Pear Peel

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Moistens the Lung and relieves dryness cough - a gentle food-grade herb for dry cough, scratchy throat, and hoarse irritative cough when warmth and dryness have injured fluids.
• Generates fluids and relieves thirst - used for dry mouth, thirst, and lingering fluid depletion after summer-heat or febrile illness.
• Gently clears upper-burner heat - helps cool mild irritability, dry heat in the chest, and warm-dryness patterns without the harshness of stronger bitter-cold medicinals.
• Supports recovery from dryness affecting both Lung and Stomach - especially when cough, thirst, and a dry throat appear together.

Secondary Actions

• Li Pi is better known in food-therapy and warm-dryness modification than as a stand-alone heavy classical drug.
• Compared with whole pear flesh or pear syrup, the peel is regarded as lighter and more upward-directing toward the Lung.

Classic Formulas

• Sang Xing Tang (桑杏汤) - a later dryness-treating formula in which Li Pi nourishes fluids and moistens the Lung alongside Sang Ye and Sha Shen for warm-dry cough.
• Fresh pear-peel decoctions or juices (鲜梨皮煎) - traditional food-therapy style use for summer-heat thirst, dry throat, and mild cough after fluid injury.
• Regional combinations with Chuan Bei Mu, Sha Shen, or Gan Cao - later-practice pairings for autumn dryness and irritative cough rather than one universally dominant early formula.

Classical References

• Traditional herb and food-therapy sources describe Li Pi as a cool, sweet peel that moistens the Lung, clears mild heat, and promotes body fluids.
• The herb's reputation is strongest in later practical medicine and dietary therapy, which explains why it appears more often as a modifying ingredient than as the star of a famous early formula.
• Classical usage especially emphasizes dry cough, thirst, and sore throat arising from warmth or dryness rather than from cold-phlegm patterns.