The apricot blossom tree not only blooms beautifully during the Tet holiday but also provides a valuable medicinal fruit known as the apricot. It is used as a remedy for cough, sore throat, and various other heat-related ailments.
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(Image: SK&ĐS, VNE) |
Within the flesh of the apricot fruit, there is 27% acid, carotene, vitamin C, vitamin B15, and compounds that stimulate oxygen metabolism in cells, allowing them to recover quickly and slow down aging. In 1968, a compound was extracted from the apricot tree that was effective against tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis).
Traditional Chinese medicine utilizes apricot fruit as a remedy. Dried apricot alleviates heat-related discomfort, dry mouth, cough, chronic dysentery, paralysis, body aches, and skin lesions. White apricot clears heat and detoxifies, treating sore throat and disinfecting; when used, the seeds are removed, and the flesh is roasted.
Dried and white apricots have been researched, developed, and documented by renowned physicians in medical literature. For instance, drinking apricot juice can cure typhoid and heat-related discomfort (Dao Hoang Can); dried apricot treats thirst and phlegm (Tran Tang Khi), alleviates tuberculosis, and reduces internal heat when mixed with tea and ginger, effectively preventing relapses of dysentery (Chu family herbal medicine); it can also relieve choking and neutralize fish and sulfur toxins (Li Shi Zhen). Some famous doctors suggest that if a thorn penetrates the skin, chewing white apricot and applying it can help the thorn to emerge; or using white apricot can stop bleeding, treat menstrual disorders, and manage uterine bleeding.
Some simple yet effective remedies
Uterine bleeding: 7 dried apricot fruits, charred, ground into powder. Take with rice water, three times a day.
Blood in stool: 300 grams of dried apricot, charred, boiled in vinegar to make a paste, formed into pills the size of corn kernels. Take 20 pills at a time on an empty stomach with rice water as a drink.
Dysentery: 100 grams of dried apricot, with seeds removed, roasted, and ground into powder. Each time, take 2 taels with rice water.
Postpartum care: 20 dried apricot fruits and 12 seeds of Ophiopogon, boiled in two bowls of water, reduce to one bowl for drinking.
Chronic cough: Roasted dried apricot (lightly roasted), and poppy seeds (remove fibers, lightly roasted), in equal parts, ground into powder. Take 2 taels with honey before bedtime.
Constipation: Take the root of the apricot tree, about 10 cm long, split in half. Boil in water for half an hour; drinking it will be effective immediately.
Dysentery: Use the roots of the apricot tree (avoid iron). Break into pieces, roast to a golden color. Brew strongly, and drink about three bowls to recover.
