Xanthium Fruit – 1 lb (454 g)

Xanthium Fruit, known in Chinese as 苍耳子 (Cāng’ěrzǐ) and scientifically as Fructus Xanthii, 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 Xanthium Fruit carefully sourced to preserve its therapeutic properties.

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

Trusted for centuries, Xanthium Fruit 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 Xanthium Fruit, 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 Cang Er Shi, Cang Er Ren, Hu Cang Zi, and Lao Cang Zi. It is the mature fruit with involucre of Xanthium sibiricum Patr., a plant of the Asteraceae family. It is distributed throughout China. The fruit is harvested in autumn when mature by cutting the whole plant, threshing, winnowing to remove stems, leaves, and other impurities, then sun-dried.

[Properties] Pungent and bitter in taste, warm in nature, toxic. Enters the Lung meridian.

[Actions] Disperses wind and eliminates dampness, opens nasal passages, relieves itching.

[Applications]
1. Used for external wind invasion causing headache, especially wind-cold type; often combined with Qiang Huo, Fang Feng, Bai Zhi, etc.; if due to wind-heat, combined with Bo He, Ju Hua, etc.
2. Used for nasal congestion with headache, loss of smell, and intermittent turbid nasal discharge; often combined with Bai Zhi, Xin Yi, etc., as in the formula Cang Er San (苍耳散); if nasal congestion is due to wind-heat invasion or damp-heat accumulation, often combined with Bo He, Huang Qin, etc. For external use, it can be cooked in sesame oil and applied with a cotton swab inside the nasal cavity; or decocted with Xin Yi, Yu Xing Cao, etc., juice extracted and a small amount of Bo He oil added for nasal drops.
3. Used for wind-damp painful obstruction and limb spasm; can be used alone or combined with Chuan Xiong, Wei Ling Xian, Xian Ling Pi, etc., as in Xian Ling Pi San.
4. Used for itching from sores, scabies, and tinea; often combined with Bai Xian Pi, Di Fu Zi, etc., decocted for internal use or external wash.

[Dosage and Administration] Internal use: decoction, 3–9 g; or incorporated into pills or powders.

[Cautions] Contraindicated in headache or painful obstruction due to blood deficiency. This herb is toxic; do not overdose to avoid poisoning.

[Modern Research]
1. Chemical constituents: The fruit contains xanthioside, resin, fats, alkaloids, vitamin C, pigments, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, etc. Seeds contain palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, also hydroquinone and atractyloside.
2. Pharmacological effects: The decoction shows antibacterial effects in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus beta-hemolyticus, and Corynebacterium diphtheriae; inhibits common pathogenic fungi; directly inhibits hepatitis B virus DNA polymerase with inhibition rates of 25%–50%; exhibits significant hypoglycemic, antitussive and expectorant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects; decoction inhibits isolated frog and guinea pig hearts; glycosides extracted from aqueous extract have mild hypotensive effects; significantly suppresses both cellular and humoral immunity in mice; has antioxidant effects enhancing free radical scavenging and reducing free radical damage.
3. Clinical reports:
(1) Chronic rhinitis: 1000 ml of small sesame oil warmed, add 160 g crushed Fructus Xanthii and 16 g Xin Yi, soak 24 hours, then simmer on low heat to about 800 ml, cool and filter to obtain compound Cang Er oil. Nasal drops 3–4 times daily, 7 days to 1 month per course, generally 2–3 courses. Treated 1576 cases with 73.8% markedly effective rate and 86.9% total effective rate. [Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1984, 4(4): 211]
(2) Acute bacillary dysentery: Fructus Xanthii 120–150 g daily decocted and taken 3–4 times; stems and leaves 60 g daily decocted and taken 3–4 times; 1 week per course. Treated 110 cases with 99.1% cure rate. [New Chinese Medicine, 1984, (9): 18]
(3) Common and flat warts: 10 g Fructus Xanthii soaked in 50 ml 75% ethanol for 7 days; cotton ball dipped in solution applied to lesions several times daily. Treated 104 cases with 98 markedly effective, 5 effective, 1 ineffective; total effective rate 99.1%. [New Chinese Medicine, 1992, 24(5): 22]