Guest guest Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 Every thing that Vitoria said plus, one needs to consider the time since processing the herb for consumption. Common understanding in the Western herbal practice is that once an herb has been gathered the maxium quality of medicine deteriorates after a given amount of time. In Wertern herbalism; Roots, barks, and seeds have a 3 year shelf life. Leaves and flowers have a one year shelf life. If you grind the herb it has approximately 3 to 6 month shelf life. If you make a decoction or infusion, refrigerated it is medicinally good for perhaps 24 hrs. Tinctures are said to have indefinate shelf life as long as they contain 20% alcohol. Preserved with vinegar or glycerine, about one year shelf life. Asian medicines have even more methods of processing for consumption. But my point is that if you purchase an herb in a capsul from the health food or drug store, how do you know how long its been from harvest to consumption? They tend to put a 3 year expiration date on the product that relates to the time they anticipate the product being placed in the store. Chances are with many large herbal companies, they bought the herb when prices were low and stored it in their warehouse until the store placed their order for it. The date of experation goes on when its bottled and shipped to the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 Also, which tone is " wan " ? Nancy S+13 wrote: >This is my first post so I hope you don't mind a question. I have some >capsules from Sun Ten labelled Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang and I'm curious why >that is? Why is it not labelled Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan since it's swallowed >like a pill? > >Nancy S+13 > >victoria_dragon wrote: > > > >>For the beginning TCM students on the list: When you see the >>word " wan " in a Chinese formula name, that means " pill " . " Tang " >>is " decotion " (or " tea " ). " San " is " powder " . (Note: There should be >>a - over the a in tang, and a small v-like mark over the a in san. >>These are tonal marks. Chinese is a tonal language. The tone used will >>change the meaning of a word. >> >> > > > > > > > > > > Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine > Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner > >Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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