Gua Lou Pi - 栝蔞皮 - Pericarpium Trichosanthis

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Pericarpium Trichosanthis
Common English:	Trichosanthis Husk Trichosanthis Peel / Trichosanthes peel

Category

Herbs that Transform Phlegm and Stop Coughing: Herbs that Cool and Transform Phlegm-Heat

Properties

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Sweet	Cold	Lung Stomach Large Intestine	6-30g For dispersing clumps: up to 60g

Actions And Indications

Actions	Indications/Syndromes
Clears and moistens the Lungs and transforms Hot Phlegm	Phlegm-Heat in the chest, pulmonary infections Dry cough with difficult-to-expectorate yellow sputum and a dry throat due to Wind-Heat
Regulates Qi and expands chest	Qi accumulation in the chest, stuffy chest, chest pain Chest Bi Early stages of breast abscess

Contraindications, Incompatibilities And Herb/Drug Interactions

Major Combinations

Bul. Fritillariae Bei Mu Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng Sm. Armeniacae Xing Ren	Rx. Trichosanthis Tian Hua Fen	Hb. Taraxaci Pu Gong Ying
Phlegm-Heat cough due to Lung Qi clogging and binding.	Non-productive cough, or one with scanty sputum, with a stifling sen-sation in the chest and thirst in the aftermath of a febrile disease.	Early-stage breast abscess due to Phlegm-Heat. (internally and topically)
Hb. Taraxaci Pu Gong Ying Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng Rx. Trichosanthis Tian Hua Fen Sp. Gleditsiae Zao Jiao Ci	Rz. Coptidis Huang Lian Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia	Bul. Allii Macrostemi Xie Bai Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia
Breast abscess that have already formed pus.	Xiong Bi with cough and yellow sputum.	Xiong Bi due to Cold and Damp Accumulation in the Upper Jiao.

Notes

1. It is also reported to moisten the Lungs.
2. Early texts make no distinction between this herb (the fruit), the seed Gua Lou and the husk Gua Lou Pi.
3. It is used for dry cough with Phlegm that is hard to expectorate and a dry throat from Wind-Heat. It is weaker at soothing the Intestines, moving the bowels, resolving Phlegm and breaking up masses, but stronger at relieving Stagnation in the chest.
4. It specifically mobilizes Qi to unbind the diaphragm and ease the chest, and to transform Phlegm and disperse clumps.
5. It also sends turbid Qi downward for elimination.
6. It can benefit a patient who has Phlegm-Heat together with loose stools.
7. Of all parts of the plant, this one has the strongest anti-tumor and anticancer action.
8. Dry-fried Trichosanthis Peel Chao Gua Lou Pi is less cold and is used for cough and Phlegm that is not very Hot. With added bran, it harmonizes the Stomach and is used for loose stools from Spleen Deficiency.
9. Honey-prepared Trichosanthis Peel MI Zhi Gua Lou Pi moistens the Lungs and alleviates cough more effectively and is used for chronic cough from Lung Yin Deficiency.