Euphoria, Longan fruit, Long Yan Rou 龙眼肉
Longan FruitLong Yan Rou (TCM)
Dian Nan Ben Cao Tu Shuo (Illustrated Yunnan Pharmacopoeia) Ming Dynasty (1773 edition)
Euphoria longanTransactions of the Royal Horticultural Society of London, Vol. 2 (1822)
Euphoria longan(Photo by Len Worthington) (Wikimedia)
Botanical name:
Euphoria longan (syn. Dimocarpus langan)
Parts used:
Fruit (flesh of the fruit)
Temperature & Taste:
Warm, moist. Sweet
Classification:
N. Blood Tonic
Uses:
1. Nourishes the Heart, Calms the Mind and Spirit:
-Palpitations, Insomnia
-Dizziness
-Forgetfulness; Mental Fatigue, Mental deficiency
-Overwork with excess Worry; Emotional instability due to Heart deficiency
2. Nourishes Blood:
-Anemia, blood deficiency
-Blood deficiency affecting the Heart and Mind
-considered a valuable postpartum tonic for Women (Thai medicine)
Dose:
Decoction: 9–15 grams (maximum 30 grams)
In Thailand the juice of the fresh fruit is used and is regarded as cooling drink in the Summer heat.
Comment:
‘long-term consumption strengthens the corporeal and the ethereal souls, sharpens the intelligence, lightens the body, prevents aging, and facilitates enlightenment of the Spirit’. (Divine Husbandman’s Classic of the Materia Medica)
Correctives:
1. Calamus
2. Ginger
3. Cardamon
Main Combinations:
1. Palpitations, insomnia with deficiency, Euphoria Long Yan Rou with Dang Gui, Ginseng, Ziziphus Suan Zao Ren (Jujube seed) (as in Gui Pi Tang)
2. Mild Insomnia, Excitability, Restlessness, Euphoria Long Yan Rou with White Lily (Bai He)
3. Forgetfulness, Dizziness, Mental Fatigue, Euphoria Long Yan Rou with Calamus (Shi Chang Pu)
4. Mild cases of Blood and Qi deficiency:
i. prepare a tea of Euphoria Long Yan Rou with Red Dates or Sugar
ii. more severe deficiency, Euphoria Long Yan Rou with American Ginseng (Xi Yang Shen) (as in Yu Ling Gao from Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu [Wang Shiwei’s Sui Xi Ju Food Recipe]).
5. Postpartum Edema, Postpartum deficiency, Euphoria Long Yan Rou with Red dates and fresh Ginger
6. To strengthen the Spleen and Stomach and boost the Spirit, prepare a medicated wine (Long Yan Jiu [longan wine] from Wan Shi Jia Chao Fang [Wan’s Heirloom Prescriptions]).
7. Diarrhea from Spleen deficiency, Euphoria Long Yan Rou with Atractylodes Bai Zhu, Dioscorea Shan Yao, Coix Yi Yi Ren, fresh Ginger.
Cautions:
1. Not used for Phlegm-Damp with Qi stagnation. Its sweet, rich nature creates dampness and causes Obstruction.
2. Not used for Stomach Heat with Phlegm; it can increase Phlegm and Heat due to its obstructing nature.