If you are suffering from nasal congestion, difficulty breathing, or sinusitis, you can burn the fruit of the soap pod tree and inhale the smoke through your nose. This will help clear your nasal passages and make breathing easier.
The soap pod tree, also known as Gleditsia australis, has fruit that is commonly used for hair washing. The parts that can be used as medicine include:
Fruit (Tao Giác): The seeds must be removed before use. The fruit can be used fresh or soaked in water to soften and then dried. Sometimes it is burned to ash and ground into powder.
Seeds (Tao Giác Tử): Collected from ripe fruit that has been dried or dehydrated.
Thorns (Tao Giác Thích): Contain antibacterial and antifungal compounds. The decoction of soap pod thorns has been shown to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus.
According to traditional Eastern medicine, the soap pod fruit is spicy, salty, moderately warm, slightly toxic, and has effects such as opening the nasal passages, expelling phlegm, reducing swelling, and inducing sneezing. It is used as a remedy for phlegm, inducing vomiting, facilitating bowel movements, and disinfecting. It is primarily used for treating stroke, lockjaw, indigestion, asthma, and improving eyesight. The recommended dosage is 0.5-1 g per day in powdered form, burned to ash, or brewed as a decoction.
The seeds have a spicy flavor, a warm property, and are effective for promoting bowel movements and treating boils. The recommended dosage is 5-10 g per day in decoction form. The thorns have a spicy flavor, warm property, and are effective for reducing swelling, disinfecting, alleviating breast swelling, and decreasing milk production. The recommended dosage is 5-10 g per day in decoction form.
All parts of the soap pod tree, including the fruit, seeds, leaves, and bark, are toxic. The toxicity is mainly high when used as medicine without being properly processed (not roasted until golden brown or burned to ash). Symptoms of poisoning include chest tightness, burning in the throat, vomiting; followed by diarrhea, foamy stools, headaches, fatigue, and weakness in the limbs.
Traditional Remedies Using Soap Pod
Stroke, lockjaw, coma, unconsciousness: Burn the soap pod fruit (including seeds), grind it into powder (can be combined with peppermint) and blow a little into the nostrils to induce sneezing, then rub a bit on the teeth to regain consciousness.
Seizures, convulsions, phlegm obstruction in the throat, foamy mouth, or asthma with wheezing: Mix soap pod powder with an equal amount of alum, stir well, and dissolve in water, taking 0.5 g each time, 3-6 times a day until phlegm is expelled or reduced.
Constipation, intestinal obstruction, or bloating after surgery with no flatulence, or water retention: Burn soap pod powder, mix it with peanut oil or sesame oil, soak cotton in it, and insert it into the rectum several times to relieve constipation and promote bowel movements.
Pinworms: Do the above at night for three consecutive days, once a day.
Cavities, toothache: Grind the fruit into small pieces and apply it to the affected tooth; if it causes salivation, remove it; or use burnt soap pod powder to clean the affected area.
Fungal skin infections, children’s scalp infections: Soak soap pod in hot water to clean the affected area. Then sprinkle burnt soap pod powder onto the area.
Chronic dysentery: Roast the seeds to a golden brown, grind them into powder, and mix with rice flour to form small balls. Take 10-20 balls per day, drinking with strong tea (best taken in the morning to avoid insomnia).
Treating cough: Combine 1 g of soap pod, 1 g of cinnamon twig, 4 g of jujube, 2 g of licorice, and 2 g of fresh ginger, add about 600 ml of water, boil down to 200 ml, and divide into three doses throughout the day.
Abscesses that are not bursting: Use 5-10 g of soap pod thorns to boil and drink the water. It can also be combined with honeysuckle and licorice, each 2-8 g, to make a decoction. Folk remedies also suggest using burnt soap pod thorns and soapberry, grinding the ash, mixing with soot and resin to create a poultice that helps abscesses to drain very effectively.
Note: Weak individuals and pregnant women should not use soap pod for drinking.
