; significantly relaxes highly contracted smooth muscle, thus useful for gastrointestinal spasm, ureteral spasm, and bladder irritation symptoms; also relieves cardia and pyloric spasms, treating gastric and duodenal ulcers.
3. Clinical reports:
1) Myopia: 10% Tianxianzi eye drops used once weekly for 4 weeks as one course. Treated 76 students (145 eyes), with 63.45% showing varying degrees of vision improvement and 27.59% recovering normal vision. [Inner Mongolia Medical Journal, 1982, (3):414]
2) Lower limb and scrotal ulcers: Appropriate amount of Tianxianzi mixed with equal parts of Rifano and warm water to form a dough, spread evenly on sterile gauze slightly larger than ulcer area, 3–5 mm thick, applied to ulcer and fixed with adhesive tape. Dressing changed 1–2 times daily; one course lasted 2 weeks. Treated 43 cases: 38 cured after first course, remaining 5 cured after second course. [Intermediate Medical Journal, 1998, 33(5):58]
3) Cancer pain: 20 g Tianxianzi and 20 g borneol ground and mixed, sealed for use. Appropriate amount mixed with warm water into thick paste, cooled and spread on gauze, applied to painful area about 0.2–0.3 cm thick, covered with plastic film and fixed with adhesive tape. Changed once daily. Among 20 cases with level I pain, 15 markedly effective, 5 effective; among 5 cases with level IV pain, 1 markedly effective, 4 effective; among 5 cases with level V pain, 2 effective, 3 ineffective; total effective rate 90%. Onset 10–20 minutes, effect lasted 4–6 days. [Hunan Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1995, 11(2):8]
4) Chronic diarrhea: Tianxianzi 120 g, red halloysite 1000 g, potassium alum 1000 g made into tablets of 0.34 g each. Oral dose 3–5 tablets, 5 times daily. Treated 35 cases: 15 cured, 18 effective, 2 ineffective; total effective rate 94.3%. [Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1984, (3):146]