Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Barley (Hordeum vulgare), of the Poaceae (Gramineae) family. Annual grass bearing a bearded spike of grain in long awns; native range: The Fertile Crescent of the Near East; among the first grains ever farmed. Globally recognized as yava in Sanskrit, jau in Hindi, mai ya (麦芽, malted sprout) in Chinese, shaeer (شعير) in Arabic, and pearl barley, malt (the sprouted grain) in English. The part used is the grain; and, in Chinese medicine, the malted sprout (mai ya). Plump, pale, starchy grains within a clinging husk; blandly sweet, and sweeter still when sprouted to malt, when a nutty maltiness rises.
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.
BARLEY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- barley
- Scientific name
- Hordeum vulgare L.
- Family
- Poaceae (Gramineae)
Form
- Part used
- the grain; and, in Chinese medicine, the malted sprout (mai ya)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (the malted sprout)
- Ayurveda
- dominant: sweet (madhura) · astringent (kashaya)
- Western
- sweet · bland
- Unani
- sweet · bland
Temperature
TCM: neutral (mai ya)
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta)
Western: cool
Unani: cold & dry (1st degree)
convergence: a mild, near-cool grain to all — TCM alone reads the malted sprout as strictly neutral
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Stomach · Liver (mai ya)
- Western
- digestion · stomach · kidneys
- Unani
- stomach · liver · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- the malted sprout strengthens the Spleen, promotes digestion of starchy and milky food, moves stagnant food, and (in large dose) stops lactation while easing constrained Liver qi
- Ayurveda
- medohara (fat-reducing), mutrala (diuretic), balya (strengthening), lekhana (scraping), a wholesome pathya food
- Western
- demulcent, nutritive, emollient, refrigerant, mildly diuretic
- Unani
- mufattih (deobstruent), mudir-e-baul (diuretic), murattib (moistening in decoction), a cooling convalescent food
Cautions
- Contraindications
- a nursing mother wishing to keep her milk should avoid large doses of the sprout; those with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity
- Toxicity
- essentially a food, non-toxic
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