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Fig
Ficus carica L.
WU HUA GUO
The fig, wu hua guo (flowerless
fruit) is also called mi guo (honey fruit) and nai jiang guo (milk fruit).
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 10 meters. Its male and
female flowers are concealed in such a way that they are not readily
visible, hence the name 'flowerless fruit'.
The fruit, shaped like an onion, is made up of the various parts of the
flowers and their covering. It is smooth and yellow-purple to red-purple in
color. When the fruit is quite ripe its thick, juicy flesh is soft,
fragrant and sweet in flavor. It ripens throughout summer and autumn.
This fruit has a sweet taste and is neutral in nature. It contains no
poison.
The fruit contains glucose, fructose, sucrose, citric acid, malic acid, etc.
The milky juice of the fruit contains enzymes, steroids, protein, etc. The
fruit invigorates the spleen, moistens the bowels and is nourishing.
APPLICATIONS
1. INDIGESTION; LOSS OF APPETITE. Take 1-2 pieces of fresh fruit and eat
them, both in the morning and in the evening.
2. CONSTIPATION ASSOCIATED WITH OLD AGE. Eat 1-2 pieces of fruit every
evening before going to bed.
3. COUGH ASSOCIATED WITH A DEFICIENCY OF YIN; DRY COUGH WITH NO PHLEGM; SORE
THROAT. Take 1-2 pieces of fresh fruit and 2 candied Chinese dates. Steam the fruit until they turn to pulp and eat once or twice a day.
4. WEAKNESS AFTER ILLNESS; AS AN
AID IN THE TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS AND HEPATITIS. Take one (Chinese) soup
spoon of fig tonic in the morning and again in the evening,
daily.
5. BREASTS, LACK OF MILK AFTER CHILDBIRTH. Take 1-3 fresh fruits or 30 grams
of dry fruit, 60 grams of lean pork and 2 red Chinese dates.
Add water, steam and pulp, then eat. Do this daily.
6. RHEUMATISM; PAINS IN MUSCLES AND JOINTS (caused by the damp, or what the
Chinese call 'wind-wetness evil'). Take 60 grams of fresh fruit, 60 grams of
pork or one egg, 15 grams of rice wine*
and 50 grams of water. Simmer together until cooked then eat once a day.
(*
Japanese sake can be used. Ed.)
7. DIARRHOEA, CHRONIC.- Take 30 grams of dried fruit and fry until fragrant.
Add 9 grams of sliced ginger that has been baked into charcoal. Steam in
water and take three times a day.
8. FESTERING SORES AND BOILS; WOUNDS THAT DO NOT CLOSE UP. Take some dried
fruit and roast it until it becomes like charcoal. Grind it into a powder,
apply to the affected place and cover with a bandage.
9. HAEMORRHOIDS, BLEEDING AND PAINFUL. Eat 2 unripe fresh fruits each
morning and two in the evening.
10. WARTS; TINEA. Crush several unripe fresh fruit and squeeze to obtain the
juice. Rub this on the affected part each day.
PREPARATION
1. DRIED FRUIT. Take fruit that is not fully ripe and cut into 2-4 slices.
Soak these in hot boiled water for a short while, then dry in the sun or by
the fire.
2. FIG TONIC. Take 1000 grams of dried fruit and simmer in water until it is
in a paste like condition. Add 750 grams of sugar, stir until it is
dissolved then remove from the heat. The tonic can then be stored for future
use.
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