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Perilla:According to the *Compendium of Materia Medica*, it is also known as Water Perilla, Red Perilla, Fragrant Perilla, Cinnamon Perilla, Cinnamon Perilla, Mountain Fish Perilla, and White Fish Perilla.

**Origin** It is an annual herb, mostly cultivated in gardens and nurseries. It is found almost everywhere. Both leaves and seeds are used medicinally.

**Properties and Flavors** It is pungent and warm in nature, and non-toxic.

**Main Uses** It is an essential medicine for releasing exterior pathogens, dispelling cold, and detoxifying. It functions to lower qi, resolve phlegm, induce sweating, and dispel cold. It is used to treat colds, chills and fever, cholera, shortness of breath, abdominal distension, and to calm the fetus. It is suitable for women before childbirth.

**Separate Records** It primarily lowers qi, eliminates chills and fever. Its offspring are especially beneficial.

**Daily Remedies** It tonifies the middle jiao and benefits qi. It treats abdominal distension, stops cholera and muscle cramps, improves appetite and digestion, stops beriberi, and clears the large and small intestines. **Su Song** It clears the heart meridian and benefits the spleen and stomach. It is especially effective when boiled and drunk. Adding orange peel is suitable.

[Su Gong] Slightly relieves qi stagnation. Suitable for those with deficiency. Can stabilize pregnancy.

[Meng Xian] Removes cold and heat. Treats all kinds of coldness.

[Compendium of Materia Medica] Relieves muscle tension and releases exterior pathogens. Disperses wind and cold. Regulates qi and relieves chest congestion. Eliminates phlegm and benefits the lungs. Harmonizes blood. Warms the middle jiao. Relieves pain and asthma. Stabilizes pregnancy. Detoxifies fish and crab poisoning.

[Editor's Experience] Perilla has a pungent taste and enters qi. Its purple color enters blood. Therefore, when combined with dried tangerine peel and cardamom, it regulates qi and stabilizes pregnancy. When combined with agastache and lindera, it warms the middle jiao and relieves pain. When combined with cyperus and ephedra, it induces sweating and relieves muscle tension. When combined with chuanxiong and angelica, it harmonizes and disperses blood stasis. When combined with papaya and magnolia bark, it resolves dampness and relieves summer heat. It also treats cholera and beriberi. When combined with platycodon and immature bitter orange, it benefits the diaphragm and relieves chest congestion. When combined with apricot kernel and radish seed, it eliminates phlegm and relieves asthma. Its seeds and leaves can detoxify fish and crab poisoning.

【Appendix】【Perilla Seed】Treats shortness of breath, cough, and coldness. Also treats dampness in the waist and legs. Regulates the middle burner and stops cholera. Eliminates vomiting from the five diaphragms. Relieves nausea, eliminates phlegm, stops cough, and promotes urination and defecation. Treats lung qi stagnation and shortness of breath. In recent times, it is often used to lower qi and resolve phlegm, stop cough, and calm asthma. The seeds contain oil, thus they can lubricate the intestines. However, its ability to disperse external pathogens is slightly inferior to that of the leaves.

【Perilla Leaf】Treats dispersion. Meng Shuo said: Perilla seeds and leaves have the same effect. For dispersing wind-qi, leaves are suitable. For clearing and benefiting the upper and lower body, seeds are suitable. In recent times, it is often used to disperse wind-cold. However, its ability to resolve phlegm is not as good as that of the seeds.

【Perilla Stem】Treats regulating qi and dispersing external pathogens. Wang Ang said: Leaves induce sweating and disperse cold. Stems regulate qi and calm the fetus. Seeds open up stagnation, lower qi, eliminate phlegm, and calm asthma. In recent times, it is often used to regulate qi and stop vomiting, thus it can calm the fetus. However, its ability to disperse external pathogens is not as good as that of the leaves. Its ability to resolve phlegm is also not as good as that of the seeds.

Perillaalso known as red perilla, perilla seed, or white perilla, is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family. It has the functions of relieving exterior syndromes and dispelling cold, regulating qi and harmonizing the middle jiao, relieving cough and asthma, benefiting the diaphragm and widening the intestines, and detoxifying (possessing expectorant, lung-moistening, pain-relieving, and detoxifying properties).

Traditional Chinese medicine, in its *Compendium of Materia Medica*, states that perilla has the functions of "dispelling cold qi, clearing lung qi, widening the middle jiao qi, calming the fetus qi, lowering various qi, and resolving phlegm qi." Qi has the functions of "generating, circulating, and controlling" blood, especially its effect on blood circulation.

Modern nutrition science has discovered that the main components of perilla oil are: α-linolenic acid, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, vitamin E, and eighteen kinds of amino acids and various trace elements. It is particularly rich in essential fatty acids. Perilla oil contains 56%–65% α-linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid that can be converted into the metabolically essential bioactive factors DHA and EPA (plant brain gold) in the human body, possessing significant health benefits and medicinal effects.