Ox Gallstones Sierra Leone

Ox Gallstones Sierra Leone are extracted from cattle’s intestines. They have to be thoroughly washed to remove blood clots, impurities and other imperfections before drying them in a dark environment for two weeks at 20 degrees Celsius.

The stones are sold according to their dryness, colour, texture and size. Whole, smooth, golden and lustrous specimens attract the highest price.

Origin

Gallstones are a natural byproduct of bile extraction in cattle, and are collected during the eviscera table process at abattoirs. They can be found in cattle of all ages, but are most commonly found in older animals, like cows and bulls.

They are surprisingly light in weight, despite the appearance of river pebbles. They are about 75 percent water when first retrieved, and will lose a lot of their weight as they dry out. They are also very rare. Those that are found at meatworks tend to be small, pea-sized, and only appear on the kill floor of plants where a lot of cattle are killed.

Regardless of their rarity, they have a real value. They can be worth up to $20,000 a kilogram, if they are well-preserved and of good quality.

The value of individual stones depends on their dryness, colour, texture and size. Whole, smooth, lustrous golden specimens attract the highest price. Dark and pitted stones, as well as those with calcium inclusions, are of lower value.

The best quality gallstones can be sold to Hong Kong importers for a HK$19,000 per tael, or US$65 per gram. However, beware of online sellers who may not deliver what they promise. It is recommended that buyers only deal with registered vendors. Beef Central advises caution when entering into any online transaction with individuals around the world seeking to trade in gallstones.

Purpose

A MONTH since a Queensland abattoir was charged with stealing gallstones, Beef Central has received queries from readers wondering how they can benefit from this cattle byproduct. It’s a reasonable question to ask.

Gallstones are a precious Chinese herbal medicine found in the gall bladder of cattle. They are harvested at the abattoir during the bile extraction process on the eviscera table. The gallstones are then dried to remove all moisture. They are either sold in their natural form, or they are combined with other ingredients to create a propriety Chinese medicine.

They are extremely rare and incredibly valuable. They have an international market of more than a million dollars a kilogram.

The value of these gems varies according to their dryness, colour and size. Whole, smooth, lustrous golden specimens are most expensive, but dark and pitted stones also attract considerable interest.

One of the biggest markets for these elusive items is Hong Kong, where they are used as an ingredient in a variety of proprietary Chinese medicines. They are reportedly worth HK$19,000 for one tael, which equates to US$65 per gram.

Despite their high demand, the supply of ox gallstones is incredibly low, especially in China. There are only about a metric ton produced domestically each year. That is why they are being imported from other countries to fill the gap. The demand for this commodity has triggered the emergence of artificial gallstones, which are made by chemical or cultured means. However, they are not as good or as medicinally effective as natural ones.

Medicinal value

The medicinal value of Ox Gallstones Sierra Leone is a widely-recognized, highly sought-after ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). It is a sedative and antipyretic, with anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. It is often used to treat hepatic problems, such as jaundice and biliary obstructions. It is also an effective treatment for fever, bronchitis, and pneumonia.

Ox gallstones, also known as ox bezoars or “calculus bovis,” were first recorded in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic during the Qin and Western Han Dynasties. They are one of the most popular and valuable drugs in Chinese medicine.

In TCM, ox gallstones were a therapeutically effective drug for treating a large number of disorders. They were believed to be effective in curing hepatic disease, syphilis, and typhoid fever. They were a common ingredient in more than 154 traditional Chinese herbal preparations.

There are several kinds of ox gallstones. They vary in size and texture. They can be soft, hard, or brittle and vary in color. Based on their size and texture, they were classified into three groups: Sheng Huang, Zhong Huang, and Xin Huang.

Sheng Huang were the largest and most expensive kind of ox gallstones. These were obtained from oxen during their victualing, during the necropsy after a sick ox was killed, or from the intrahepatic bile ducts. They were often described as being soft, like the yolk of an egg.

These were the most expensive type of ox gallstones, but they were very difficult to get. There were many people who tried to pass off camel gallstones as ox gallstones, but these did not have the same medicinal benefits as the true ox gallstones.

Another way to obtain gallstones was to collect them from abattoirs. During the collection of oxen for victualing, they were washed to remove any blood or impurities and dried in a well-ventilated dark room at 20 degrees C for two to three weeks. They were then flipped regularly for better drying and to avoid them sticking together.

There are also methods for artificially producing ox gallstones, which can be manufactured in a laboratory and placed in the stomach of an ox. These ox gallstones are similar to naturally occurring gallstones and exhibit identical chemical composition, therapeutic effects, and immunomodulatory properties.

Market

Earlier this week, the media were abuzz with reports that Australian slaughter plants were making a fortune out of gallstones harvested from cattle. The implication was that the processors were making up to $20,000 per kilogram. But the reality is much less extravagant.

Firstly, the amount of gallstones found in Australia’s cow kills – which are typically several thousand head a week – is incredibly small. One of the country’s leading dealers in gallstones, which has a worldwide monopoly on the white market, estimates that only 200kg a year is collected from cattle in Australia.

This tiny amount translates to little more than $6 per head of cattle. That’s a drop in the bucket of the head-to-tail business model that abattoirs are so keen to adopt.

And that’s not to mention the other byproducts – horns, hooves and blood, which are all part of the cattle kill as well – that feed into their profit margins. So it’s no surprise that the gutties at meat processing plants around Australia have cottoned on to the booming ox gallstone market.

While there’s no doubt that Chinese interest in bilirubin-based medicines has fuelled an ever-growing appetite for cattle gallstones in the West, the price is unlikely to go down any time soon. It’s likely that as long as wage growth in China falls as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, there will be a steady stream of gutties tempted to rob their bosses of even more profit.

But if you’re looking to snag some of those precious stones yourself, beware: despite the apparent ease of entry into the darkmarket – and a seemingly low risk of theft – it can be worth your while to take a few precautions before laying your money down. It’s worth noting that gallstones are photosensitive, so storing them in a dark location and drying them out before selling them can help preserve their value.

It’s also worth noting that the quality of the stones themselves will determine their value, so the more pristine they are, the higher the payout will be. Moreover, they can be extremely delicate–and even breakable–if not handled with care.

Ox Gallstones Sierra Leone