Wild asparagus roots, also known as Tian Men Dong in Pinyin, are an important folk medicine that is often overlooked since it is not as popular as other Chinese herbs like Chinese yam and Goji Berry. As a matter of fact, this herb has long been viewed as a rare plant that is with edible, medicinal uses since ancient time. This is why it was chosen and listed as a top-grade medicine in the "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic". According to basic theories of Chinese medicine, it is good at nourishing Yin to moisten dryness, clearing away the lung-heat, and promoting the secretion of saliva or body fluid. That's to say, clinically this is an effective herb for cough due to heat formation from Yin deficiency. And modern science discovered it can minimize bacterial growth.

Medicinally it mainly refers to the dried tubers of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr., which is a member in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Asparagoideae. Sometimes Asparagus spinosissimus Wang et SC Chen., a close relative plant in the same genus mainly distributed in Tibet, is also used for the same medicinal purpose. Hence, other common names of this herb include asparagus tuber, wild asparagus root, Shatavri, Tian Dong, Radix Asparagi, Asparagus cochinchinensis, red asparagus root, asparagus rhizomes, and the like. In China it is mainly produced in provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guangxi. It is usually dug up in autumn and winter. And then it still needs to clean, remove the stem base and fibrous roots, place in boiling water to cook or steam soft, get rid of the skin when it is still hot, clean again, dry, and finally slice or segment. Medicinally it is normally used raw.

Asparagus Roots

ASPARAGUS ROOTS BENEFITS 
Since ancient time, its health benefits have been acknowledged and of course it was used as more than just a cough medicine. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" says that the preserved asparagus in alcohol is also an anti-aging beauty product that can tonify the Five Zang-organs, regulate the Six fu-organs, and thereby protect the drinkers from illness; Sheng Ji Zong Lu (Complete Record of Holy Benevolence) reviews that its ground powder is an impressive facial cleanser, which help in skin whitening.

In Chinese herbal remedies, "Er Dong" (Two Dong) is the common ingredient, which literally is the abbreviation for Tian Men Dong and Mai Men Dong (Ophiopogon, Monkey Grass). They are often put together for the treatment of intestinal dryness with constipation because they have similar healing properties – nourishing lung-stomach yin, moistening lung dryness, clearing lung-stomach heat, helping produce saliva and quench thirst. Another important reason they needs each other is that they can mutually promote the efficacy based on their differences. Asparagus is more bitter and cold in nature, which makes it possess more powerful ability on clearing fire and moistening dryness.

In addition, since it acts on kidney and nourishes Yin, it is also appropriate for syndromes of kidney-yin deficiency and the hyperactivity of deficient fire. In comparison, monkey grass is slightly cold and with weaker power of clearing fire and moistening dryness. For the same reason, it is more easily digested and absorbed. What’s more, in combination of clearing heart heat to relieving restlessness and calming heart to tranquilize mind, monkey grass is especially fit for syndromes of heart-yin deficiency and the hyperactivity of heart heat. Now as you can see, these two herbs have not only similar name, but also similar medicinal uses. Hence, clinically they are a perfect match for nourishing Yin and moistening lung.