Herb of the Month: Chen Pi, Tangerine Peel

Chinese: Chen Pi

English: Tangerine Peel

📚 English - Aged Tangerine Peel, Citrus

💊 Pharmaceutical - Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium

❤️ Meridians - Lung, Spleen, Stomach

✨ Category - RegulateQi

👅 Taste - Spicy, Bitter

☀️ Temperature - Warm, Aromatic

General functions:

• Benefit the throat, guiding to middle jiao, reduce stagnation from tonics, stop nausea and vomiting

Functions:

• Regulates the qi, rectifies the middle

• Dries dampness and dissolves phlegm

• Helps prevent stagnation in formulas

Indications:

• Epigastric or abdominal distention, fullness, bloating, belching, bloating; nausea, vomiting

• Phlegm-damp coughs with a stifling sensation in the chest and/or diaphragm and copious, viscous sputum, abdominal distention, loss of appetite, fatigue, loose stools and a thick greasy tongue coating

• Used with tonifying herbs to prevent their cloying nature from causing stagnation

Contraindications:

• Heat from excess

• Unsuitable for dry coughs due to qi or yin deficiency

• Long-term use can injure the primal qi

Dosage:

• 3-9g

Pharmacology:

• Antiasthmatic

  Antihistamine

  Antioxidant

  Antiviral

  Dissolve/expel stones

  Expectorant

  Hypertensive

  Smooth muscle relaxant

Caution: 

• dry cough from yin deficiency, hot phlegm, dry heat cough, blood spitting

Ways to eat

Use fresh or dried peels in cooked dishes, steep in teas. The peel is typically dried for at least 3 years, the longer the drying the more potent its flavor and therapeutic properties. The peel itself is easy to make at home- simply peel a tangerine cut out white pith and set the peel out to dry on a piece of paper in a cool dry place for a couple weeks. When the peel is dry and hard, keep in a closed glass jar.