Latin Name
Allium Pstulosum

General Description
The white bulb and green parts of scallions, or spring onions, are prescribed to improve digestion and help regulate the metabolism rate. They affect the body in a manner similar to garlic but are often preferred because of their less powerful odor. Traditional Chinese medicine characterizes the herb as acrid and warm.

Target Ailments
Taken internally for:

• Chills and fevers, nasal congestion, abdominal pain and distention.
  

Applied externally for:

• Sores and abscesses.

Preparations
Over the counter:
Scallions are available at Chinese pharmacies as well as at Asian and Western food markets. You can also obtain tablets containing the herb.

At home:
Tea: Two to five scallions chopped and steeped in a cup of boiling water. The brew topped with honey should be drunk at the first signs of chills and fever.
Poultice: Scallions mixed with honey, wrapped in a cloth and applied to sores and abscesses.
Combinations: Prepared with soybeans for chills, fever and nasal congestion. For more information on appropriate preparations and doses, check with a Chinese medicine practitioner.

Special Information

• Do not use scallions if you are sweating profusely, since the herb promotes sweating.
  
• Some traditional Chinese authorities warn against ingesting mixtures of honey and scallions, but others recommend the use of such preparations.
  
• In a clinical trial, a combination of scallions, pinellia root and ginger juice, given as an enema, seemed useful in treating acute mastitis (breast inflammation).
  
• The essential oils of scallions seemed to inhibit the spread of staphylococcus, streptococcus and other types of bacteria in trials with diseased persons.