瓜蔕 Gwache (과체)

Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 2

1. 性寒, 味苦, 有毒.

   Its nature is cold, its taste bitter, and it is toxic.

   HomiclubGwache is the stem-end of the chamoe, the short stalk joining fruit to vine. It was collected at the moment a ripe melon released it of itself.

2. 主通身浮腫, 下水. 殺蠱毒, 去鼻中瘜肉.

   It governs swelling over the whole body and drives down water. It kills godok (蠱毒, parasitic toxin) and removes polyps inside the nose.

3. 療黃疸, 及食諸物過多, 病在胸中者, 皆吐下之.

   It treats jaundice, and when illness sits in the chest from eating too much of various foods, it discharges all of it by vomiting or purging.

4. 卽甛瓜蔕也. 一名苦丁香. 瓜有靑白二種, 當用靑瓜蔕.

   This is the stem-end of the chamoe. It is also called gojeonghyang (苦丁香). There are two kinds of melon, green and white, and one should use the stem of the green kind.

5. 七月待瓜熟氣足, 其蔕自然落, 在蔓莖上, 約半寸許. 採取陰乾, 麩炒黃色用. 《本草》

   Wait until the seventh month, when the melon is ripe and full in qi and its stem falls away by itself, leaving about half a chi on the vine. Gather it, dry it in the shade, and roast it with wheat bran until yellow for use. 《Boncho (本草)》

   HomiclubWaiting for the stem to drop of itself is a way of reading the melon's signal of full ripeness. Growers likewise judge ripeness by the drying of tissue around the stem and by a deepening aroma.