Medicinal Herbs

Ampelopsis Extract

Ampelopsis cantoniensis

Ampelopsis (Ampelopsis cantoniensis), known in Vietnam as chè dây, is a climbing vine whose tendrils divide into two or three branches and sit opposite the leaves. It is common in mountainous provinces including Lào Cai, Cao Bằng, Quảng Ninh, Ninh Bình, Bảo Lộc, Biên Hoà and Đồng Nai. The leaves are pinnate, with three to eleven ovate leaflets marked by white speckles beneath; the flowers are small, in forked cymes, and the berries turn red when ripe. Leaves and branches are the parts collected, cut to half-centimetre to one-centimetre lengths and dried in sun or drier. In many areas it is decocted or infused as an everyday drink.