Agaricus, Agaric

Agarikon
Ghariqoon (Unani)
Ku Bai Tie  苦白蹄; A Li Hong  阿里红 (TCM)
 Picture
Picture Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Picture Picture
True ‘Larch Agaric’
New Kreuterbuch, Matthiolus, 1563

 Agaric
Kreutterbuch, Matthiolus, 1586
Picture Picture
Polyporus officinalis (Nees von Esenbeck,
T.F.L., Plantae officinales, vol. 2, 1828-1833)

 Polyporus officinalis
Koehler, F.E., Medizinal Pflanzen, vol. 4 (1890)
Picture Laricifomes officinalis (as Fomitopsis officinalis)
(Photo by Steph Jarvis) (Wikimedia)

Picture Picture
2 Different samples of Laricifomes officinalis (Ku Bai Tie) (Chengdu, 2016, 2017)

Picture Members CLICK HERE for the PRO VERSION

Botanical name:


Laricifomes officinalis (syn. Fomitopsis officinalis, Fomes officinalis, Fomes fuscatus, Polyporus officianle, Agaricum officinale, A. alba, Boletus agaricum, B. officinale, B. laricis, B. purgans, Cladomeris officinalis, Piptoporus officinalis, Ungulina officinalis)
Other species listed as sources of Agaric include Fomes fomentarius, Fomitopsis pinicola, Phellinus igniarius

Parts used:


Dried Fungus, preferably collected from Larch trees. The coarse outer coating is removed.

Temperature & Taste:


Mildly Warm (some said Cool), dry; sweet, then bitter
Incides, digests and opens

Classification:


2A APERIENT MEDICINES.   2C INCIDERS.   2F. PURIFYING.   2G. CLEANSING.   2K. RESOLVENT.   2O. ASTRINGENTS
3K. EXPECTORANT. 
4d. PECTORAL.   4g. HEPATIC
Preparers and Purgers of Phlegm
Preparers and Purgers of Melancholy

Uses:


1. Dries Damp, Purges Phlegm:
-clears serous and viscous (thick) humors from the whole Body, especially the Mesentery, Head and Lungs
-Edema; obstructed or difficult Urine (West)

2. Purges Melancholy,
-important medicine to purge Melancholy and Burnt Bile

3. Clears Phlegm, Stops Cough and Wheezing:
-Cough, Asthma

4. Clears Wind-Damp, Ease Pain:
-Arthritis, Rheumatism

5. Clears Damp, Settles Wind, Stops Spasms:
-Epilepsy, Vertigo, Dizziness

6. Moves the Blood, Resolves Masses:
-Promotes Menstruation

7. Clears Wind-Heat, Resists Poison:
-Poisons (Dioscorides)


Preparation:


As it is rough on the Stomach, it was prepared with Ginger by Galen, either sprinkling wine or spirit infused with Ginger, or otherwise prepared with Ginger, as in Troches of Agaric.

Dose:


 … available in PRO version

Correctives:


 … available in PRO version

Substitutes:


 … available in PRO version

Main Combinations:


1. To Purge Phlegm and Damp:
i. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
ii. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
iii. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
2. To Purge Phlegm and Bile:
i. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
ii. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
3. To clear Phlegm from the Lungs:
i. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
i. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
ii. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
iii. Agaric with  … available in PRO version
4. Fever, take Agaric with  … available in PRO version
5. Cough, Asthma:
i. Agaric  … available in PRO version
ii. Agaric  … available in PRO version
6. Shortness of Breath, combine Troches of Agaric (2 drams) with  … available in PRO version
7. Consumption, Agaric with  … available in PRO version
8. Difficulty Urinating, take Agaric with  … available in PRO version
9. Urinary Stones, Nephritis, Agaric with  … available in PRO version
10. Sciatica, Agaric taken with  … available in PRO version
11. Quotidian Fever, Agaric taken with  … available in PRO version
12. Hangover (strong morning headache from drinking): … available in PRO version
13. Spleen disease, Agaric with  … available in PRO version
14. To Purge Melancholy, combined Agaric with  … available in PRO version
15. Fistulas, burnt Salt, Tartar and Agaric  … available in PRO version
16. Snake bite, take Agaric  … available in PRO version

Major Formulas:


Troches of Agaric (see below)
Infusion to Purge Phlegm (Mesue)
Infusion to Purge Phlegm more Compound (Mesue)
Pills of Agaric (Mesue)
Pills of Agaric (Avicenna)
Pills of Mastic (Mesue)
Pills of Rhubarb and Agaric (Mesue)
Pills for Joint Disease
Pills to Purge Bile and Phlegm (1) (Mesue)
Electuary of Turbith and Agaric
Electuary for Asthma of Andrezeos

Cautions:


1. Large doses cause nauseousness; it is primarily corrected with Ginger and Mastic; also Clove, Cinnamon, Hyssop. The Troches of Agaric (where it is formed into Troches with Wine infused with Ginger) corrects the effect of Agaric.
2. Not used during Pregnancy
3. Not used in dryness or Yin deficiency
4. Large doses can cause Diarrhea, Sweating and Convulsions
5. Not used in Inflammations and Burning Fevers (due to its dryness)
6. Agaric was long known to deteriorate with age, therefore, fresh Agaric is preferred. The Troches are the best way to keep it.

Main Preparations used:


Extract of Agaric, Troches of Agaric
See also:
Agaric from ‘A Treatise on Foreign Drugs’, Geoffroy and Thicknesse, 1749
  • Extra Info
  • Research
  • History
1. GENERAL / REVIEW:
–“Gharikon”/”Agharikon” a Valuable Medicinal Mushroom in Iranian Traditional Medicine
–Fomitopsis officinalis mushroom: ancient gold mine of functional components and biological activities for modern medicine
–Fomitopsis officinalis: a Species of Arboreal Mushroom with Promising Biological and Medicinal Properties
–Laricifomes officinalis–a rich source of pharmacologically active triterpenes

2. ANTIBACTERIAL
–Antimicrobial properties of Fomitopsis officinalis in the light of its bioactive metabolites: a review.
–Chlorinated Coumarins from the Polypore Mushroom, Fomitopsis officinalis, and their Activity Against Mycobacterium tuberculosis
–Lanostane triterpenoids from Fomitopsis officinalis and their trypanocidal activity
–Anti-tuberculosis

3. ANTI-VIRAL:
–Effective against smallpox, H5N1 influenza, and hepatitis C virus
–Antipox Properties of Fomitopsis officinalis (Vill.: Fr.) Bond. et Singer (Agarikon) from the Pacific Northwest of North America
–Medicinal Polypores of the Forests of North America: Screening for Novel Antiviral Activity
–Anti-influenza (Paul Stamets)
–Antiviral Activity of Polyporoid Mushrooms (Higher Basidiomycetes) from Altai Mountains (Russia)

4. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
–Lanostane Triterpenoids from the Fruiting Bodies of Fomes officinalis and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activities.

5. ANTICOAGULANT
–“Gharikon”/”Agharikon” a Valuable Medicinal Mushroom in Iranian Traditional Medicine
 6. NEUROPROTECTIVE
–Neuroprotective effects of Fomes officinalis Ames polysaccharides on Aβ25-35-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells through suppression of mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway.

7. ANTI-FATIGUE
–[Effects of the Fomes officinalis Ames. polysaccharides on anti-fatigue and hypoxia tolerance in mice].

8. IMPROVES HYPOXIA TOLERANCE
–[Effects of the Fomes officinalis Ames. polysaccharides on anti-fatigue and hypoxia tolerance in mice].

9. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
–“Gharikon”/”Agharikon” a Valuable Medicinal Mushroom in Iranian Traditional Medicine

10. ANTI-TUMOR / ANTI_CANCER:
–Extraction of polysaccharides from Fomes officinalis Ames and their antitumor activity
–In Vivo and In Vitro Anti-Tumor Effects of Fungal Extracts
–The effects of blended medicinal mushroom extracts with or without 5-fluorouracil on survival and various antitumor parameters in mouse CT26. WT colon cancer
–Cytotoxicity of blended versus single medicinal mushroom extracts on human cancer cell lines: contribution of polyphenol and polysaccharide content
–MEDICINAL MUSHROOM PREPARATIONS AGAINST LUNG CANCER
Galen:
Agaric grows near trees in the form of tubes or boleti which are easy to break, and almost hollow inside. it is very delicate, with a shade of redness to it. The inside is almost white, not unlike bran. initially its taste seems sweet, but slowly this is replaced by an extremely bitter taste. The best agaric is found mainly in Pontus, and though it grows in other places it is much weaker. it has severely loosening properties and helps resist against venomous bites or poisonous drinks. it also purges the stomach a little, and reduces bile and phlegm. it causes no pain or vomiting.
Pharmacographia Indica, Dymock, 1893
‘The use of this fungus in medicine is of very ancient date. Dioscorides (iii.,1) describes [?] as male and female, the female being the best and having internally a comb-like structure, whilst the male is convolute, round and compact; both have the same taste, at first sweet, afterwards bitter. He states that it grows in Sarmatia, Galatia in Asia, and Cilicia, and that some suppose it to be a root and others a fungus. It is astringent, hot,and purgative, and is also given in fever, jaundice, nephritis, uterine obstructions, phthisis, dyspepsia, haemorrhage, and pains in the joints; it is alexipharmic. Pliny (25, 57) says: “Agaric is found growing in the form of a fungus of a white colour, upon the trees in the vicinity of the Bosporus. It is administered in doses of four oboli, beaten up in two cyathi of oxymel. The kind that grows in Galatia is generally looked upon as not so efficacious. The male agaric is firmer than the other, and more bitter; it is productive, too, of headache. The female plant is of a looser texture; it has a sweet taste at first, which speedily changes into a bitter flavour.” Pereira states that the drug appears in the modern Greek Pharmacopoeia under the name of [?] with the Turkish Synonym of [?].

Ibn Sina insists upon the great efficacy of agaric as an alexipharniic. He and other Mahometan physicians closely follow the Greeks in their description of its medicinal properties; they consider that it removes all kinds of visceral obstructions and expels diseased humors; the female kind should be used after it has been rubbed through a hair-sieve and all black particles removed. The use of agaric in phthisis is of ancient date; it was revived by De Haen, Barbut, and others in the present century, and subsequently decried by Andral (Phil. Trans., Vols. 48 and 49). The active principle, agaricin, has recently been recommended in doses of 1/12 to 1/6 of a grain as an astringent to check night-sweating and diarrhea, to diminish bronchial secretion, and to dry up the milk after weaning’.