Tangaek — Decoctions · Vegetables
子 Mu Ssi (무 씨)
Radish seed, known in Korean traditional medicine as nabokja (蘿葍子), is the seed produced when the radish — a root vegetable of the cabbage family — sends up a flower stalk and goes to seed. The seeds are oblong, yellowish-red in color, and notably plump. Because they can resemble the seeds of related plants, the Dongui Bogam records how to tell them apart from cabbage seed and turnip seed by their color and size. The seed is still sold in traditional herbal-medicine markets today under the name nabokja.
Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 2
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治膨脹積聚, 利五藏及大小二便.
It addresses abdominal distension and jeokchwi (積聚, accumulations and gatherings), and benefits the five jang (五藏) as well as both stool and urine.
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又硏末飮服, 吐風痰甚效.
Ground to powder and taken in a drink, it is highly effective at bringing up pungdam (風痰, wind phlegm).
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菘子黑, 蔓菁子紫赤, 大小相似. 惟蘿葍子黃赤色, 大數倍, 復不圓也. 《本草》
Cabbage seed is black and turnip seed is purplish red, and the two are similar in size. Only radish seed is yellowish red, several times larger, and moreover not round. 《Boncho (本草)》
HomiclubThis passage sorts three crucifer seeds by color and size. Radish seed is oblong and about three millimeters across, noticeably coarser than cabbage or turnip seed.
Vegetables — more entries
This is a cultural and historical record from a classical text, not a claim about any food’s effects. Nothing here is a health supplement or intended to prevent or treat disease. Consult a medical professional about health concerns. · Text: Korean Medicine Classics DB · Reading: Homiclub