Witnessed by: TCM

Wild soybean (Glycine soja), of the Fabaceae family. Slender twining annual vine with trifoliate leaves, brown hairs and small pods, quite unlike the stout cultivated bean; native range: riverbanks, field margins and waste ground across China, Korea, Japan and the Russian Far East; the wild progenitor of the cultivated soybean. Globally recognized as xiao hei dou (小黑豆) · lu dou (穞豆) · lu dou yi (穞豆衣, the seed coat) in Chinese, and wild soybean, small black soybean in English. The part used is seed; the seed coat used separately. Small hard black beans, faintly bean-like in smell, the taste plainly sweet with an earthy finish.

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.

WILD SOYBEAN

IDENTITY

Name

Common: wild soybean
Scientific name: Glycine soja Siebold & Zucc.
Family: Fabaceae

Form

Part used: seed; the seed coat used separately

PROPERTIES

Nature

Taste

how the plant declares itself on the tongue

TCM: sweet

Temperature

TCM: neutral

Affinity

where in the body it travels

Organs / channels

TCM: Liver · Kidney

PRACTICE

Virtue

Actions

TCM: nourishes yin and the blood, clears heat, extinguishes internal wind, tonifies the Kidney and the Liver, promotes urination and reduces swelling, and resolves toxicity

Cautions

Contraindications: Spleen deficiency with loose stools and a cold, damp middle, where the heavy bean is hard to move
Toxicity: low; the bean must be well cooked, and large amounts bring fullness and flatulence

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