"What Are the Advantages of Using Calamus Root (Acorus calamus)?"

Calamus: Therapeutic Benefits and Components

Calamus boasts effects of calming nerves, reducing temperature, and demonstrating a remarkable therapeutic impact on indigestion. Additionally, it aids in mitigating inflammation and pain. Known colloquially as white calamus or water calamus, it is a prevalent plant in our daily lives. When dried, it serves as a potent medicine with excellent anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.

1. Key Components of Calamus

The rhizome of calamus primarily contains volatile oil, with α-asarone and β-asarone as its primary constituents. Volatile oil is also present in other parts of the plant. Furthermore, it encompasses vitamins, palmitic acid, calamus glycoside mixed fatty acids, and sugar.

2. Medicinal Significance of Calamus

The entire calamus plant emits an aromatic fragrance, making it suitable for use as a spice or insect repellent. Both its stems and leaves can be utilized medicinally. Rhizomes are harvested between August and September, stripped of stems, leaves, and fine roots, then dried. They facilitate the expulsion of impurities, open orifices, promote qi circulation and expel phlegm, detoxify, and kill insects. They treat mania, convulsions, coma stemming from phlegm, rheumatism caused by wind, cold, and dampness, as well as externally applied for abscesses, boils, and ringworm. They also open orifices, resolve phlegm, and strengthen the stomach, making them effective in cases of epilepsy, phlegm-heat convulsions, chest and abdominal distention, and chronic bronchitis.

3. Functions and Indications

Calamus warms the stomach, reduces inflammation, and alleviates pain. It is utilized for replenishing stomach yang, treating indigestion, food stagnation, white throat, anthrax, and more. This herb exhibits aromatic orifice-opening, mind-calming, dampness-clearing, phlegm-dissolving, and impurity-dispelling effects. It can be administered alone or in conjunction with liver-soothing and sedative medications, and is also effective in managing mania, dementia, and other conditions.