Witnessed by: TCM · Western · Unani
Apricot (Prunus armeniaca), of the Rosaceae family. Small deciduous tree with early pink-white blossom and a downy, single-stoned fruit; native range: the mountains of Central Asia and northern China; carried west through Armenia (whence armeniaca) to Persia and the Mediterranean. Globally recognized as xing ren (杏仁, the kernel) in Chinese, mishmish (مشمش) in Arabic, and apricot kernel, bitter almond of the apricot in English. The part used is in the East the bitter kernel (xing ren); and the ripe fruit and its expressed oil. A soft, downy, orange fruit, sweet and a little tart; within the hard stone lies a flat kernel, oily and almond-like but bitter, that smells faintly of bitter almonds when crushed — the sign of its amygdalin.
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.
APRICOT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- apricot
- Scientific name
- Prunus armeniaca L.
- Family
- Rosaceae
Form
- Part used
- in the East the bitter kernel (xing ren); and the ripe fruit and its expressed oil
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter (the kernel, xing ren)
- Western
- bitter (the kernel) · sweet (the ripe fruit)
- Unani
- sweet · sour (the fruit)
Temperature
- TCM
- warm (slightly — the bitter kernel)
- Western
- the ripe fruit: cool (refrigerant) · the kernel: warm
- Unani
- the fresh fruit: cold (sard) · the kernel: temperate (inclining warm)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Large Intestine
- Western
- lungs · bowels
- Unani
- lungs · stomach · intestines
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- stops cough and calms wheezing, directs Lung qi downward, and moistens the Intestines to move a dry stool
- Western
- the kernel pectoral, antitussive and gently sedative; the fruit nutritive and mildly laxative; the kernel yields a bland fixed oil
- Unani
- the fruit mubarrid-murattib (cooling and moistening) and thirst-quenching; the kernel muhallil and mulaiyin (softening and loosening), and its oil emollient
Cautions
- Contraindications
- diarrhoea and loose stool; infants; and caution in pregnancy — the bitter kernel is a toxic drug given only in small measure
- Toxicity
- the bitter kernel contains amygdalin, which on digestion frees hydrocyanic (prussic) acid — overdose brings cyanide poisoning (dizziness, breathlessness, collapse); it must be processed and dosed small. The sweet fruit-flesh is a wholesome food.
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