- Chinese Name Nv Zhen Zi 女贞子
- Latin Name Ligustrum lucidum Ait.
- Other Names Fructus Ligustri Lucidi, Privet Fruit, Glossy Privet Berry, Ligustrum seed, Chinese Privet
- Used Part Fruit
- Specification Powdered Extract
Ligustrum Fruit Extract Powder
Description
Nu Zhen Zi – Ligustrum Fruit – Privet fruit – “Female Chastity Seed”
Traditional Use
Ligustrum Fruit is one of the oldest Chinese herbal remedies, used for over 2,000 years, at least from the time of the writing of the Divine Husbandman’s Classic of the Materia Medica in 190 BCE. It has cooling properties that are known to help the yin, and augment weakness in the liver and kidneys. Known in Chinese as the “female chastity seed,” Ligustrum Fruit was an ancient remedy for premature graying of the hair, ringing in the ear, spots before the eyes, and lower back pain, all of which were associated with excessive sexual activity.
In TCM theory, the liver opens into the eyes while the kidneys open into the ears and manifest in the hair. When there are yin deficiencies in both the liver and kidneys, the eyes and hair lack nourishment resulting in symptoms like blurred and dark vision, decreased visual acuity and early whitening of the hair. Fructus Ligustri Lucidi can invigorate and slowly nourish both liver and kidney yin making these symptoms generally associated with aging much milder.
Modern research has also found that the fatty acids in Ligustrum Fruit are especially helpful for protecting the body from contamination with heavy metals, notably arsenic and cadmium.
Chemical Constituents
Ligustrum fruit contains nuzhenide, olenropein, -hydroxy-beta-phenylethyl-beta-dglucoside, oleanolic acid, manitol, betulin, lupeol, salidroside, oleic acid, linolenic acid, palmitic acid and other fatty acids. The skin of Ligustrum fruit contains oleanolic, acetyl oleanolic acid and ursolic acids. The seed contains 14.9% lipids and the lipids contains 19.5% palmitic and stearic acids as well as 80.5% oleic and linolenic acids. Its flower bud contains manitol, rutin, luteolin-7-beta-D-glucoside, apigenin-7-beta-D-glucoside, apigenin-7-beta-D-glucoside and quercetin. The leaf contains oleanolic glycoside, 4-hydroxy-beta-phenylethyl-beta-d glucoside and ligstroside. The volatile organic content of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi contains large amounts of ester, alcohol, ether, thioketone and hydrocarbon and small amounts of amine and aldehyde.
