TCM Vitex Trifolia has significant antihypertensive effect

What's Vitex Trifolia (Man Jing Zi)?
Traditionally the medicinal part of vitex is the fruit. Therefore, medicinally it often refers to the dried ripe fruits of Vitex trifolia L. var. simplicifolia Cham. or Vitex trifolia L. Both of them are members in the family Verbenaceae. And other names of this herb include Vitex Fruit Seed, Fructus Viticis, Vitex Fruit, etc. In China the former species is mainly produced in Shandong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian while the latter mainly comes from Guangdong and Guangxi. It is normally collected in fall when the fruits become mature enough. Before used raw or fried, it still needs to go through the process of removing impurities and drying in the sun.

Vitex trifolia plants are deciduous shrub or small tree, which is about 3 meters in height and with aroma. Young shoots are square and densely pubescent. Old branches turn round and all the hairs gradually fall off. Single leaf is with petiole that is 5 to 18cm in length; leaf blade is ovate or obovate, 2.5 to 5cm long, and 1.5 to 3cm wide. Panicle is acrogenous and 2 to 12cm long; calyx looks like a bell; corolla is lilac and 5-lobed; stamens are 4; ovary is spherical and with dense glandular dots. Berry is spherical and 5 to 7mm in diameter. Most of the berry is wrapped by the enlarged persistent calyx. Its flowering time is in July and fruit time is in September. Habitats include seaside, beach, lakeside, etc.

Vitex trifolia health benefits
As mentioned previously, its medicinal uses were discovered thousands of years ago in China, where traditionally uses it to cure a range of ailments. Today more health benefits about it are being found. For instance, it has significant antihypertensive effect, which is believed to relate to the parasympathetic nervous system. Experimental results show that its water extract can lower the blood pressure in rabbits. And this effect could be resisted by atropine and chlorisondamine, enhanced by physostigmine, and slightly strengthened by betanidine. However, it is not affected by propranolol or cyproheptadine. Though hypertension is not a concept in TCM, it is never a problem for ancient people to come up with many amazing inventions to treat this condition. And pillow filled with vitex fruit seeds is one of them. More than that, pillow like that can help feel refreshed and full of energy, cure stiff neck, and relieved muscular soreness.