Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Bowel health
- Nerves & recovery
- Skin
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Toxic — professional use only
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Phlegm; Opens the Orifices and revives the Spirit; Dissipates clumps and reduces swellings; Unblocks the bowels and expels roundworms as a suppository
Traditional Chinese Uses
Zao Jiao, the pod of Gleditsia sinensis (Chinese honey locust), is a pungent, warm, phlegm-transforming herb entering the Lung and Large Intestine. Strongly dispersing, it dispels stubborn Phlegm, opens the orifices and revives consciousness, dissipates clumps and reduces swellings, and unblocks the bowels.
A small amount blown into the nose to induce sneezing was classically used to revive sudden collapse with clenched jaw and phlegm obstruction (wind-stroke, seizure). Internally it expels copious sticky phlegm in cough and wheezing; externally and as a suppository it treats abscesses, sores and constipation, and expels roundworms. It is toxic and harshly dispersing: used only in small doses, and contraindicated in pregnancy and in cases with bleeding tendency, Qi deficiency or Yin-deficient Heat.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Zao Jiao is the dried mature pod of Gleditsia sinensis Lam. (Fabaceae), the Chinese honey locust, a large deciduous tree 15–30 m tall native to China and widely planted in temperate East Asia. The trunk and lower branches bear conspicuous, stout, simple or branched, reddish-brown thorns 5–20 cm long (separately used as Zao Jiao Ci). Leaves are once-pinnately compound with 6–14 ovate-lanceolate, finely crenulate leaflets. Small greenish-white flowers are borne in narrow racemes. The legume is a flat, slightly twisted, dark brown to purplish-black pod 12–30 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, woody, with a thick, sticky, saponin-rich mesocarp enclosing several hard, ellipsoid, dark brown seeds. Pods are collected in autumn and sun-dried. In TCM they powerfully open the orifices, expel phlegm, and dispel obstruction; they are saponin-rich, irritant, and contraindicated in pregnancy and in cases of weakness or bleeding.
Active Constituents
Gleditsiosides H-K
Bisdesmosidic oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinsBisdesmosidic saponins isolated from the anomalous fruits of the plant (the small malformed pods dispensed as Zhu Ya Zao), together with gleditsia saponins C' and E'. Saponins of this series carry the expectorant, irritant and cytotoxic activity of the drug; their surface activity is what makes the pod both a traditional soap and a mucosal irritant.
Gleditsiosides N-Q
Bisdesmosidic oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinsA further set of triterpenoid saponins characterised from Gleditsia sinensis. Over 60 compounds have been isolated from the species overall, with triterpenoid saponins as the dominant class.
Gleditsioside B
Bisdesmosidic oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinA saponin of the anomalous fruits reported to block bFGF-induced endothelial cell migration by preventing activation of MMP-2 and FAK through inhibition of ERK and PI3K/AKT signalling - the basis of interest in the drug as an anti-angiogenic lead.
Echinocystic acid
Oleanane-type triterpene aglyconeThe sapogenin of many of the gleditsiosides. In the anti-asthma study of the fruit it was the constituent taken forward for cellular validation, with an IC50 of 30.02 microgram/mL in human airway smooth muscle cells; at 30 microgram/mL it lowered TNF-alpha, AKT and IL-6 mRNA in IL-4-stimulated cells.
Acacetin
FlavoneIdentified by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry as one of the principal drug-like active ingredients of the fruit, alongside linolenic acid and 13(S)-HOTrE, in network-pharmacology analysis of its anti-asthmatic action.
13(S)-HOTrE
Oxylipin (hydroxylated polyunsaturated fatty acid)One of 95 constituents characterised in the fruit and among the 37 that met oral-bioavailability and drug-likeness filters. Oxylipins of this type are endogenous inflammatory mediators, which is consistent with the fruit's activity in airway inflammation models.
Stigmasterol
PhytosterolTogether with quercetin, one of the two constituents identified as carrying most of the anti-inflammatory activity of the Gleditsiae sinensis fructus and Jujubae fructus pair in a chronic bronchitis model, with good docking affinity for IL-6, VEGFA and EGFR.
Galactomannan
PolysaccharideThe dominant polysaccharide of the seed endosperm within the pod. It is a hydrocolloid rather than a pharmacologically active principle, and is the reason the seed is used industrially as a gum.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Gastrointestinal irritants (NSAIDs, oral corticosteroids, oral bisphosphonates)
Zao Jiao is graded as slightly toxic in Chinese materia medica and the recognised sign of overdose is vomiting and diarrhoea. The mechanism is the surface activity of its triterpenoid saponins, which are detergent molecules that disrupt mucosal cell membranes on direct contact - the same property that makes the pod a traditional washing agent. Adding a drug that independently damages gastric mucosal defence is expected to compound this.
Clinical note: Keep the dose low - the classical range for the powdered fruit is small and it is usually given in pills or powders rather than decocted in quantity. Avoid where the patient is already on an ulcerogenic drug, and stop at the first vomiting or diarrhoea.
Orally administered drugs requiring reliable absorption (e.g. levothyroxine, oral contraceptives, antiretrovirals)
One of the traditional indications of Zao Jiao is to unblock the bowels, and it is used as a suppository for that purpose. Any agent that accelerates intestinal transit shortens the window for absorption of co-administered oral drugs. No pharmacokinetic study of this effect with Gleditsia has been published, so the concern is mechanistic.
Clinical note: Separate doses of narrow-therapeutic-index oral drugs from the herb by several hours, and be alert to loss of control of a previously stable condition.
Use in pregnancy and in patients with bleeding (haemoptysis, haematemesis)
The Chinese materia medica record is consistent and explicit: Zao Jiao is acrid, salty and warm with slight toxicity, and its strongly dispersing and outward-moving nature makes it contraindicated in pregnancy and in patients who are coughing or vomiting blood, as well as in qi deficiency and yin depletion. This is a categorical prohibition in the source literature rather than a graded risk, and it is repeated in the Pharmacopoeia-level cautions.
Clinical note: Do not prescribe in pregnancy, in any active bleeding, or in frail, deficient patients. Reserve it for robust patients with a genuine excess pattern.
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Thins and expels thick phlegm by inducing vomiting, clearing phlegm that obstructs the throat and orifices.
Emergency emetic for wind-stroke with phlegm rattling; strong and only for robust excess patterns.
Core pair of a classical formula — Xi Xian San, Sheng Ji Zong Lu
Insufflated into the nose, the pungent penetrating action opens the orifices and induces sneezing to revive consciousness.
External use only, for sudden collapse with clenched jaw from phlegm obstruction (excess pattern). Not for collapse from deficiency.
Core pair of a classical formula — Tong Guan San, Dan Xi Xin Fa Fu Yu
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 3 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
3
1 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
Gleditsiae Sinensis Fructus ingredients and mechanism in anti-asthmatic bronchitis research
UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS identified 95 constituents of the fruit, 37 of them drug-like, sharing 169 targets with bronchial asthma and converging on the AGE-RAGE and PI3K-Akt pathways with IL6, TNF, ALB, AKT1 and SRC as core targets. In ovalbumin-induced asthmatic mice the fruit improved lung function, lung histology and inflammatory markers and reduced AKT and PI3K immunofluorescence. Echinocystic acid had an IC50 of 30.02 microgram/mL in human airway smooth muscle cells and at 30 microgram/mL reduced TNF-alpha, AKT and IL-6 mRNA.
Gleditsiae sinensis fructus Pills combined with Jujubae fructus attenuate chronic bronchitis via regulation of AGE-RAGE signaling pathway
In mice with chronic bronchitis induced by cigarette smoke and intranasal lipopolysaccharide, the classical Gleditsiae sinensis fructus Pills plus Jujubae fructus combination reduced serum TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, IL-6 and IL-8 and improved lung and tracheal histology, downregulating IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, EGFR, caspase-3, AGEs and RAGE at protein and mRNA level. Quercetin and stigmasterol were identified as the principal active constituents.
Triterpenoidal saponins from Gleditsia sinensis
Six bisdesmosidic triterpenoidal saponins - gleditsiosides H to K together with gleditsia saponins C' and E' - were isolated from the anomalous fruits of Gleditsia sinensis and their structures established by extensive NMR and chemical degradation. The paper is a primary source for the saponin chemistry of the drug.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Toxic — professional use only
Contraindications
Contraindicated in pregnancy, in patients who are coughing blood, and in the weak or depleted.
Safety Warnings
- Irritant to mucous membrane — avoid inhaling the powder.
- Small doses only; not decocted at length.
⚠ Toxicity Information
Throat and gastric irritation, nausea and vomiting; in overdose, haemolysis. The powder is a strong sternutatory and irritates the airway.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynastyReferences
- Jian-Ping Zhang, Xin-Hui Tian, Yong-Xun Yang, Qing-Xin Liu, Qun Wang, Li-Ping Chen, Hui-Liang Li, Wei-Dong Zhang. Gleditsia species: An ethnomedical, phytochemical and pharmacological review . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2016) [DOI]
- Zhizhen Zhang, Kazuo Koike, Zhonghua Jia, Tamotsu Nikaido, Dean Guo, Junhua Zheng. Gleditsiosides N−Q, New Triterpenoid Saponins from Gleditsia sinensis . Journal of Natural Products (1999) [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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