Herb
Kelp (Kun bu)
昆布kun bu
1 sourceThallus Laminariae seu Eckloniae
Softens hardness and disperses goiter and nodules, and disinhibits water to reduce swelling.
Source
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu)卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布·主治（《别录》）
References
- functions_en self-translated from 本草纲目 traditional_functions (public domain; the Chinese tf carries verbatim excerpt_hash citations). No modern work consulted.
- WHO IST-TCM terminology-aligned for the English rendering.
- public pharmacopoeia & botanical facts (public-domain reference facts; no proprietary modern source).
Traditional functions
Classical source text (Chinese) — English summary above.
传统中医记载：十二种水肿，瘿瘤聚结气，瘘疮（《别录》）；破积聚（孙思邈）；利水道，去面肿，治恶疮鼠瘘（甄权）。
Nature, flavor & meridians
Nature & flavor: 咸，寒，滑，无毒（甄权谓温、有小毒）。
Citations
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布（《别录》中品）Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its classification.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布·释名Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its alternate names.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布·气味Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its nature & flavor.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布·主治（《别录》）Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its traditional functions.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布·主治（甄权）Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its traditional functions.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷十九·草部·水草类·昆布·发明（诜·久服瘦人）Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its safety notes.