Pig roundworm, earthworms treated with TCM chinaberry fruit

What is chinaberry fruit(Chuan Lian Zi)? Also known as fructus toosendan or Sichuan pagoda tree fruit, it refers to the dried ripe fruit of wild or cultivated Melia toosendan Sieb. Et Zucc., which is one of deciduous species and belongs to the family of Meliaceae. In China it grows mainly in the south but the fruits produced from Sichuan are preferred medicinally. As a result, it is named Chuan Lian Zi in Chinese Pinyin. The medicinal chinaberry is generally collected in winter. Next, remove the impurities before drying. It is used smashed and unprocessed or fried.

Fruits of the chinaberry tree are spherical or elliptical, in diameter of 1.7 to 2.5 cm. The surface is yellow-brown, shiny, slightly wrinkled, and with dark dots. At one end there is a circular depression, which is trace left by carpopodium. At the other end there is a point-like brown stylopodium marks. And often there are gaps between leathery pericarp and pulp. The pulp is from yellow to dark yellow, slightly soft. The kernel consists of oval hard wood, with 6 to 8 vertical edges on surface and 6 to 8 black brown oblong seeds inside. The seeds are white, oblong, and oily. The fruits have a peculiar odor and sour-bitter taste. Medicinally the preferred ones are large, plump, yellow, fleshy, and soft.

Chinaberry’s chemical composition
The fruits contain roundworm-killing active ingredient of toosendanin and a variety of bitter Triterpenes, such as melianone, lipomelianol, 21-O-acetyl Toosendan triol, and 21-O-methyl-Toosendan pentaol.

Chinaberry health benefits
As mentioned earlier, this herb is commonly used in the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It was first documented in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica Classic), in which it was classified into the category of low grade herbs. But then the Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc. and the Melia azedarach L. were treated as the same herb. Now commercially it comes in two species, but for medicinal purpose, the former is the major one.

Modern pharmacological action
This herb contains an active deworming ingredient. Compared to santonin, its effect is slow and sustained, which has a significant role in killing pig roundworm, earthworms, leeches, and others;

This herb can slack the sphincter of oddi and contract gallbladder to promote the excretion of bile;

This herb is able to excite the intestine smooth muscle to increase its tension and contraction;

This herb inhibits Staphylococcus aureus and a variety of pathogenic fungi;

This herb also has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.