Detailed Product Description

The medicinal uses of ginkgo nut were mainly involved with treatment of lung diseases. In fact, one of the famous traditional Chinese formulas for treating asthmatic breathing, Ding Chuan Tang, has ginkgo nut as a key ingredient (the original formula is sometimes called Ma-huang and Ginkgo Combination as an English designation, recognizing two of its most important ingredients). The nine ingredient decoction was first recorded in the book Exquisite Formulas for Fostering Longevity (Fu Shou Jing Fang), written by Wu Min in 1530 A.D. (5). New versions of Ding Chuan Tang are sometimes developed for clinical use, with ginkgo nut as a prominent ingredient.

The fruit extract has been shown to strongly inhibit Mycobacterium, which is the cause of tuberculosis, one of the dominant lung ailments that has persisted in China. As has been confirmed by recent work in Germany, ginkgo contains ingredients that alleviate asthma. These ingredients, obtained from the leaf in Germany, are also present in the nuts.

Another traditional use of the ginkgo nut in China is as an astringent to treat fluid discharges. A remedy for leukorrhea is black chicken stewed with ginkgo nut and lotus seed (Baiguo Lianzi Dun Wuji). It is made by putting the herbal ingredients plus rice and black pepper in the unique black-boned chicken as a stuffing, cooking it, and then eating the combination (6). The recipe was recorded in Li Shizhen's Collection of Simple Prescriptions (Binhu Jijian Fang, ca. 1580 A.D.; Binhu is an alternate name for Shizhen).