Pinellia ternata

The plant spreads by rhizomes, and there are also small bulblets (also known as bulbils) at the base of each leaf. Flowers are borne in spring. ==Traditional medicine==

This plant is toxic in raw form and must be processed. Pinellia ternata is known as the herb effective in removing phlegm-dampness in traditional Chinese medicine. One study found that high doses of Pinellia extract effects thermogenesis and fatty acid oxidation in Zucker rats. == Phytochemicals ==

Pinellia ternata contains a very wide variety of phytochemicals. The alkaloids found in its rhizomes include free nucleosides (guanosine, thymidine, adenine), N-benzylisomethylamine, cycloproline, cyclo(proline-leucine), cyclo(proline-valine), choline, L-ephedrine, inosine, trigonelline, and cytidine. Ephedrine content • A 1996 Chinese article reports that processing method affects ephedrine levels; its native-language abstract reports a ephedrine content of 0.00344% (= 34.4 μg/g). • One 2020 Chinese study extracted 5.50 μg/g of ephedrine from tubers through multiphase extraction. • One 2021 Japanese study reports no ephedrine found in all 55 samples used (LC-TOF/MS, detection limit 0.5 ppb). ==Gallery==