The Dragon Boat Festival has passed, but the story of "Ai" continues~

Editor’s Note:

With the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival, the "new style" of mugwort bouquets has become popular. On online shopping platforms, there are many mugwort door hangings and mugwort bouquets with different meanings, with prices ranging from 40 to 80 yuan, and hundreds of them are sold in one day. Some folklorists pointed out that the "new style" of mugwort bouquets is the young people's emphasis on "ritual consumption". While falling in love with mugwort bouquets and mugwort door hangings, young people are also falling in love with the customs and culture of the Dragon Boat Festival again, and using their own aesthetics and methods to give this traditional festival a new sense of ritual.

So, what kind of plant is mugwort? Where does its unique smell come from? And where is it often used?

"The soft grass and flat sedge are new after the rain, and the light sand on the road is dust-free. When will I finish farming?

The sun is warm and the mulberry and hemp are shining like water, the wind is blowing and the wormwood smells like incense. The envoy is one of them.

——"Huanxisha Su Shi"

Unconsciously, the fields have become full of vitality. When I work from home, I can't help but miss the warm wind in the wild with the fragrance of mugwort at this time of year in previous years. The fresh smell is really refreshing. Speaking of mugwort, our lives have many intersections with it. In addition to encounters in the wild, there are also green balls and glutinous rice cakes made with mugwort around the Qingming Festival, the bunch of mugwort hung during the Dragon Boat Festival, and even the mysterious materials added when making ink.

What kind of plant is mugwort that can penetrate into every aspect of human life and make humans love it endlessly?

Artemisia argyi.

Image source: sophiawoodsinstitute.com

Part 1

Ai's family is very large and they all look alike.

Artemisia argyi, also known as mugwort (Er Ya, Compendium of Materia Medica), is a perennial herb of the genus Artemisia in the Asteraceae family. The whole plant has a strong aroma.

The main roots of mugwort are obviously more numerous than the lateral roots, and there are often rhizomes and nutrient branches lying underground in a clustered state. A careful observation shows that the front and back of its stems, branches, and leaves are all covered with a layer of gray spider-like soft hairs. Compared with its fragrance, people often ignore its purple-red flowers that bloom between July and October.

Artemisia is widely distributed in nature, not only throughout China, but also in Russia, Mongolia, North Korea, Japan and other places[1]. It should be noted that there are many plants of the same genus in the wild that look very similar. People often confuse the four common plants Artemisia argyi, Artemisia verlotiorum, Artemisia lavandulaefolia and Artemisia absinthium, and therefore collectively refer to them as "artemisia".

Artemisia argyi.

Artemisia verlotiorum Image source: iflora

Artemisia absinthium Image source: iflora

Although these plants are very similar, they can usually be distinguished by the fuzz on their leaves, stems, and the color of their flowers .

Artemisia australis is commonly known as "purple wormwood". Its stem is purple, which is the easiest way to distinguish it from the other three varieties with green stems. The front of the leaves of Artemisia australis is relatively smooth and dark green without fuzz, while the front and back of the leaves of Artemisia absinthium have dense fuzz, while the fuzz on the front of the leaves of Artemisia argyi and Artemisia argyi are relatively sparse, and the back of the leaves are extremely dense. The base of the flowers of Artemisia australis is purple-red, the flowers of Artemisia argyi are purple-red, the flowers of Artemisia argyi are reddish-brown, and the flowers of Artemisia absinthium are yellow spherical.

Artemisia argyi leaf front and back and inflorescence

Image source: PPBC Chinese Plant Image Library

Artemisia verlotiorum - front and back of leaves and inflorescence

Image credit: Andrea Moro

Artemisia lavandulaefolia leaf front and back and inflorescence

Image source: Shanghai Flora & PPBC Chinese Plant Image Library

Artemisia absinthium leaves and inflorescence Image source: Bing

Part 2

Where does the special smell of mugwort come from?

Mugwort has a high status in traditional Chinese culture and can be called the king of herbs. As a member of the Artemisia family, it has a very strong vitality and can be found everywhere, so it is relatively easy to get as a food ingredient. It has many connections with Chinese culture. There has been a custom of hanging mugwort on the Dragon Boat Festival since ancient times, and some places also add mugwort to traditional pastries such as Qingtuan or glutinous rice cakes to make Qingtuan and mugwort cakes.

Fresh mugwort leaves for food preparation

Youth League

Due to its unique taste, mugwort is also used in a variety of dishes and processed products, such as mugwort cakes, mugwort tea, mugwort bread, fried mugwort leaves, etc., all of which taste good.

Mugwort cakes

Fried mugwort leaves, drain the washed mugwort leaves, coat them with flour paste and fry them

So, where does the unique smell of mugwort come from? One of the sources of mugwort’s fragrance is eucalyptol , also known as eucalyptol, which is often seen in the ingredient list of mugwort essential oil products.

Another important source of aroma is thujone . Speaking of thujone, it is important to note that fresh wormwood contains a certain amount of thujone, which is another major source of wormwood aroma. Thujone, as a monoterpene ketone, is widely found in thujone and mugwort plants. Low doses of thujone can promote the regeneration of cell tissues such as nerve cells and liver cells. However, everything has its limits. Excessive doses are very dangerous. When the intake is higher than 45 mg, it will seriously affect liver function and even cause mental disorders and convulsions. Eating too much can easily cause certain toxic effects on the liver, which may be more serious for some people with sensitive constitutions [4]. Especially in China, wormwood used to make food is usually collected from the wild, so more attention should be paid to its dosage and cooking methods.

In addition to these ingredients, mugwort is also rich in beta-carotene, with 6,000 g per 100 g of edible part, which is higher than the content of cooked spinach[3]. Its vitamin K content is also relatively high among vegetables, with 380 g of vitamin K per 100 g of edible part[3]. Vitamin K is also known as the "hemostatic vitamin" and plays an important role as a coenzyme in the synthesis of proteins that have the function of coagulating blood in the body. In addition, it helps the deposition of calcium in human bones, helping to build strong bones and teeth.

In addition, mugwort is rich in dietary fiber, especially insoluble dietary fiber, which contains 6.9g per 100g of edible parts[3]. As the name suggests, insoluble dietary fiber is food fiber that is insoluble in water. It absorbs water and swells when passing through the stomach and intestines, which can activate intestinal activity and improve bowel movements.

Finally, compared with the chlorophyll contained in other plants, the chlorophyll contained in mugwort has a stronger effect. It is more effective in preventing and improving anemia, unblocking blood vessels and promoting blood flow, reducing cholesterol levels in the body, removing harmful substances from the body, and having a deodorizing and sterilizing effect [3].

Part 3

Even the seal has its shadow

In addition to being a traditional food, mugwort can also be used in the making of traditional ink. In Phoenix TV's "Cultural Grand View Garden", it was mentioned that Lihuazhai's Eight Treasures Ink uses mugwort hair over ten centimeters long to make ink.

Ink pad is known as the "fifth treasure" of the study. In addition to its bright colors and fragrant smell, good traditional ink pad also has many characteristics such as anti-mildew, anti-freeze, anti-drying, and anti-fading. Don't underestimate this small box of ink pad. When you pursue "skills" to the extreme, you will reach the realm of "art".

It was purely coincidental that the ink was first made with moxa. As a national intangible cultural heritage, Babao ink is said to have been invented by Wei Changan of Yuanfeng Pharmacy in the 12th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, that is, in 1673. Yuanfeng Pharmacy first made a plaster for treating knife wounds and burns, which was made of a variety of precious Chinese medicinal materials. Wei Changan was good at painting and calligraphy in private. During one painting, the ink dried and could not be used, so he casually used the same red Babao plaster to stamp a few seals on the painting, and unexpectedly found that the Babao plaster was more colorful than the traditional honey-boiled cinnabar ink. Later, he improved the method of making ink, added moxa and cinnabar to it, and continuously improved it to make Babao ink.

The use of moxa has greatly improved the elasticity and moisturizing properties of traditional ink, making it easier for pigments to adhere to the uneven surface of the seal text, and improving defects such as uneven color distribution and missing color in the seal text when using the seal.

On the other hand, adding moxa to the ink paste gives the ink paste fragrant smells such as eucalyptol and thujone. At the same time, it also has antibacterial effects, and working together with other substances in the ink paste can achieve the effect of anti-corrosion and anti-mildew.

Lihuazhai's Eight Treasures Ink Pad

Image source: Phoenix TV's "Cultural Grand View Garden"

Finally, regarding the moxa fumigation and moxibustion that everyone has often heard of, the pharmacological research of most Chinese herbal medicines is still in the early stages, and the effects of the chemical substances they contain on the body are not clear, so it is not recommended that you rashly use moxa fumigation and moxibustion at home.

References:

[1] Flora of China Editorial Committee, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Flora of China, Volume 74, Asteraceae[J]. 1990.

[2] Liu Wei, Liu Ping, Liu Weizhi, et al. Research overview of Qi Ai [J]. Chinese Pharmacist, 2011, 14(10): 1531-1533.

[3] Yasui Akemi. Summary of the Japanese Food Composition Standard Table 2015 Edition (Seventh Revision)[J]. 2016.

[4] MUTO T, WATANABE T, OKAMURA M, et al. THIRTEEN-WEEK REPEATED DOSE TOXICITY STUDY OF WORMWOOD (ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM) EXTRACT IN RATS.[J]. Journal of Toxicological Sciences, 2003,28(5): 471-478.

[5] Wen Fuji, Yu Qingshan, Yan Minxie. A Study on the Chemical Composition of Essential Oil of Artemisia Argyis%[J]. Flavor and Fragrance Cosmetics, 2007,000(003): 21-23.

[6] Cao Ling, Yu Dan, Cui Lei, et al. Research progress on chemical composition, pharmacological effects and product development of Artemisia argyi[J]. Drug Evaluation Research, 2018, v.41(5): 216-221.

[7] Huang Meirong. Mugwort essential oil bath salt: 2014.03.26.

[8] Li Xiaoting, Yao Chenzhi, Gong Peilong. Evaluation on antibacterial effect of five antibacterial soaps[J]. Chinese Journal of Disinfection, 2013, 030(8): 722-723, 726.

[9] Xia Dongbo. Zhangzhou “Eight Treasures Ink Pad” and Chinese Medicine[J]. Family Chinese Medicine, 2002(4): 10.

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Author: Yuelang

Producer: China Science Expo

This article only represents the author's views and does not represent the position of China Science Expo

This article was first published in China Science Expo (kepubolan)