Storax, a powerful TCM herb for the treatment of stroke

What is storax(Su He Xiang)?
It refers to the aromatic resin that oozes out from the trunk of Liquidambar orientalis Mill. Also called Turkish sweetgum or oriental sweetgum, this is a plant in the family Hamamelidaceae. And other common name of the oil it produces include Turkish Sweetgum Oil, Oriental Sweetgum Oil, Liquid Storax, Balsam Storax, Asiatic Storax, Styrax Levant, sweetgum oils, and the like. But don’t confused it with benzoin resin (styrax resin), which comes from various Styrax species, such as S. benzoides, S. benzoin (Sumatra benzoin), and S. tonkinensis (Siam benzoin). And don’t mix it up with styrax, which is from a different plant. Storax is mainly produced in Africa, India and Turkey. In China it is basically cultivate in provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan. The harvest generally begins in early summer. First off cut or wound the bark deep to the xylem, let the sap emerge and penetrate the bark, peel the bark in autumn, and extract the resin called common storax. If dissolve the common storax in ethanol, filter, and evaporate ethanol, it gets refined storax. The finished products should store in cool and sealed place.

Liquidambar orientalis is a deciduous tree, 10 to 15 meters in height. Leaves are alternate, caducous, and with a long handle and small stipules; blade is palmate, 5-lobed, occasionally 3 or 7-lobed; lobe is ovate or oblong-ovate. Flowers are small and unisexual, many of them forming a yellowish green round-shaped inflorescence. Infructescence is spherical, about 2.5cm in diameter, with persistent thorn-like style, aggregating many capsules; capsule is with beak-like tip that will crack when ripe. Seeds are 1 or 2, narrowly oblong, flat, and with wings atop. Habitat is moist fertile soil.

Storax benefits
Sometimes storax can be an excellent ingredient in incense making recipes or an important aromatic fixative in the art of making perfumes. However, it plays a more important role as a medicine. When it comes to storax, something must to be mentioned is the Su He Xiang Wan (Liquid Styrax Pill), which comes from Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang (Formulas of the Peaceful Benevolent Dispensary). This is a famous resuscitation-inducing drug that warms its way to regain consciousness. In this formula storax and styrax benzoin are the most powerful two ingredients.

Stroke is a disease that is characterized as sudden collapse, coma, drooping mouth, language difficulty, and hemiplegia. Because of its high incidence, high mortality, high disability rate, high recurrence rate, and more complications, in medical community stroke, coronary heart disease, and cancer are viewed as the three major diseases that threaten human health. And this is a commonly used drug in the treatment of stroke since it has obvious curative effect and magical properties on stroke-induced confusion, lockjaw, hemiplegia, and other symptoms.

Modern pharmacology studies showed that Liquid Styrax Pill could significantly expand coronary artery, increase coronary blood flow and myocardial nutritional blood flow, slow down the heart rate, reduce myocardial oxygen consumption, and extend the hypoxia tolerance in animals. Besides, it still has significant anti-thrombotic and anti-platelet aggregation capabilities.