Jiu Cai Zi (Chinese Leek/Onion Seed)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Jiu Cai Zi?

  Roughly 3–9 g in decoction, with some sources extending the upper range to about 15 g; taken as a fine powder the dose is smaller, around 1.5–3 g per administration. As a seed, it is decocted along with the other herbs in a formula rather than requiring special preparation.

  Source: materia medica consensus (Bensky; Chen & Chen); consistent with multiple reputable TCM references. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Jiu Cai Zi?

  Jiu Cai Zi is contraindicated in yin deficiency with effulgent (exuberant) fire — as an acrid, warming yang tonic, it can aggravate heat signs such as night sweats, malar flushing, or a red tongue with little coating in someone whose pattern is actually yin-deficient heat rather than yang-deficient cold. Some references also caution against its use in Stomach deficiency-heat.

  It is intended for cold, deficient (Kidney-yang-deficiency) presentations specifically, and is best used under a qualified TCM practitioner who has confirmed the pattern rather than the symptom alone.

  Source: materia medica consensus (Bensky; Chen & Chen); cross-checked against multiple reputable TCM references. Reference note, not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low. Jiu Cai Zi is the seed of a common food vegetable (Chinese/garlic chives) and is generally regarded as food-grade; no significant toxicity is reported in classical or modern sources at standard decoction doses. The Sacred Lotus database does not flag it as a toxic or endangered substance.

  Source: materia medica consensus; botanical/food status of Allium tuberosum. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented. Preclinical animal research (below) has found testosterone-elevating and corpus-cavernosum smooth-muscle-relaxant activity from seed extracts, which is a reasonable basis for practitioner awareness in patients taking PDE5-inhibitor erectile-dysfunction medications or hormone therapy — this is precautionary, based on animal 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 Jiu Cai Zi (Semen Allii Tuberosi / Allium tuberosum seed)?

  Yes — preclinical animal and phytochemical studies support several traditional Kidney-yang uses, but no human clinical trials have been identified. Most work centers on reproductive/sexual-function pharmacology, consistent with the herb’s traditional indications for impotence and essence deficiency.

  • Aphrodisiac activity (animal) — an n-butanol extract of the seeds given to male rats for 40 days increased mounting and intromission frequency and shortened mount/ejaculation latency versus controls, in both sexually active and sluggish animals.
  • Corpus cavernosum relaxation & reproductive parameters (animal) — a 2017 study found the seed extract relaxed corpus cavernosum smooth muscle in vitro and, given orally for 45 days in a dose-dependent design, increased mounting/intromission/ejaculation frequency, sperm count and motility, and testosterone and FSH levels in male rats.
  • Steroidal glycosides and testosterone production (in vitro) — twenty-seven steroidal saponins were isolated from the seeds, of which sixteen significantly promoted testosterone secretion from isolated rat Leydig cells, offering a candidate phytochemical basis for the traditional yang-tonifying use.
  • Anti-fibrotic compounds (in vitro, unrelated indication) — a 2025 study isolated steroidal saponins from the seeds that suppressed activation of liver (hepatic stellate) cells in a fibrosis model — an emerging research direction outside the herb’s traditional Kidney-yang indications, included here for completeness.

  All findings are from animal or cell-based (in vitro) models; no human clinical trials were identified, so this is preclinical evidence only, not proof of effect in people.

  Sources: PMID 19429330, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2009.01.018 (aphrodisiac activity, rat); PMID 29191197, PMC 5709831, DOI 10.1186/s12906-017-2008-5 (corpus cavernosum & reproductive parameters, rat); PMID 33266475, PMC 7700350, DOI 10.3390/molecules25225464 (steroidal glycosides & Leydig-cell testosterone, in vitro); PMID 40368258, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2025.119949 (anti-fibrotic compounds, in vitro). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• How is Jiu Cai Zi different from Tu Si Zi and Sha Yuan Zi? / key combinations

  All three are Kidney/Liver seed tonics that secure the essence, but Jiu Cai Zi is the warmest and most yang-assisting of the group — it specifically warms away cold in the low back and knees and treats cold-type vaginal discharge, a stronger warming profile than its neutral or balanced cousins.

  • Tu Si Zi — the most balanced of the three, gently tonifying both Kidney yin and yang without being drying; also calms a restless fetus and can stop Spleen–Kidney diarrhea.
  • Sha Yuan Zi — gentle and non-heating; prized for tonifying and astringing essence at once, plus brightening the eyes, without the warmth of stronger yang tonics.
  • Jiu Cai Zi — more warming than either, assisting yang and dispelling cold from the low back/knees; distinctively used for cold, clear vaginal discharge from Kidney-yang deficiency.

  Common combinations: with Tu Si Zi, Lu Rong, and mineral-based astringents such as Long Gu for spermatorrhea and frequent urination from Kidney-yang deficiency. In the Sacred Lotus formula database, Jiu Cai Zi appears in Zan Yu Dan (“Special Pill to Aid Fertility”), consistent with its traditional Kidney-yang, essence-securing role. (Traditional formula context, not treatment advice.)

  Food-herb note: Jiu Cai Zi is the seed of jiu cai (Chinese/garlic chives, Allium tuberosum), a common cooked vegetable in Chinese cuisine — giving the dried seed a gentle, food-grade character relative to mineral or animal-derived yang tonics in the same category.

  Source: materia medica consensus (Bensky; Chen & Chen); Sacred Lotus formula link (Zan Yu Dan); botanical identity of Allium tuberosum as a food plant.