Jiu Cai Zi
StarAllium tuberosum Rottl. ex Spreng.
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
- Menstrual & women's health
- Fertility & vitality
- Energy & fatigue
☯ TCM Properties
Warms the Liver and Kidneys; Assists Yang; Secures Essence and Stops Seminal Emission; Secures Essence and Stops Enuresis; Astringes to Stop Vaginal Discharge
Traditional Chinese Uses
Jiu Cai Zi (Chinese leek seed) is a warm, pungent-sweet herb used to tonify Kidney Yang and consolidate Jing. It addresses Kidney Yang deficiency with cold lower back, impotence, spermatorrhea, urinary frequency, and bedwetting. As a gentle Yang tonic suitable for long-term use, it is frequently combined with other Kidney-tonifying herbs for conditions where sustained supplementation of Kidney Yang and essence is needed. Its dual action of tonifying and astringent makes it particularly suitable for deficiency-leakage patterns.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Allium tuberosum, garlic chives or Chinese chives, is a perennial bulb-forming herb in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to East and Southeast Asia and widely cultivated as a culinary and medicinal plant. It grows from clusters of small, narrow, slightly rhizomatous bulbs that produce dense tufts of long, flat, solid (not hollow), grass-like dark-green leaves 20-40 cm long with a mild garlicky odor. In late summer, leafless triangular scapes 30-60 cm tall bear terminal umbels of star-shaped, fragrant, white six-tepalled flowers. Following pollination, the umbel produces small three-lobed capsules, each containing several flat, angular, black seeds with a slightly wrinkled, brittle coat. Jiu Cai Zi refers to these dried mature seeds.
Active Constituents
Steroidal saponins (tuberoside A, tuberoside B and related spirostanol and furostanol glycosides)
Steroidal saponinConcentration: not quantified for the commercial drug; the seed is the richest organ of the plant for these glycosides and repeated phytochemical surveys have isolated more than twenty of them from it
These are the characteristic secondary metabolites of the seed rather than of the leaf, and they are what distinguishes Jiu Cai Zi chemically from the culinary herb. Several of the isolated spirostanol and furostanol glycosides increased testosterone output by isolated rat Leydig cells, which is the only mechanistic thread that connects the seed's phytochemistry to its classical Kidney-yang and Essence-securing indications. No human pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic data exist.
Alliaceous sulfur compounds (thiosulfinates and their breakdown products)
Organosulfur compoundConcentration: characteristic of the fresh leaf and bulb rather than of the dried seed; not quantified in the seed drug
Present as the genus-defining chemistry of Allium tuberosum, and responsible for the plant's use as a vegetable (Jiu Cai). They are noted here mainly to make the point that the seed drug and the leaf vegetable are not chemically interchangeable: the pharmacological literature on Allium organosulfur compounds is drawn overwhelmingly from Allium sativum and cannot be transferred to this seed.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Androgen-modulating therapy (testosterone replacement, anti-androgens such as bicalutamide, 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors)
Steroidal glycosides isolated from Allium tuberosum seed promoted testosterone production in cultured rat Leydig cells, and a crude seed extract relaxed rabbit corpus cavernosum smooth muscle and altered sexual behaviour parameters in male rats. Both findings are preclinical, at doses and exposures unrelated to a 3 to 9 g decoction, and neither has been reproduced in humans. There is no evidence that the drug measurably shifts circulating androgens in a person.
Clinical note: No action needed for ordinary use. Do not present Jiu Cai Zi as a testosterone-raising agent, and do not use it as a substitute for endocrine assessment in androgen deficiency or in prostate disease under anti-androgen treatment.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 3–9 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】3～9g。 【性味与归经】辛、甘，温。归肝、肾经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
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
2 verified · 0 unverified
Show 2 studies
- Steroidal Glycosides from Allium tuberosum Seeds and Their Roles in Promoting Testosterone Production of Rat Leydig Cells
- In vitro and in vivo aphrodisiac properties of the seed extract from Allium tuberosum on corpus cavernosum smooth muscle relaxation and sexual behavior parameters in male Wistar rats
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
Steroidal Glycosides from Allium tuberosum Seeds and Their Roles in Promoting Testosterone Production of Rat Leydig Cells
A phytochemical study of Allium tuberosum seed that isolated twenty-seven steroidal glycosides and tested them on primary rat Leydig cells. Several of the isolates raised testosterone output by the cells. This is bench chemistry with a cell-based readout, not evidence of an endocrine effect in people.
In vitro and in vivo aphrodisiac properties of the seed extract from Allium tuberosum on corpus cavernosum smooth muscle relaxation and sexual behavior parameters in male Wistar rats
A seed extract relaxed isolated rabbit corpus cavernosum strips and changed sexual behaviour measures in male Wistar rats given the extract orally. The paper is the closest thing in the literature to a pharmacological test of the classical Kidney-yang indication, and it stops at the rat.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
Contraindications
Its use is prohibited in patients with vigorous fire due to yin deficiency.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 344–356.
Historical Texts
Ming Yi Bie Lu
References
- Sang S; Mao S; Lao A; Chen Z; Ho CT. Four New Steroidal Saponins from the Seeds of Allium tuberosum . Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2001) [DOI]
- Sang S; and co-workers. New steroid saponins from the seeds of Allium tuberosum L. . Food Chemistry (2003) [DOI]
- Zou ZM; Yu DQ; Cong PZ. A steroidal saponin from the seeds of Allium tuberosum . Phytochemistry (2001) [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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