Cong Bai (Scallion or Green Onion)

Cong Bai (Scallion or Green Onion)

What Is Cong Bai

Cong Bai is the bulb near the root of Allium fistulosum, which is a perennial herb belonging to Liliaceae. It is a common flavor-enhancing vegetable in East Asia, which first appeared in <Shennong Ben Cao Jing> in the late Western Han Dynasty (around 100 BCE).

Allium fistulosum is commonly known as Welsh Onion, Bunching Onion, Green Onion, Spring Onion, or Scallion. They are often planted in plots with flat terrain, deep and loose soil, fertile soil, convenient irrigation and drainage, and no onion and garlic crops for more than 3 years.

This plant is native to China and has now been introduced into South Korea, Japan, Russia, Canada, the United States, and Eastern Europe. They are common food ingredients in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

In any season, people can gather Allium fistulosum. People gather all parts of them, remove their fibrous roots and leaves, peel off their outer membranes, and use them directly.

Cong Bai contains allicin, allylsulfide, cellulose, hemicellulose, protopectin, pectin, polysaccharides, vitaninB1, B2, C, A, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid, arachidic acid niacin, calcium oxalate, lipids, protein, macilage, and molysite.

According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the medicinal nature of Cong Bai is relatively warm, with a pungent taste. It has a certain therapeutic effect on pathological changes of lung and stomach meridians.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is often used to promote sweating and relieve exterior symptoms, dispel cold and activate yang, and treat mild wind-cold, deficiency of the kidney, spermatorrhea, dizziness, blurred vision, poisoning of medicine and food, urinary retention, whooping cough, corns, pinworm disease, measles, asthma, infantile Ascaris intestinal obstruction, chronic eczema, facial nerve palsy, neurodermatitis, diarrhea, acute skin purulent inflammation, urticaria.

Benefits

  • Anti-oxidation, increasing the activity of superoxide dismutase, reducing the level of malondialdehyde, and inhibiting lipid peroxidation.
  • Reducing the plasma cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein content of hyperlipidemia rats, and increasing the high-density lipoprotein content.
  • Reducing platelet activation, inhibiting platelet aggregation, preventing thrombosis and atherosclerosis.
  • Reducing alcohol-induced liver damage in mice and protecting the liver.
  • Relieving exterior symptoms, treating fever and mild aversion to cold caused by wind-cold.
  • Activating yang, treating facial redness, diarrhea, and abdominal pain caused by excessive yin refusing yang.
  • Dispelling cold, treating abdominal pain caused by yin-cold excess, urinary obstruction caused by qi stagnation due to congealing cold, or disturbance of the bladder in qi activity.
  • Eliminating stagnation to dredge collaterals, treating breast milk retention and breast tenderness caused by obstruction of breast tubules.
  • Removing toxins to subside swelling, treating skin ulcers and abscesses.
  • Its extract can promote the opening of coronary collateral circulation, dilate blood vessels, increase blood supply in ischemic areas, reduce the area of myocardial ischemic infarction and reduce the degree of damage.
  • Studies have found that its extract can reduce calcium ion overload after ischemia-reperfusion of myocardial cells, improve cardiac function after ischemia-reperfusion, and enhance cardiac contractility.
  • Its volatile oil has a certain inhibitory effect on Diphtheria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Shigella, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and some skin fungi.

Combinations

Side Effects

  • At present, there is no literature report that Cong Bai has toxic effects, and no data is showing that taking it at the prescribed dose can cause serious adverse reactions.

Precautions and Warnings

  • The dosage of Cong Bai should be controlled at 3-9g.
  • It can be made into decoctions, pills, or mashed for external use.
  • People who are allergic to scallion should not take it.
  • Pregnant women and breastfeeding women should take it under the guidance of a doctor.