✵The article records the herb Rice-grain Sprout, including its Pinyin name, English name, Latin name, properties and flavor, botanical source—namely the single plant species Oryza sativa L.—and provides a detailed introduction to the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species, as well as the characteristics of the herb Rice-grain Sprout, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Fructus Oryzae Germinatus (Rice-grain Sprout)
Pinyin Name: Dào Yá or Gǔ Yá
English Name: Rice-grain Sprout
Latin Name:Fructus Oryzae Germinatus Properties and Flavor: Warm in nature, sweet in taste.
Brief Introduction:Fructus Oryzae Germinatus is the dried, germinated grain of rice (Oryza sativa L.), used to promote digestion in the treatment of poor appetite and dyspepsia. It is commonly known as Fructus Oryzae Germinatus, Rice-grain Sprout, Dào Yá, or Gǔ Yá. The name Dào Yá is recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (CP), whereas Gǔ Yá appears in the Dictionary of Chinese Traditional Medicine (DCTM) and the Compendium of Herbal Medicine and Materia Medica (CHMM); both refer to the same herb—the sprouted grain of rice.
Botanical Source: Classical herbal works define Fructus Oryzae Germinatus (Rice-grain Sprout) as the dried, germinated grains of Oryza sativa L. It is a species of the genus Oryza L., family Poaceae (Gramineae, grass family), order Poales. This widely used species is described below:
(1) Oryza sativa L.
Botanical Description:Oryza sativa L. is commonly known as Dào or Shuǐ Dào. It is an annual, aquatic, hemerophytic (cultivated) plant. Culms are erect and caespitose (tufted), reaching heights of 0.5–1.5 meters, depending on the variety. Leaf sheaths are flaccid and glabrous; those on the lower part of the culm are longer than the corresponding internodes. The ligule is lanceolate, membranous and firm, 5–25 mm long; its base is decurrent on both sides and fused with the leaf sheath margin; conspicuous auricles are present in young plants. Leaf blades are flat, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, 30–60 cm long and 6–15 mm wide.
Panicles are sparse and loose, recurving at maturity; branches are angular and ridged, often coarse and rough. Spikelets are oblong and laterally compressed, 6–9 mm long, each containing three florets: the two lower florets are sterile and reduced to minute inferior lemmas (lower paleae), positioned beneath a single hermaphroditic (bisexual) floret. The glumes are highly reduced, leaving only a semilunar (half-moon-shaped) scar at the apex of the rachilla. The inferior lemma is 3–4 mm long; the lemmas of the hermaphroditic floret bear five veins, are often pubescent, awned or awnless; the palea has three veins and is also pubescent. Two ovate lodicules, ~1 mm long, are present. There are six stamens; anthers are 2–3 mm long. The gynoecium consists of two styles; the hypanthium (floral tube) is short; stigmas are plumose (broom-like) and exserted laterally from the florets.
The caryopsis is smooth, ~5 mm long, ~2 mm wide, and ~1–1.5 mm thick. The embryo is smaller than the caryopsis, measuring approximately one-quarter its length. Flowering and fruiting occur from June to October.
Ecological Environment:Oryza sativa thrives in warm, humid conditions with relatively short photoperiods; soil requirements are not stringent, though alluvial rice paddy soils are optimal. It is a staple cereal crop, widely cultivated across tropical and subtropical Asia. Southern China is the primary rice-producing region. Rice is one of humanity’s most important food crops: approximately half the world’s population relies on it as a dietary staple—predominantly in Asia, southern Europe, tropical America, and parts of Africa. Globally, rice ranks as the third-largest cereal crop by production volume, after maize and wheat; however, due to its high caloric yield per unit area and nutritional efficiency in feeding dense populations, the United Nations designated 2004 as the International Year of Rice.
Characteristics of the Herb: The caryopsis is oblate-elliptic with slightly acute apices, 3–4 mm long and 2–3 mm wide. The pericarp is hard; the surface is yellowish, covered with short, fine hairs and five longitudinal veins. Two white, linear lodicules (~2 mm long), yellowish and membranous, are attached at the base. Yellowish, curved primary roots emerge from one side of the endosperm. The inner tegument (testa + aleurone layer) is smooth and yellowish-white; the endosperm is firm and starchy, with a white, powdery fracture surface. The herb is odorless and tastes mildly sweet.
Pharmacological Actions: (1) Stimulates secretion of digestive juices and promotes digestion.
Medicinal Efficacy: Invigorates digestion and regulates the Spleen-Stomach (Middle Jiao); resolves food stagnation; strengthens the Spleen and stimulates appetite. Indicated for: dyspepsia (food retention, indigestion); abdominal distension and halitosis (fetid breath); abdominal fullness and diarrhea; Spleen- and Stomach-Qi deficiency manifesting as fatigue, poor appetite, and lassitude; beriberi with edema of the feet.
Fried Rice-grain Sprout enhances digestive function and is indicated for poor appetite with hunger sensation. Charred Rice-grain Sprout strongly resolves food stagnation and is indicated for severe food retention and indigestion.
Administration of Fructus Oryzae Germinatus (Dào Yá):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Fructus Oryzae Germinatus (Dào Yá)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 9–15 grams; (2) Internally: water decoction, 10–15 grams; higher doses up to 30 g may be used clinically. Alternatively, the herb may be ground into a fine powder for oral use.
✵The article records the herb Rice-grain Sprout, including its Pinyin name, English name, Latin name, properties and flavor, botanical source—namely the single plant species Oryza sativa L.—and provides a detailed introduction to the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species, as well as the characteristics of the herb Rice-grain Sprout, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Dào Yá or Gǔ Yá
Botanical Description: Oryza sativa L. is commonly known as Dào or Shuǐ Dào. It is an annual, aquatic, hemerophytic (cultivated) plant. Culms are erect and caespitose (tufted), reaching heights of 0.5–1.5 meters, depending on the variety. Leaf sheaths are flaccid and glabrous; those on the lower part of the culm are longer than the corresponding internodes. The ligule is lanceolate, membranous and firm, 5–25 mm long; its base is decurrent on both sides and fused with the leaf sheath margin; conspicuous auricles are present in young plants. Leaf blades are flat, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, 30–60 cm long and 6–15 mm wide.
The caryopsis is smooth, ~5 mm long, ~2 mm wide, and ~1–1.5 mm thick. The embryo is smaller than the caryopsis, measuring approximately one-quarter its length. Flowering and fruiting occur from June to October.
Characteristics of the Herb: The caryopsis is oblate-elliptic with slightly acute apices, 3–4 mm long and 2–3 mm wide. The pericarp is hard; the surface is yellowish, covered with short, fine hairs and five longitudinal veins. Two white, linear lodicules (~2 mm long), yellowish and membranous, are attached at the base. Yellowish, curved primary roots emerge from one side of the endosperm. The inner tegument (testa + aleurone layer) is smooth and yellowish-white; the endosperm is firm and starchy, with a white, powdery fracture surface. The herb is odorless and tastes mildly sweet.
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