Witnessed by: TCM
Abalone flesh, of the Haliotidae (Gastropoda) family. A single-shelled marine gastropod clinging to rock by one great muscular foot, its ear-shaped shell pierced by a row of respiratory holes; native range: coastal rocky shallows of China, Korea and Japan; gathered and farmed along the temperate east-Asian seaboard. Globally recognized as bao yu (鮑魚) in Chinese, and abalone, abalone flesh, ormer in English. The part used is the muscular foot (the flesh), fresh or dried. The dried flesh a dense amber-brown disc, horn-hard until soaked, then springy and translucent; the taste sweet and markedly of the sea, the smell clean and briny.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
ABALONE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- abalone flesh
- Family
- Haliotidae (Gastropoda)
Form
- Part used
- the muscular foot (the flesh), fresh or dried
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘) · salty (咸)
Temperature
- TCM
- neutral (平)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- nourishes yin and enriches the liver and kidney, nourishes the blood and brightens the eyes, and clears deficiency heat
Cautions
- Contraindications
- spleen deficiency with dampness and loose stool; phlegm-damp accumulation; a rich cloying food, ill-suited to a weak digestion or an unresolved exterior pattern
- Toxicity
- a food substance, non-toxic in ordinary use; shellfish allergy is the practical caution
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