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Chaenomeles speciosa healthy benefits — Chinese herbs and Chinese food
Chaenomeles speciosa
Chaenomeles speciosa is a plant of the family Rosaceae, native to China.
In their health home country, designated by Mandarin 皱 皮 木瓜 zhòupí Mugua (or 贴 梗 海棠, tiēgěng hǎitáng) its fruit has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also cultivated in Chinese gardens since ancient times.
The numerous ornamental cultivars of this species selected in Japan and then in Europe for their abundant colorful bloom in garden supplanted Chaenomeles japonica less vigorous. However, they are still sold under the name “japonica”.
China wild form
Chaenomeles speciosa is a thorny shrub 2-3 meters high, therefore greater than C. japonica, which is around 1 meter (in its wild form).
The reniform or suborbicular stipules are large enough as they make 5 to 10 mm. The deciduous, lanceolate to elliptical leaves (thus narrower than those of C. japonica), 3-9 × 1.5-5 cm, are carried by a petiole of 1 cm.
Distribution
C. speciosa grows naturally in China (Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan) and in Myanmar.
The numerous ornamental cultivars selected by horticulturists are grown in temperate Asia, Europe and North America.
Medicinal use
Mandarin Mugua 木瓜 means either shrubs of the genus Chaenomeles, native to temperate regions of China or papaya, fruit papaya (Carica papaya), a native of Mexico. The confusion is not uncommon.
According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Mugua 木瓜 (Fructus chaenomeles), the fruit of flowering quince, has the following functions and indications:
– “Disperses wind and moisture, regulates the stomach and improves digestion”
– “Active circulation of qi and blood, relaxes muscles and tendons”
– “Antirheumatic, antispasmodic”.
Indications
– “Rheumatic pain and muscle spasm”
– “Dyspepsia, vomiting, diarrhea”
It is often prescribed in combination with other medicinal herbs. In case of muscle cramps, it is combined with Dang-gui-shao and Bai-yao.
Affinities: liver, spleen.
Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission (2005) recommended for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, prosopalgia (trigeminal neuralgia) and hepatitis.
The study by chromatography of the fruit of C. speciosa has revealed the presence of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, quercetol, methyl ester 3-hydroxybutanedioic acid, oleanolic acid, etc. The first two constituents are polyphenols which have a significant antioxidant activity as measured by the free radical scavenging using DPPH •
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