Japanese Raisin Tree Fruit (Curved chicken claws, seeds are flattened and round, brownish-black, with a raised back and flat belly, shiny, hard and smooth seed coat, two oily cotyledons)
【Name】
【Source】
Newly Revised Materia Medica
【Common Use Level】
F
【Botanical Origin】
The dried, ripe fruit and fleshy fruit stalks or seeds of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. in the Rhamnaceae family.
【Characteristics】
(I) Dried fruit with fruit stalk: The fruit stalk is enlarged, fleshy and thick, multi-branched, curved and not straight, shaped like chicken claws, 3~5㎝ or longer, diameter 4~5㎜, the surface is brownish-brown, slightly shiny, with longitudinal wrinkles, the branch ends bear 1 obtuse trigonal spherical fruit, the pericarp is thin and papery, 3 locules, each locule contains 1 seed, the fruit stalk is slightly loose and brittle, easily broken, the fracture surface is slightly flat, horny, light reddish-brown, the odor is weak, the taste is bland or slightly sweet.
(II) Dried seeds: They are flat and round, slightly raised on the back, relatively flat on the abdomen, 3~5㎜ in diameter, about 2㎜ thick, the surface is reddish-brown to brownish-black, smooth and shiny, with an elliptical punctate hilum at the base, a slightly convex chalaza at the top, and a longitudinal and raised raphe on the abdomen. The seed coat is hard, about 1㎜ thick, the endosperm is milky white, oily, and encloses 2 thick cotyledons, which are pale yellow to grass-green, also oily, the odor is weak, bitter and astringent.
【Identification】
Good quality is indicated by dryness, reddish-yellow color, gloss, no insect infestation, and no impurities.
【Category】
Fruits