Nan Gua Zi南瓜子
Cucurbitae Semen · Pumpkin Seed
Overview
Nan Gua Zi is the seed of the pumpkin, sweet and neutral and not classed as toxic — a food that earned a place in the materia medica for one narrow job. Given raw, ground and in bulk, it paralyses the head and forward segments of a tapeworm, which is why the classical protocol pairs it with Bing Lang 槟榔, whose action falls on the rear of the worm, and then follows both with a purgative. The protocol is recorded here as classical materia medica; taeniasis today is confirmed in a laboratory and treated with a prescribed antiparasitic under supervision.
Nature & Flavor
Sweet · NeutralChannels
Stomach · Large IntestineTypical Dosage
60–120 gActions
3 core actions
- Kills parasites — tapeworm above allThe recorded action is on tapeworm, with the beef and pork species named most often; schistosome and fluke uses also appear in the twentieth-century literature. Outside taeniasis its vermifuge reputation is thin.
- Paired with Bing Lang and a purgativeThe classical sequence is Nan Gua Zi powder first, Bing Lang decoction after, then a saline purgative — the two herbs immobilise different parts of the worm and the purgative carries it out intact. Any part of that sequence used alone is incomplete.
- Raw seed onlyThe seed is ground raw and taken with cool water. Roasted, salted snack seed is not the medicinal article — heating and salting are not what the classical method describes, and the dose involved is far beyond what anyone would eat as food.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Nan Gua Zi
No published formula lists this herb yet — the library is growing.
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Tapeworm infestation, as the first half of the classical protocol
- Recorded secondarily for fluke and schistosome infestation
Taeniasis is confirmed by identifying proglottids or eggs in the stool and is treated with a physician-prescribed antiparasitic; a herbal protocol involving purgation is not a self-care procedure.
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Not classed as toxic — the material is a food. The safety issue here is not the seed but the procedure: the textbook dose is 60–120 g of raw ground seed as a single administration (120 g is the ceiling, a textbook and 《中华本草》 figure, since Nan Gua Zi is not a item), and the classical protocol then adds Bing Lang and a purgative. Purgation in a patient who may be dehydrated, elderly, pregnant or a small child is a medical procedure, not a home remedy.
A dose of this size commonly causes abdominal fullness and nausea. Bing Lang, the herb it is paired with, carries its own cautions — including the well-documented carcinogenicity of habitual areca chewing, which is a different exposure from a supervised single dose but is a reason the pairing is not something to repeat casually.
Use the raw ground seed, not roasted salted snack seed.
Suspected parasitic infection is diagnosed in a laboratory, not from symptoms: a stool ova-and-parasite examination — with serology or imaging where the organism calls for it — identifies what is actually present, and treatment is a modern antiparasitic prescribed by a physician. This entry records the classical materia medica and is not a treatment recommendation.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Culinary amounts are unremarkable in pregnancy; the therapeutic protocol is not. A 60–120 g single dose followed by Bing Lang and a purgative should not be undertaken while pregnant — purgation risks the pregnancy, and Bing Lang is itself avoided. Parasitic infection in pregnancy is managed by an obstetrician.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Classical source not securely attributable — the seed enters the materia medica in the later Qing and modern literature.
2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
3. 《中华本草》(State Administration of TCM, modern reference compendium).
Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.