ABSTRACT
The health bene ts of medicinal wines such as herbal wines have a long history of being recognized in Asian countries, and are now getting attention from all around the world. Medicinal wines (liquors) refer to a transparent medicinal liquid obtained by using wine as a solvent to soak out the effective components from herbs, animal or insect parts, or from other medicinal materials. The purpose of medicinal wine is to fortify the medicinal herbal function by extracting the functional components with wine and then condensing the extract, concentrating the effective agent. Because wine or liquor itself has an effect of stimulating blood circulation and relaxing muscles and joints, it can be used to treat general asthenia (loss of strength), rheumatic pain, and traumatic injury. Wines (or liquors) are used not only as beverages, but also as vehicles to preserve medicinal herbal activity. In addition, alcohol in wine is a
17.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 417 17.2 Health Bene ts of Medicinal Wines (or Liquors) ......................................... 418 17.3 History of Medicinal Wines (or Liquors) ..................................................... 419 17.4 Wine (or Liquor) Selections .......................................................................... 421 17.5 Selections of Herbals and Other Medicinal Materials .................................424 17.6 Some Famous Medicinal Wines (Liquors) with Animal and Insect Materials ............................................................................................424
