Ikjiin
Quick Facts
- What it is: Ikjiin is the dried fruit of Alpinia oxyphylla, a ginger-family plant used in Korean herbal practice for frequent urination, drooling and loose stools.
- Main uses: Frequent urination, especially at night, Bed-wetting and drooling in children, Loose stools with a cold, weak gut, Poor appetite
- Best for: People whose symptoms fit the traditional pattern of a cold, weak belly and bladder, Short trials guided by a licensed herbal practitioner
- Active ingredients: Nootkatone, Valencene, Yakuchinone A and B, Tectochrysin, Chrysin, Protocatechuic acid
- Forms: Dried whole or crushed fruit for decoction (a tea made by boiling), Powder, Salt-processed dried fruit, Granules and pills inside mixed formulas
- Time to effect: Not established; tradition suggests days to a few weeks.
- Side effects: Usually mild: dry mouth, heartburn, belly ache, and rash in people allergic to ginger-family plants.
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What is Ikjiin?
Ikjiin is the dried, ripe fruit of Alpinia oxyphylla, a plant in the ginger family. In English it is often called sharp-leaf galangal fruit. It is used as a single herb, not a mixed formula.
In Korean herbal practice it is given to people with a "cold, weak" belly and bladder. The usual aims are fewer trips to the toilet at night, less bed-wetting in children, less drooling, and firmer stools. It is also used as a warm, spicy flavour in teas and tonic wines.
Here is the plain verdict on the proof. Almost all of the research is in test tubes and animals, and we could not find a clear human trial of this fruit on its own. Long use in tradition shows it is well known and well liked, but it is not proof that it works.
How does Ikjiin work?
No one has shown how Ikjiin works in people, so what follows is best treated as a working idea, not a fact.
In animal and test-tube work, extracts of the fruit relaxed bladder muscle and slowed how fast the gut pushes food along. Both effects would fit the traditional uses for frequent urination and loose stools. These results have not been repeated in people.
Other lab work found that the fruit's scented oil and its plant chemicals lower markers of inflammation (swelling and irritation inside the body). Again, this was seen in cells and in mice, not in human volunteers.
In Korean thought, the herb is described as warming the kidney and spleen and "holding in" fluids. That is a traditional way of sorting symptoms. It is not a body process that a lab can measure.
What forms does Ikjiin come in?
Ikjiin is sold and used in a few simple forms.
Whole or crushed dried fruit, simmered in water as a decoction (a strong tea made by boiling). This is the classic way it is used in Korea.
Powder, made from the dried fruit and taken with warm water. Some Korean pharmacies sell it salt-processed, which is a traditional way of steering the herb toward the kidney and bladder.
It also turns up as one herb inside packaged Korean and Chinese formulas, in granule or pill form, and as a flavouring in tonic wines. Standardised extracts with a stated amount of active chemicals are not common.
Where it comes from:
Ikjiin has been used in East Asia for roughly a thousand years. Chinese texts from the Song period list it, and it later became a standard item in Korean practice.
It appears in the Donguibogam, the great Korean medical work of 1613, among herbs that warm the lower body and control leaking of fluids.
The plant grows mainly in Hainan and southern China, so the herb has almost always reached Korea through trade rather than local farming. It is also used in Japanese Kampo and in Vietnamese herbal practice.
Who should avoid Ikjiin?
- Do not use if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, as safety in pregnancy has not been studied.
- Do not use if you are breastfeeding.
- Do not use if you take a blood thinner (a medicine such as warfarin, apixaban, clopidogrel or daily aspirin that makes it harder for the blood to clot), unless your doctor has agreed.
- Do not use in the two weeks before any planned surgery or dental surgery.
- Do not use if you have a bleeding disorder such as haemophilia (a condition where blood does not clot properly).
- Do not use if you take medicine for diabetes without checking your blood sugar more often and telling your doctor.
- Do not use if you are allergic to ginger, turmeric, cardamom or galangal, as they are close plant relatives.
- Never give it to a child for bed-wetting or drooling until a doctor has checked the child.
- Never swallow the essential oil (the plant's concentrated scented oil).
- Do not use if you have a fever, dark and scanty urine, or burning when you urinate, as these can point to an infection that needs treatment.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor if you have burning when you urinate, blood in your urine, fever, or back pain. These can be signs of an infection and need treatment, not an herb.
Get medical advice if diarrhoea lasts more than a few days, if you see blood in your stool, or if belly pain is sharp or getting worse.
Stop and call your doctor if you notice easy bruising, bleeding gums, or a nosebleed that is hard to stop. Do the same for a rash, swelling or trouble breathing, which can mean an allergic reaction.
Also check in with your doctor if a child's bed-wetting or drooling is new, or is getting worse rather than better.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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