Fructus Piperis Longi (Bibo)

Naming
Bi Bo (Fructus Piperis Longi)-Xin Xiu Ben Cao (Newly Revised Materia Medica)

Origin
The nearly mature fruit and spike of Piper longum L.

Location
Guangdong and Yunnan provinces in China.

Harvest
Collected from September to October when the spike turns black.

The true smell and taste
Specially fragrant, pungent.

Best quality
Big and hard, yellow-brownish to black-brownish, less stem with thick fragrance.

Processing
Unprocessed.

Property
Pungent, hot; spleen and large intestine meridians entered.

Actions
Warm middle energizer to alleviate pain and arrest vomiting.

Indications
A. Stomach cold and abdominal pain

It is good at warming stomach, dispersing cold to alleviate pain. For gastro-abdominal cold pain due to congealing cold, it can be used alone or combined with other middle-energizer-warming analgesic. For instance it is combined with Rhizoma Zingiberis (Ganjiang), Gao Liang Jiang, Cortex Cinnamomi (Rougui), in Da Yi Han Wan from Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang.

B. Vomiting, hiccup and diarrhea

It has the actions of warming spleen and stomach to arrest vomiting and check diarrhea. For vomiting due to stomach cold, it can be ground into powder alone for oral use with conjee, or combined with other stomach-warming and vomiting-arresting herbs. For instance it is combined with Gan Jiang and Hou Po in Bi Bo Wan from Sheng Ji Zong Lu. For abdominal pain and diarrhea due to deficiency-cold type, it should be combined with the qi-tonifying and spleen-invigorating, middle-energizer-warming and diarrhea-checking herbs. For instance it is combined with Gan Jiang, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae (Baizhu), and Semen Myristicae (Roudoukou), in Bi Bo San from Sheng Ji Zong Lu.

In addition, for toothache due to dental caries, it can be ground into powder with Hu Jiao for local application.

Dosage and Administrations
Decoct l.5~3 g. Proper dosage is for external application.