Dong Kui Zi
StarMalva verticillata L.
Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Digestion
- Bowel health
- Urinary & fluids
- Menstrual & women's health
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
☯ TCM Properties
Promotes Urination and Relieves Stranguria; Moistens the Intestines and Unblocks the Bowels; Promotes Lactation; Reduces Swelling
Traditional Chinese Uses
Dong Kui Zi (mallow seed, malva seed) is a cool, sweet herb used in Chinese medicine to promote urination and clear Damp-Heat from the Bladder, support lactation in postpartum women, and moisten the Intestines to relieve constipation from dryness. Its triple action on the urinary, lactation, and digestive systems reflects its broad mucilaginous and moistening properties. As a gentle, food-grade herb, it is appropriate for everyday use in mild Damp-Heat urinary conditions and insufficient lactation.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Malva verticillata is an annual or short-lived perennial herb in the Malvaceae family native to temperate Eurasia and widely grown in East Asia as both a leafy vegetable and a medicinal seed source. Erect or ascending stems reach 60-200 cm tall, slightly hairy and ridged, bearing alternate, long-petioled, rounded leaves 5-12 cm wide with 5-7 shallow rounded lobes, crenate margins, and palmate venation. Small pale pink to white five-petalled flowers about 5-8 mm across are crowded in dense axillary clusters along the upper stem, each subtended by linear bracteoles. The schizocarp fruit (mericarp) characteristic of mallows splits at maturity into about 10-12 wedge-shaped one-seeded segments arranged in a flat disk like a tiny wheel of cheese; these small, kidney-shaped, light brown seeds are the Dong Kui Zi of Chinese medicine.
Active Constituents
MVS-I neutral polysaccharide
Neutral polysaccharide (seed mucilage)Concentration: The major neutral polysaccharide of the seed
The principal mucilage polysaccharide of Dong Kui Zi and the chemical basis of its classical lubricating action on the bowel and urinary tract. It potentiates the reticuloendothelial system in laboratory assay.
MVS-VI acidic polysaccharide
Acidic (pectic) polysaccharideConcentration: The major acidic polysaccharide of the seed
Carries the seed's immunological activity; its Smith-degradation products retain anti-complementary activity, indicating the active region lies in the polysaccharide backbone rather than in the side chains.
Pectic peptidoglycan and oligosaccharides
Peptidoglycan-linked pectic polysaccharidesConcentration: Characterised as a distinct major fraction of the seed
A further mucilage fraction of the seed; together with MVS-I and MVS-VI it accounts for the slippery, demulcent character of the decoction.
beta-Sitosterol
PhytosterolConcentration: The major AMPK-activating compound of the n-hexane fraction of the seed ethanol extract
Identified by NMR and GC-MS as the compound responsible for the seed extract's activation of AMP-activated protein kinase and its increase of glucose uptake in L6 myotubes; the effect is abolished by the AMPK inhibitor Compound C.
Flavan-3-ols, flavonoids and fatty acids
Mixed phenolics and fatty acidsConcentration: Nineteen compounds identified in the species by UPLC-Q-TOF-MSE; total phenolic content of the seed is 40.85 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of extract, against 110.32 in the leaf and 97.98 in the stem
The seed is markedly the least phenolic-rich part of the plant, so leaf-derived antioxidant data should not be read across to the drug. Seed extract is nonetheless the best of the three parts at scavenging DPPH radicals.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Abutilon theophrasti seed (Qing Ma Zi, Abutili Semen) supplied as Dong Kui Zi
Dong Kui Zi (Malvae Semen, the seed of Malva verticillata) is persistently confused with Qing Ma Zi (Abutili Semen, the seed of Abutilon theophrasti Medik.). The 1985 Chinese Pharmacopoeia recorded Malvae Semen as a synonym of Abutili Semen, and market surveys have found that the great majority of commercial Dong Kui Zi is in fact Abutilon theophrasti; a 1992 survey identified 39 samples labelled Malvae Semen from across China that proved to be Abutili Semen, and the substitution has been traced back to at least the late nineteenth century. Both genera are Malvaceae, but the classical materia medica lists them as separate drugs with different actions, and the polysaccharide and sterol pharmacology summarised in this monograph was measured on Malva verticillata seed, not on Abutilon. Authentic Malva verticillata seed is small, kidney-shaped and yellowish-brown with fine concentric wrinkles; Abutilon theophrasti seed is larger and more triangular.
Clinical note: Assume commercial Dong Kui Zi is Abutilon theophrasti unless the supplier certifies the binomial and the seed morphology matches. Where the prescription depends on the mucilaginous, lubricating and galactagogue action of Malva, source and inspect the material specifically; do not accept pinyin labelling alone.
Concurrently swallowed oral medication
The seed is dominated by high-molecular-weight mucilage polysaccharides (MVS-I, MVS-VI and a pectic peptidoglycan), the same class of constituent that underlies the herb's traditional bowel-lubricating and stranguria-relieving use. Bulk-forming mucilages as a class can slow gastric emptying and bind co-administered drugs in the gut lumen. No absorption study has been done with this seed specifically, so the concern is extrapolated from the chemistry rather than demonstrated.
Clinical note: Separate Dong Kui Zi from narrow-therapeutic-index oral drugs (levothyroxine, digoxin, lithium, warfarin) by at least two hours, as you would for any mucilaginous seed.
Metformin, insulin and other antidiabetic agents
An n-hexane fraction of the seed ethanol extract activated AMP-activated protein kinase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase and raised glucose uptake 2.3-fold in L6 myotubes at 150 micrograms per millilitre, and 40 mg/kg orally for four weeks lowered non-fasting and fasting blood glucose in db/db mice by 17.1 and 23.3 percent. AMPK is metformin's principal target, so the mechanisms converge. This was a lipophilic fraction at a defined dose in mice, not the traditional water decoction, and no human data exist.
Clinical note: Not a reason to withhold the herb, but check glucose if a diabetic patient takes it regularly, and note that the animal finding used a hexane fraction rather than the decoction a patient will actually drink.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 3–9 g | Daily | — | — | Standard oral dose per Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 146–150. Exact wording: Normally, 3–9 g is decocted with water as an oral |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 6 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
6
2 verified · 4 unverified
Show 6 studies
- Antidiabetic Activities of Extract from Malva verticillata Seed via the Activation of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase
- A water extract of Malva verticillata seeds suppresses osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption stimulated by RANK ligand
- Chemical profiling of Malva verticillata L. by UPLC-Q-TOF-MSE and their antioxidant activity in vitro
- Constituents of the seed of Malva verticillata. VI. Characterization and immunological activities of a novel acidic polysaccharide.
- Constituents of the Seed of Malva verticillata. VII. Structural Features and Reticuloendothelial System-Potentiating Activity of MVS-I, the Major Neutral Polysaccharide.
- Constituents of the Seed of Malva verticillata. VIII. Smith Degradation of MVS-VI, the Major Acidic Polysaccharide, and Anti-complementary Activity of Products.
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Antidiabetic Activities of Extract from Malva verticillata Seed via the Activation of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase
The n-hexane fraction of a seed ethanol extract increased AMPK and acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphorylation and glucose uptake 2.3-fold in L6 myotubes, and 40 mg/kg orally for four weeks reduced non-fasting and fasting glucose in db/db mice by 17.1 and 23.3 percent. beta-Sitosterol was identified as the major active compound and the effect was AMPK-dependent. Cell and rodent work on the seed, the correct plant part.
A water extract of Malva verticillata seeds suppresses osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption stimulated by RANK ligand
A water extract of the seed, the form closest to clinical use, inhibited RANKL-stimulated osteoclastogenesis in bone marrow macrophages, suppressed c-Fos and NFATc1 expression and JNK, p38, I-kappaB-alpha and phospholipase gamma-2 phosphorylation, and reduced resorption on hydroxyapatite. Entirely cell-based; no animal or human bone endpoint.
Chemical profiling of Malva verticillata L. by UPLC-Q-TOF-MSE and their antioxidant activity in vitro
Nineteen compounds were identified across the species and total phenolics compared by plant part: leaf 110.32, stem 97.98 and seed 40.85 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of extract. The seed, which is the drug, is the least phenolic-rich part, though its extract is the best DPPH scavenger of the three.
Constituents of the seed of Malva verticillata. VI. Characterization and immunological activities of a novel acidic polysaccharide.
Characterised MVS-VI, the major acidic polysaccharide of the seed, and demonstrated its immunological activity. One of the eight-part Tomoda series that remains the only systematic chemistry of this drug.
Constituents of the Seed of Malva verticillata. VII. Structural Features and Reticuloendothelial System-Potentiating Activity of MVS-I, the Major Neutral Polysaccharide.
Established the structure of MVS-I, the seed's major neutral polysaccharide, and its reticuloendothelial-system-potentiating activity.
Constituents of the Seed of Malva verticillata. VIII. Smith Degradation of MVS-VI, the Major Acidic Polysaccharide, and Anti-complementary Activity of Products.
Smith degradation of MVS-VI retained anti-complementary activity, locating the immunologically active region in the polysaccharide backbone.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Pregnancy
Contraindications
Its use is cautious in pregnant women and patients with thin, unformed stool due to spleen deficiency.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 146–150.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Divine Husbandman's Classic of Materia Medica)
Han dynasty, c. 200 CEBen Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, 1596Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Yao Dian (Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China), 1985 edition
Modern China, 1985References
- Jia Y, Lei L, Luo X, Zhao Z, Wang M, van Andel T. Analysis of historical changes in traditional Chinese medicine based on an Indonesian collection of Chinese materia medica from c. 1870 . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2021) [DOI]
- Shimizu N, Tomoda M. Constituents of the seed of Malva verticillata. I. Structural features of the major neutral polysaccharide. . Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (1987) [DOI]
- Gonda R, Tomoda M, Kanari M, Yoneda N, Shimizu T, Shigeshiro K, Yazawa T. Constituents of the seed of Malva verticillata. III. Characterization of the major pectic peptidoglycan and oligosaccharides. . Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (1988) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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