Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Radish (Raphanus sativus), of the Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) family. Annual or biennial herb with a swollen pungent taproot and pale four-petalled flowers; native range: of ancient cultivated origin around the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia; grown worldwide. Globally recognized as mulaka in Sanskrit, mooli in Hindi, lai fu; seed = lai fu zi (莱菔子) in Chinese, fujl (فجل) in Arabic, and radish, garden radish; the ripe seed = radish seed in English. The part used is the root and the ripe seed (lai fu zi); the leaves eaten as a pot-herb. A crisp white-to-scarlet root, hot and biting when raw, sweetening with cooking; the small reddish-brown seeds pungent, oily and sharp.
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.
RADISH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Radish
- Scientific name
- Raphanus sativus L.
- Family
- Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)
Form
- Part used
- the root and the ripe seed (lai fu zi); the leaves eaten as a pot-herb
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent · sweet
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter
- Western
- pungent · acrid
- Unani
- pungent · acrid
Temperature
- TCM
- neutral
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna — the mature root; the tender root milder)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot (& dry, 3rd degree — the seed; the tender root gentler)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Stomach · Lung
- Western
- digestion · lungs · liver
- Unani
- stomach · liver · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- descends qi and unblocks (for cough and wheezing with phlegm), reduces food stagnation and distension, and transforms phlegm
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles and completes digestion), chhedana (cuts phlegm) and bhedana (opens the bowels), mutrala (diuretic); used in arsha (piles) and svasa-kasa
- Western
- a digestive stimulant, cholagogue and expectorant, antiscorbutic and litholytic — dissolving urinary gravel and gallstones
- Unani
- kaasir-e-riyah (carminative), mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), mufattit-e-hasat (lithontriptic) and jali; expels stones, wind and phlegm
Cautions
- Contraindications
- qi deficiency without stagnation; classically the seed antagonises ginseng (ren shen), blunting its tonifying action
- Toxicity
- food-safe; excess seed can weaken qi and loosen the stool, and the raw mature root aggravates acidity and pitta heat
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