Traditionally used for
- Headaches
- Digestion
- Urinary & fluids
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Summer-Heat; Regulates Qi and Widens the Chest; Drains Dampness; Harmonizes the Stomach; Promotes Urination
Traditional Chinese Uses
He Geng (lotus petiole and stem) is a light, mild herb used primarily in summer to address discomfort from hot, humid seasonal conditions. It relieves chest stuffiness, mild headache, and digestive upset associated with summerheat and dampness. Its gentle Qi-regulating action makes it appropriate for a range of summer heat complaints, and it has a traditional application in easing nausea and stomach discomfort during pregnancy.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
Full-screen graph →Click a node for details · double-click to expand it · Ctrl/⌘ + scroll or two fingers to zoom and pan.
Botanical Description
Nelumbo nucifera (sacred lotus) is a large rhizomatous aquatic perennial in the Nelumbonaceae family, rooted in the mud of ponds, lakes, and slow streams across tropical and warm-temperate Asia and northeastern Australia. From a thick, jointed, cylindrical, creeping rhizome arise long, hollow, finely prickly petioles that lift the round, peltate, blue-green, water-repellent leaf blades 30-90 cm across well above the water surface. Solitary, fragrant, pink or white flowers up to 25 cm across are borne on similarly long, stout, hollow peduncles; each flower has many petals and a flat-topped, perforated, obconic receptacle that develops into the characteristic woody seed pod. He Geng denotes specifically the dried leaf petiole, a long, greenish to brownish, internally hollow, prickly cylindrical stalk (POWO; Wikipedia).
Active Constituents
Nuciferine
Aporphine alkaloidPresent in the petiole as it is in the blade, though the stalk is far less studied and no quantitative figure specific to He Geng has been published. In the whole plant it is the alkaloid behind the lipid-lowering and central actions attributed to lotus.
N-Nornuciferine
Aporphine alkaloidOne of the fifteen alkaloids isolated by Duan and colleagues from the stems of Nelumbo nucifera. It showed measurable cytotoxicity against the HL-60 line at 10 micromolar in that screen.
Asimilobine
Aporphine alkaloidReported for the first time from lotus stems in the 2013 alkaloid survey of this plant part, which is one of the few chemical studies carried out on He Geng rather than on the leaf or seed.
Liriodenine
Oxoaporphine alkaloidAlso newly reported from the stem in 2013 and among the more cytotoxic alkaloids in that screen, inhibiting HL-60 cells by about 51% at 10 micromolar.
Armepavine
1-Benzylisoquinoline alkaloidA simple benzylisoquinoline found through the lotus plant and isolated from the stem. It is the biosynthetic precursor of the bis-benzylisoquinolines that dominate the plumule.
Isorhamnetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside
Flavonol glycosideOne of twelve flavonoids characterised from lotus stems, where it was among the more cytotoxic compounds against the BEL-7402 hepatoma line at 10 micromolar in the same screen.
1,8-Dihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyxanthone
XanthoneA xanthone reported for the first time from the family Nelumbonaceae in the 2014 study of lotus stems, and one of the few constituents that appears to be characteristic of this plant part rather than shared with the leaf.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Lotus root or rhizome (Ou, Rhizoma Nelumbinis) and lotus node (Ou Jie) supplied in place of He Geng
He Geng is defined as the leaf petiole or flower peduncle of Nelumbo nucifera, dried after being cut from the leaf. English-language commerce uses lotus stem and lotus root interchangeably for the edible rhizome, a completely different organ, and Ou Jie is the rhizome node. Because the pinyin, the Latin name Caulis Nelumbinis and the English gloss all point loosely at a stem, the wrong organ can reach the dispensary. Lotus is unusual in yielding at least eight separate drugs from one plant, so part identity carries most of the clinical meaning here.
Clinical note: Specify the petiole or flower stalk explicitly when ordering, and check the material: He Geng is a hollow, longitudinally ridged, prickly stalk, not a segmented white rhizome.
CYP2D6 substrates (metoprolol, dextromethorphan, tamoxifen, codeine)
The aporphine alkaloid fraction of Nelumbo nucifera leaf is a potent inhibitor of CYP2D6 in human liver microsomes, and nuciferine and N-nornuciferine are among the compounds responsible. The same alkaloids occur in the petiole, but no CYP work has been done on He Geng itself and the alkaloid content of the stalk is lower and unquantified, so this is an extrapolation from the leaf, not a finding for this drug.
Clinical note: Low concern at ordinary decoction doses of a mild summerheat herb, but keep in mind if a patient is also taking concentrated lotus leaf preparations, where the alkaloid load is much higher.
Evidence Tier
Limited evidence · 2 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
2
0 verified · 2 unverified
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
Cytotoxic alkaloids from stems of Nelumbo nucifera
Fifteen alkaloids were isolated from the total alkaloid extract of lotus stems, eleven of them for the first time from this plant part and five for the first time from the family Nelumbonaceae. Liriodenine, nuciferine, nornuciferine, N-norarmepavine and N-methylcoclaurine inhibited HL-60 cells by 51 to 64% at 10 micromolar. This is one of the very few phytochemical studies performed on the He Geng drug rather than on lotus leaf or seed.
Studies on flavonoids from stems of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn and their cytotoxic activities
Twelve flavonoids and xanthones were isolated from lotus stems, all of them new to this plant part and five new to the family, including two xanthones. Several inhibited the BEL-7402 hepatoma line by 52 to 67% at 10 micromolar.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Zai Xin
Qing dynastyReferences
- Chenyang Hao, Wei Yang, Gangqiang Dong, Yuetong Yu, Yan Liu, Jun Zhang, Yongping Zhu, Xiaolu Wei, Sha Chen. Visualization and identification of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids in various nelumbo nucifera tissues . Heliyon (2023) [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.
📝 Notes
Public notes from the community and your own private notes on He Geng.
No notes yet.