Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis), of the Asparagaceae (formerly Liliaceae) family. An herbaceous, dioecious perennial with feathery, needle-like cladodes and tender emerging shoots (spears) from a spreading rootstock; native range: Europe, western Asia and North Africa, on coastal cliffs and river banks. Globally recognized as hilyun in Arabic, and garden asparagus, sparrow grass in English. The part used is young shoots and root (rhizome with rootlets). Succulent, faintly sweet, grassy young spears; the dried root fibrous, bitterish and mucilaginous.
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.
ASPARAGUS
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Asparagus
- Scientific name
- Asparagus officinalis L.
- Family
- Asparagaceae (formerly Liliaceae)
Form
- Part used
- young shoots and root (rhizome with rootlets)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- sweet · bitter
- Unani
- sweet · bitter
Temperature
- Western
- warm, moist (Galenic: 1st degree)
- Unani
- hot, moist (1st degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- kidneys · bladder · heart
- Unani
- kidneys · bladder · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- diuretic, mild aperient, cardiac tonic, demulcent
- Unani
- mudirr-e-bol (diuretic), mufatte-e-hasat (lithontriptic, breaks stone), muqawwi-e-asab (nerve tonic), muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- active kidney inflammation (nephritis); a history of gout or hyperuricaemia, given its purine content, despite its old use as a gout remedy
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.