Jiang Xiang (Dalbergia Heartwood)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Jiang Xiang?

  The Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020) gives 9–15 g in decoction, added near the end of cooking — because Jiang Xiang’s activity depends on its volatile aromatic oil, prolonged boiling drives off the very compounds that give it therapeutic effect, so it is added in the last several minutes rather than simmered with the rest of a formula. As powder taken directly (swallowed with warm water, or applied topically to wounds), roughly 1–2 g per dose is typical. It must be crushed/powdered before use in either form.

  Discrepancy note: several widely used English-language materia medica summaries (derived from Bensky-style teaching references) cite a lower decoction range of about 3–9 g rather than the Pharmacopoeia’s 9–15 g. Both ranges appear repeatedly across reputable sources; we present the official Chinese Pharmacopoeia figure as primary and flag the lower teaching-reference range as a real, sourced variant rather than an error.

  Source: Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 ed.) via multiple online sources; cross-referenced against multiple online sources. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Jiang Xiang?

  As a blood-invigorating, qi-moving herb, Jiang Xiang is traditionally avoided where there is no blood stasis, in bleeding due to heat (“reckless” bleeding, e.g. dark thick blood with a replete pulse and constipation), and in yin deficiency with vigorous heat/fire. Its blood-moving nature calls for caution in pregnancy, used only when a practitioner judges benefit to outweigh risk.

  • Sourcing/conservation (reference note) — the genus Dalbergia (which includes D. odorifera) has been listed under CITES Appendix II since January 2017, requiring permits for international commercial trade of the wood; D. odorifera specifically is reported as heavily overexploited/commercially scarce in China. This is a sourcing/trade-regulation fact, not a safety statement.
  • Medication caution — because Jiang Xiang has documented antiplatelet activity in laboratory research (see Research, below), practitioner awareness is reasonable for patients on anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication. See Drug Interactions.

  Source: multiple online sources; CITES rosewood-species listing documentation (cites.org, 2016/2017 Appendix II decision). Reference notes, not a safety guarantee.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low. Jiang Xiang is regarded as non-toxic in classical materia medica and the modern Chinese Pharmacopoeia at standard doses; this site’s own record does not flag it as a toxic or endangered-species-restricted herb. No significant toxicity has been reported in the pharmacological literature reviewed for this entry, which focuses on anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiplatelet, and cardioprotective activity rather than adverse effects.

  Source: cross-checked materia medica summaries; pharmacology reviews (below). Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Jiang Xiang. Preclinical research (below) reports antiplatelet and antithrombotic activity in isolated compounds from Dalbergia odorifera, which gives a theoretical basis for caution in patients taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs (e.g. warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel) — this is a precaution grounded in laboratory pharmacology, not a demonstrated clinical interaction. (Flagged for practitioner confirmation.)

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Jiang Xiang (Dalbergia odorifera)?

  Yes — a substantial preclinical literature (cell and animal studies) on Dalbergia odorifera heartwood, with no human clinical trials identified. Research centers on its flavonoid and volatile-oil constituents and their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiplatelet, and cardioprotective effects, consistent with its traditional use for blood stasis and chest pain.

  • Traditional-use & pharmacology review — a 2020 review in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology summarizes D. odorifera’s traditional uses, phytochemistry (roughly 175 identified compounds, chiefly flavonoids and volatile oils), and pharmacology, reporting anti-inflammatory, anti-angina, and antioxidative activity in preclinical work, while noting mechanisms are not yet fully explained and quality-control research is limited.
  • Phytochemistry & biological activity review — a 2017 review in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine catalogs isolated compounds with anti-inflammatory activity (reduced NO, PGE2, TNF-α, IL-1β in cell models) and antiplatelet activity (isolated sesquiterpenes inhibited platelet aggregation by roughly 50% in vitro), plus vasorelaxant activity for the compound butein — laboratory/cell-based findings, not clinical evidence.
  • Cardioprotection, pig model — a 2018 study in International Journal of Molecular Medicine tested Dan Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) combined with Jiang Xiang in a pig model of chronic myocardial ischemia, reporting reduced infarct size, improved cardiac function measures, and lower myocardial injury markers versus untreated controls — a preclinical animal study, not human evidence.
  • Cardioprotection, rat model — a 2025 study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found that trans-nerolidol, a volatile-oil component of Jiang Xiang, reduced myocardial enzyme markers and oxidative stress and protected against isoproterenol-induced myocardial injury in rats, with effects reported as comparable to the reference drug propranolol — again a preclinical animal study.

  Taken together, the evidence base is preclinical (cell and animal models) and supports plausibility for the traditional blood-stasis/chest-pain indication, but no human clinical trials of Jiang Xiang were identified in this review.

  Sources: PMID 31654799, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2019.112328 (Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2020 review); PMID 29348771, PMC 5733943, DOI 10.1155/2017/7142370 (Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2017 review); PMID 30226574, DOI 10.3892/ijmm.2018.3844 (International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 2018, pig model); PMID 40076873, DOI 10.3390/ijms26052251 (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025, rat model). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• What are Jiang Xiang’s key herb combinations, and how does it differ from Ru Xiang, Mo Yao, and San Qi?

  Jiang Xiang is most often paired with other blood-invigorating and hemostatic herbs, adding a distinctive aromatic qi-moving action to trauma and chest-pain formulas. Compared with San Qi — the premier single herb for stopping traumatic bleeding while dispersing stasis — Jiang Xiang leans more on moving qi and relieving pain (especially in the chest and epigastrium) alongside its blood-stasis and hemostatic actions.

  • With Ru Xiang (Frankincense) and/or Mo Yao (Myrrh) — a classic trio/pairing for traumatic injury with pain, swelling, and bleeding; all three are aromatic resin/wood substances that invigorate blood and reduce swelling topically and internally.
  • With Dan Shen (Salvia) — for fixed, stabbing chest pain from blood stasis (angina-type presentations); this pairing underlies patent formulations such as Compound Danshen preparations used for coronary-artery-disease-type chest pain in contemporary Chinese clinical practice.
  • With San Qi — for bleeding disorders where stasis is present, combining two stasis-clearing hemostatics.
  • With Huo Xiang — for nausea and vomiting from damp-turbid obstruction of the middle burner (a secondary, digestive use distinct from its blood/chest indications).

  (Traditional formula/pairing context, not treatment advice.)

  Source: multiple online sources; this site’s own category (“Herbs that Stop Bleeding”). No matching combination or formula records were found linked to this herb in this site’s own record.