Psoralea, Bu Gu Zhi 补骨脂

Scurfpea
Bakuchi, Bakuci, Somaraji (Ayurveda)
Karpoogarisi (Siddha)
Bu Gu Zhi (TCM)
So ma ra ja  སོ་མ་ར་ཇ་ ; Ba gu ji  བ་གུ་ཇི་ (Tibet)
Picture Psoralea corylifolia
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 1803

Picture Psoralea corylifolia
(Photo by Biswarup Ganguly) (Wikimedia)

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Botanical name:


Psoralea corylifolia (syn. Cullen corylifolium)

Parts used:


Seed

Temperature & Taste:


Warm, dry. Pungent, Sweet, Bitter

Classification:


N. Tonic

Uses:


1. Warms the Yang, Strengthens the Kidneys (TCM, Ayurveda):
-Impotence, Premature Ejaculation; Aphrodisiac
-frequent Urination; incomplete or dribbling urine; enuresis in children
-coldness or cold pain of the lower back and limbs; chronic back pain
-Uterine Bleeding

2. Warms the Yang, Strengthens the Spleen (TCM, Ayurveda):
-Chronic Diarrhea and chronic Indigestion from Cold Stomach and Spleen
-Cold-Phlegm-Damp Abdominal pain

3. Clears Phlegm, Stops Wheezing:
-Asthma from Wind and Phlegm (Ayurveda)
-disorders of the Throat and Lungs (Tibet)

4. Benefits Chronic Skin disease: (Ayurveda, Tibet, TCM)
-despite being classed as hot, it is important for Blood-heat skin disorders
-Eczema, Psoriasis, Vitiligo, Boils, Itchy red macules, Leprosy, Elephantiasis
-for skin diseases, seed powder can be taken, then the patient is exposed to sunlight.

5. Kills Worms

6. Externally:
-topically as a tincture to Alopecia
-Psoriasis, Eczema, Vitiligo (oil or tincture topically)
-Leucoderma (oil)


Dose:


Powder: 1–3 grams

Comment:


… available in PRO version.

Correctives:


… available in PRO version.

Preparation:


… available in PRO version.

Substitutes:


… available in PRO version.
Picture

Main Combinations:


1. Skin diseases:
i. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
ii. Obstinate skin diseases, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
2. Vitiligo, take Psoralea seed … available in PRO version.
3. Ringworm, … available in PRO version.
4. Chronic Diarrhea from Cold and weak Kidneys:
i. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
ii. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
iii. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
5. Urinary frequency:
i. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
ii. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
iii. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
iv. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
6. Male Infertility:
i. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
ii. Psoralea, … available in PRO version.
7. Impotence, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
8. Kidney weakness with lower Back pain, Impotence and Premature Ejaculation:
i. Psoralea (1 part), … available in PRO version.
ii. Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
Iii. Psoralea, … available in PRO version.
9. Kidney deficiency:
i. with Spermatorrhea, Impotence, Lumbago, Psoralea, … available in PRO version.
ii. with Impotence, cold and weak lower back and kness, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
10. To nourish Dan Tian (‘Sea of Qi’), Psoralea … available in PRO version.
11. Rheumatism, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
12. Cough, Wheezing, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
13. Tonic, and for Trauma and Wounds, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
14. As an ointment for chronic Skin diseases, Psoralea with … available in PRO version.
15. Elephantiasis, … available in PRO version.

Major Formulas:


Wish-fulfilling Jewel (Bsam phel nor bu) (Tibetan Medicine)
Catechu 25 (Seng ldeng 25) (Tibetan Medicine)
Oil for Skin Diseases (Siddha)

Cautions:


1. Use with caution during Pregnancy
2. Avoid in Hot / Bile constitutions or Yin deficiency
3. Photo-sensitization occurs with excess use.
4. Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, malaise, headache, purging, and gastric irritation.

Main Preparations used:



  • Extra Info
  • History
‘Native works on Materia Medica describe the seeds as hot and dry, or according to some cold and dry, laxative, stimulant, and aphrodisiac. They are recommended in leprosy, and other chronic skin diseases which depend upon a vitiated state of the blood, and are given internally and applied externally as a plaster; they are also said to be useful in bilious affections and as an anthelmintic. Ainslie mentions their use in Southern India as a stomachic and deobstruent, and says that they are prescribed in lepra and other inveterate cutaneous affections. He gives Vakoochie as the Sanskrit name. Recently they have been extensively tried in Bombay by Bhao Daji and others as a remedy in leprosy, and I believe with some success. An oleature of Bawachi is prepared and sold by Messrs. Kemp and Co., of Bombay. The plant is a common weed in the Deccan and Bombay, and the, seeds are used in the Concan in making a perfumed oil which is applied to the skin. Dr. Kanny Loll Dey strongly recommends the oleo-resinons
extract of the seeds diluted with simple unguents as an application in Leucoderma. He says:— “After application for some days the white patches appear to become red or vascular; sometimes a slightly painful sensation is felt. Occasionally some small vesicles or pimples appear, and if these be allowed to remain undisturbed, they dry up, leaving a dark spot of pigmentary matter, which forms as it were a nucleus. From this point, as well as from the margin of the patch, pigmentary matters gradually develop, which ultimately coalesce with each other, and thus the whole patch disappears. It is also remarkable that the appearance of fresh patches is arrested by its application.”—(Phar. Journ., III. Ser., Sept. 24th 1881.)

Several species of Psoralia have been used medicinally in America, and have been found to act as gentle, stimulating, and tonic nervines. (Stille and Maisch., Nat. Disp.)