Fo-ti is a flowering vine in the smartweed family that is native
to China but cultivated elsewhere. Our fo-ti root is processed, which
means that it has been cured by simmering in a black bean liquid.
Processed fo-ti root contains carbohydrate-binding proteins called
lectins, so-named from the Latin word legere because they select and
attach to carbohydrates arrangements on cells and behave like
antibodies, although they don’t generate allergy symptoms. The root also
contains a number of anthraquinones, including emodin.
