Nux Pinea, Pine nuts

Strobilorum
Song Zi (TCM)
Chilghoza (Unani)
Picture Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, 1640

Picture Pine nuts in the shell (Adam, 2017)

Botanical name:


Pinus gerardiana
Local species are used in various parts.

Parts used:


Seed

Temperature & Taste:


Warm, moist. Sweet
“The larger variety i.e. neozapine is moderately Hot and excessively Moist but the edible pine is Hot and Dry in the second degree”. (Avicenna)

Classifications:


2E LENITIVE
3J. INCREASE SEMEN.    3K. EXPECTORANT.    3L. ANTI-TUSSIVE
4d. PECTORAL.    4j. NERVINE

Uses:


1. Benefits the Lungs, Clears Phlegm, Stops Cough:
-Cough, Hoarseness, Asthma, and Tuberculosis associated with Lung deficiency.
-“those that spit filthy matter”; Hemoptysis.
-“general debility with shortness of Breath”. (Da Ming)
-“Used in cases of putrid humours in Lungs, Pus, Hemorrhage and Cough”. (Avicenna)

2. Tonifies the Qi, Benefits the Yin:
-weakness, fatigue, chronic deficiency, wasting associated with Qi and Yin deficiency.
-various chronic disorders, and disorders of the elderly.
-promotes Venery, nourishes Sperm
-“II is a fattening drug”. (Avicenna)
-it is a general tonic. (Da Ming)
-“long term use makes one feel happy and vigorous and able to enjoy a long life”. (Li Xun)
    
3. Moistens the Intestines:
-Constipation in the young, old, weak or Yin deficient.
-Also useful for Hemorrhoids.
    
4. Strengthens Kidneys, Clears Wind and Damp, Promotes Urine:
-Strangury, sharpness of Urine
-Ulcers of the Kidneys
-Arthritis and Rheumatism.
-treats Arthralgia from invading Wind. (Da Ming)
    
5. Resists Poison:
-Poison of Henbane (taken with Wine)


Dose:


1. It is made digestible with Sugar Candy in hot natured people and Honey in cold natured people. (Avicenna)
2. “When it is boiled with sweet wine, it cleanses much purulent matter from the Lungs” .(Avicenna)
Powder: 2–5 grams
Decoction: 3–9 grams

Corrective:


“Excessive use of edible pine nut … causes gripes. Chewing of sour pomegranate seeds, acts as its antidote”. (Avicenna)

Substitute:


1. Cucumber seed (Galen)
2. Hazel nut, Walnut (Unani)
3. Pistachio

Preparation:


1. Washed Pine nuts:
  “the fresh one is maturative, laxative, dissolving and irritant but its irritant effect can be removed by soaking it in water. In this way it becomes quite lubricant and smooth”.
2. Roasted Pine nuts
  Sometimes Pine nuts were roasted. This makes them more warming to the Kidneys.

Main Combinations:


1. Cough and Wheezing:
i. Pine nuts with Starch, Gum Arabic, Tragacanth, Poppy seed (as in Troches for Cough of Andromachus)
ii. Pine nuts with Bitter Almonds, Dates, Tragacanth, Licorice, Maidenhair and Orris (as in Electuary of Pine Nuts)
iii. Pine nuts with Almond, Tragacanth, Hyssop, Cinnamon, Licorice (as in Tragacanth Warming Powder)
iv. Cold-Phlegm Cough, Pine nuts with Myrrh, Saffron, Quince seed, Aniseed, Sweet and Bitter Almond, White Poppy seed, Licorice juice (as in Pills for Cold and Moist Cough of Paulus)
v. persistent Coughs, Tuberculosis, Pine nuts ground and boiled in Grape Syrup. (Dioscorides)
2, Asthma:
i. Pine nuts with Raisin, Sweet Almond, Date, Licorice, Ginger, Tragacanth, Frankincense, Mastic (as in Antidotum Asthmaticus of Nicholas)
3. To cleanse the Lungs, Pine nuts, Bitter Almond, Licorice juice, form an Electuary with Honey.
3. Coughing up Pus, Pine nuts (2 oz.), Flax seed roasted (1 oz.), Sweet Almonds (1 oz.), Black Pepper (½ oz.), Honey, sufficient to form a linctus. (Syrian “Book of Medicine“, trans. by Wallis Budge, 1913)
5. Obstructed Urine, Heat of the Urine, Burning Urine, Pine nuts with Grape syrup and Cucumber seed (Dioscorides)
6. To strengthen the Kidneys:
i. Pine nut, Asparagus Tian Men Dong
7. To increase Semen and promote Sexual desire:
i. Pine nuts, Sesame seed Sugar Candy, Honey. (Avicenna)
ii. Pine nuts with Orchis, Parsnip root, Sea Holly root, Pistachio nut, Clove and Rocket seed (as in Electuary of Orchid (Diasatyrion) of Nicholas)
8. Kidney Ulcers, Pine nuts, Rose, Poppy seed (equal parts). Beat them, make a ball as big as a Walnut and mix in 2 parts of Wine and 3 parts Water and give to drink. (The Secrets of Alexis, 1615)
9. Gnawing pains in the Stomach, Pine nuts are taken with Purslane juice. (Dioscorides)
10. Constipation from deficiency:
i. Pine nut, Figs, Dates
ii. Pine nuts, Platycladus Bai Zi Ren (TCM)

Major Formulas:


Tragacanth Warming Powder (Pulvis Diatragacanth Calidii) (Nicholas)
Powder of Optimal Nutrition (Nicholas)
Troches for Cough (Andromachus)
Troches of Winter Cherry (Unani)
Troches of Winter Cherry (Trochisci Alkekengi) (Mesue)
Electuary of Pine Nuts (Looch de Pino) (Mesue)
Electuary For Spitting Blood (Wirtzung)
Electuary of Fruit Kernels (Rhazes)
Electuary of Ginger (Dia Zingiber) (Nicholas)
Electuary of Calamus (Diacorum) (Mesue)
Electuary for the Lungs (Lemery)
Lohoch of Poppy (Lohoc de Papavere)
Sugar Penid (Diapenidon Frigidum) (Nichoals)
Sugar Penid with Spices (Diapenidon Compositum) (Nicholas)
Antidotum Asthmaticus (Nicholas)
Pills for Cold and Moist Cough of Paulus

Cautions:


None noted.

Main Preparations used:


Confected Nuts, Expressed Oil
Daoists texts on Pine nuts (from A Soup for the Qan, Hu Sihui et al. 2010)
The Leixian zhuan says:
  Wo Chuan ate pine seeds. He could travel by flying and move along like a running horse.
The Shenxian zhuan says:
  Pine seeds; it does not matter if they are many or few. Grind them into a paste. Take on an empty stomach, dissolve a spoonful in warm liquor. If one takes three doses a day, one will not suffer from hunger or thirst. If you take doses for a long time, you will travel 500 li a day. Your body will be light, and your frame will be fortified.