Shi Di (Persimmon Calyx)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Shi Di?

  3–12 g in decoction — both major English-language materia medica give the same range for Shi Di, which is unusual and reflects how consistently this herb is dosed. The calyces are hard and woody, so they are normally decocted rather than powdered, and are typically cooked with the main decoction.

  • 3–12 g in decoction (Chen & Chen).
  • 3–12 g in decoction (Bensky, 3rd ed.).
  • In Japanese Kampo the same herb appears as shitei in the prepared extract granule of the four-herb hiccup formula (see research).

  Source: Sacred Lotus dosage record; Bensky and Chen & Chen ranges, cross-referenced against multiple online sources. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Is Shi Di safe? Are there cautions for persimmon calyx?

  Shi Di carries no traditional contraindications in the standard materia medica, and our own record lists none. It is a neutral, narrowly acting herb used in small formulas for short courses. As with any herb, use in pregnancy, in children, or alongside prescription medicines is best supervised by a qualified practitioner.

  • Correct plant part matters — the medicinal material is the dried calyx, not the fruit, the leaf or the persimmon-derived sugar bloom. These are distinct materials with distinct uses.
  • Persistent hiccups deserve a diagnosis — hiccups lasting more than a couple of days, or accompanying neurological illness, cancer treatment or a feeding tube, are a medical sign and warrant assessment rather than self-treatment. This is a general safety note, not a claim about the herb.

  Related context — unripe persimmon fruit and bezoars. Eating large amounts of unripe or astringent persimmon fruit is a well-documented cause of gastric and intestinal phytobezoars (specifically termed diospyrobezoars): the fruit’s soluble tannin polymerises in stomach acid and binds fibre into a hard mass, sometimes causing gastric outlet or small-bowel obstruction. Risk is concentrated in people with previous gastric surgery, delayed gastric emptying or diabetes. This is a phenomenon of the fruit as a food, not of the medicinal calyx, and no comparable reports for Shi Di in decoction were found. It is recorded here as related context because patients often ask about it, and it should not be transferred to the herb.

  Source: Sacred Lotus cautions record (“none noted”); published materia medica; bezoar literature cited under research (PMID 36059363; PMID 25561823; PMID 23271989). Neutral reference facts, not usage instructions.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low. Persimmon calyx is not classified as a toxic herb in the Chinese materia medica, and our record does not flag it as toxic or endangered. In the largest clinical audit located — 149 hospitalised patients reviewed for hiccups, of whom the calyx-based extract was prescribed to a substantial subgroup — the investigators reported no adverse events attributed to the preparation. That is observational hospital data, not a formal toxicology study, and does not establish a safety guarantee.

  Source: Sacred Lotus herb record; PMID 31296823 (retrospective hospital study reporting no attributed adverse events). Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Shi Di. No interaction case reports or clinical pharmacokinetic studies for persimmon calyx were located. The one clinical context where the herb meets conventional drugs is chemotherapy-associated hiccups, where the calyx extract has been used alongside oncology regimens without reported interaction — absence of reports is not evidence of absence. Patients on prescription medication should confirm use with their prescriber and a qualified practitioner.

  Source: PubMed search of the persimmon-calyx literature (no interaction reports located); PMID 31296823 for the concurrent-use setting. Precautionary reference note.

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 Shi Di (Calyx Diospyri Kaki, Diospyros kaki calyx)?

  Yes — a modest but genuinely relevant body of work, including one clinical audit of the traditional hiccup indication. A Japanese hospital study reviewed 149 inpatients and reported that the calyx-based extract (Kampo shitei) was associated with resolution of hiccups in 82% of the chemotherapy-related cases treated (45 of 55), with no adverse events attributed to the preparation. Hiccups were significantly more frequent in patients with brain disease, on cancer chemotherapy, or with a gastric tube. This is a retrospective, uncontrolled single-centre report — suggestive, not proof.

  • Chemistry — the calyx is rich in flavonoids and tannins; quercetin and quercetin-3-O-glucoside derivatives have been isolated and characterised from it, and phenolic profiling of the calyx has been published alongside the traditional hiccup formulation.
  • Anti-allergic / mast-cell activity (preclinical) — calyx extract reduced mast-cell activation in immediate-type hypersensitivity models and lessened atopic-dermatitis-like skin lesions in mice. Animal and cell work only.
  • Anti-inflammatory activity (preclinical) — isolated calyx flavonoids suppressed inflammatory signalling in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages; stalk/calyx material from different cultivars and maturity stages showed varying anti-inflammatory activity, which is relevant to raw-material consistency.
  • Quality and variability — extractable constituents of Diospyros kaki vary with growth stage and season, so cultivar and harvest timing plausibly affect the finished herb.
  • Bezoars — fruit, not calyx — the substantial diospyrobezoar literature concerns ingestion of persimmon fruit, with cases of gastric outlet and small-bowel obstruction reported particularly after gastric surgery. It is included here for completeness and is explicitly not a finding about the medicinal calyx.

  Overall: one supportive but low-grade clinical report for the traditional indication, plus preclinical pharmacology. No controlled trials.

  Sources: PMID 31296823 (hospital study of calyx extract for hiccups); PMID 33390519 (phenolic constituents of persimmon calyx and the traditional hiccup formulation); PMID 28724321 (mast-cell/immediate hypersensitivity, preclinical); PMID 28627593 (atopic-dermatitis-like lesions in mice, preclinical); PMID 27648736 (quercetin glycosides from the calyx, anti-inflammatory in vitro); PMID 31547810 (cultivar and maturity variation); PMID 33084985 (seasonal variation in extracted constituents); PMID 36059363, PMID 25561823, PMID 23271989 (diospyrobezoar case literature — fruit ingestion). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• Which formula is Shi Di best known for, and how does it differ from other hiccup herbs?

  Shi Di is the name herb of Ding Xiang Shi Di Tang (Clove and Persimmon Calyx Decoction), the reference formula for hiccups from Stomach cold with underlying qi deficiency. In our formula records it appears there alongside Ding Xiang (clove), Ren Shen (ginseng) and Sheng Jiang (fresh ginger) — two warming, descending herbs supported by a qi tonic and a warming harmoniser.

  How it compares with the other common descending-qi choices:

  • Ding Xiang — acrid and warm; descends rebellious qi and warms the middle. Chosen when the hiccups are clearly cold. Shi Di is the neutral partner that adds descending force without adding heat.
  • Zhu Ru — sweet and cool; descends rebellious Stomach qi while clearing heat, so it is paired with Shi Di when hiccups follow Stomach heat.
  • Xuan Fu Hua and Dai Zhe Shi — a heavier descending pair aimed at phlegm and at forceful counterflow with belching; Shi Di is lighter and narrower, aimed at hiccup itself.

  Related context — the fruit is not the medicinal part. Shi Di is the calyx only. The persimmon fruit (Diospyros kaki) is a widely eaten food, and other parts of the plant carry their own separate Chinese names (for example the dried fruit and its bloom of sugar). Findings about eating persimmon fruit should not be read across to the calyx — see cautions.

  Source: Sacred Lotus formula records (Ding Xiang Shi Di Tang composition); published materia medica differentiation (Bensky; Chen & Chen), cross-referenced against multiple online sources. Traditional formula context, not treatment advice.