Pei Pa Koa, or loquat syrup, is a well-known cough and sore throat remedy made of several natural herbs, loquat and honey extracts. The story of Pei Pa Koa goes back to the time of the Qing dynasty, where a provincial commander, Yang Xiaolan (or also known as Yeung Kan), had a mother who was suffering from a chronic cough, and thus Yang was in search of a remedy to cure her. Yang found the recipe of a loquat syrup by a Chinese physician called Ip Tin-See that was successful in curing his mother. Yang then proceeded to mass produce the remedy to benefit others who might be suffering similar symptoms as his mother, and this recipe survived and remained in the Yang family till 1946, when it was sold to a Chinese medical practitioner, Tse Siu-bong. Tse was based in Hong Kong and proceeded to incorporate the recipe as one of Nin Jiom Medicine Manufactory’s products. [1]
The product, “Pei Pa Koa”, translates into loquat syrup, and thus this post will focus on loquat’s use in traditional Chinese medicine instead of the sixteen other herbs and extracts being used in Pei Pa Koa. The origins of the name “Pei Pa” comes from the appearance of the loquat leaves, which have similar shape as the Chinese instrument that is called pipa as well, as show in the images above. [2] The loquat tree originated from south-eastern China, [3] where many loquat species occur in the wild state. Records on loquat in China span over 2000 years, and the spread of its cultivation to other regions happened at an early period, as records of loquat cultivation that was introduced from China in Japan were described as early as 1180. [4] Loquat is now being cultivated in more than thirty countries in the Middle East, Asia, and also Europe. [5]
Dried loquat leaves, or Follum Eriobotryae, are frequently being used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As seen in early records such as in The Compendium of Materia Medica, or Bencao Gangmu, a Chinese herbology written by Li Shizen in the Ming Dynasty, loquat leaves are used to treat inflammatory diseases such as cough and asthma, because their cooling properties balance out and remove heat in the body. [6]
Furthermore, in Anderson’s Traditional Medical Values of Food, he mentioned how there are five flavours of traditional medicinal food in China, namely sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty. [7] All these different flavours are also said to have their own different functions upon consumption. Bitter ingredients, like the dried loquat leaves, would tend to have a cleansing effect on the body in which the heat from the body is being cleared. The meridians, or the channels in the body where the qi, or energy, will flow through would be the stomach and the lungs. Having the ability to target the stomach and the lungs would thus prove beneficial in treating coughs with phlegm, since phlegm can be considered as the condition of stagnation of fluids, by improving the circulation of these stagnant fluids. [8] This can also be seen in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing Shu, or the Commentary on ‘Shen Nong’s Classic of the Materia Medica’, where it was mentioned that “all adverse risings, including… coughing… are caused by fire flaring. Loquat leaf is of cold nature and good at descending qi, which thus stops the flaring up of fire and finally brings in to restore order.” [9]
It is thus not surprising that loquat has been a primary ingredient in cough syrups and medicine from hundreds of years ago till now. Due to the effectiveness and taste of the Pei Pa Koa, Nin Jiom Medicine Manufacturing has been successful in producing and maintaining its sales, with the company reaching annual sales of almost HK$350 million in 2014. [10] Presently, Pei Pa Koa exists in different forms as well as flavours to adapt to different consumer tastes as well as for convenience. Below you can find Pei Pa Koa in the form of candy, a cough syrup bottle, as well as in small convenient sachets.
[1]Ali F. Farhoomand, Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press (2005), 48.
[2] “Natural Herb Loquat Extract,” Jintu, accessed on September 9, 2019, http://www.itmonline.org/jintu/oldmen.htm.
[3] Shunquan Lin, Ralph H. Sharpe and Jules Janick. “Loquat: Botany and Horticulture,” in Horticultural Reviews Volume 23, edited by Jules Janick, 233 – 276, (New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1999), 235.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Yilong Liu, Wenna Zhang, Changjie Xu and Xian Li, “Biological Activities of Extracts from Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.): A Review,” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 17, no. 12 (2016).
[7] E. N Anderson, The Food of China, (Yale University Press, 1988): 231.
[8] “Loquat leaves (Pi Pa Ye) in Chinese Medicine,” Me & Qi, accessed September 9, 2019, https://www.meandqi.com/herb-database/loquat-leaves.
[9] “Loquat Leaves (Pi Pa Ye).” Chinese Herbs Healing, accessed September 9, 2019, http://www.chineseherbshealing.com/loquat-leaves/.
[10] Shea Driscoll, “5 things about Chinese herbal syrup Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa,” The Straits Times, accessed on September 9, 2019, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/5-things-about-chinese-herbal-syrup-nin-jiom-pei-pa-koa.