Witnessed by: TCM
Deer antler glue (Cervus nippon), of the Cervidae (Mammalia) family. The deer, which grows and sheds a bony antler each year; the drug is the gelatin boiled out of that antler; native range: made where the deer are farmed — northeast China, Korea and the Russian Far East. Globally recognized as lu jiao jiao (鹿角膠) in Chinese, and deer antler glue, deer horn gelatin in English. The part used is the gelatin, boiled from the mature antler and set into cakes. Hard translucent brown-amber blocks or squares with a glassy fracture, faintly sweet and animal-smelling; softens and dissolves in hot liquid to a sticky syrup.
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.
DEER ANTLER GLUE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- deer antler glue
- Scientific name
- Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838 — the principal source; Cervus elaphus L. is co-official
- Family
- Cervidae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the gelatin, boiled from the mature antler and set into cakes
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘) · salty (咸)
Temperature
- TCM
- warm (溫)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- tonifies the Kidney yang and augments the essence and the blood, and stops bleeding
Cautions
- Contraindications
- yin deficiency with heat and blazing fire; weak Spleen and Stomach with damp, poor appetite or loose stool — the glue is cloying and hard to digest
- Toxicity
- low intrinsic toxicity
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.