What it is:
This herb is theripe seeds of Raphanus sativus L. (family Cruciferae) which is produced in allparts of China. It is collected in summer, dried in sunlight, and used unprepared or stir-baked.

Property:
Pungent and sweet in flavour, neutral in property, acting on the spleen, stomach and lung channels.

Effects:
Improving digestion to re-move food retention, lowering the adverse flow of qi and re-solving phlegm.

Used for:
1. Abdominal dis-tension, eructation with fetid odour andacid regurgitation due to retention ofindigested food andstagnation of qi, or abdominal pain, dia-rrhea with tenesmus, etc. It is often used with hawthorn fruit,medicated leaven and tangerine peel, as in Lenitive Pill (Baohe Wan).

2. Retention ofexcessive phlegmand saliva shown ascough and dyspnea. It is often used with white mustard seed and perilla seed, as in Decoction of Three Kinds of Seeds for the Aged (SanziYangqin Tang).

Dosage andadministration: 3-9g,decocted in waterfor an oral dose.

Precautions:
Radish seed tends to cause consumption of qi, and therefore itshould not be usedin cases of defi-ciency of qi with-out retention of food and accumulation of phlegm.