Ox Gallstones Lesotho

Ox gallstones are a precious Chinese herbal medicine. They can be sold as natural gallstones or combined with other ingredients to form a propriety Chinese medicine.

Since Monday’s story about theft of gallstones from an abattoir, many social media users have asked why the cattle industry produces so few of these valuable stones.

Value

Gallstones are precious stones that form in the gallbladder or bile ducts of animals. They contain a crystalline substance called bilirubin. This pigment is a key component of bile, and has been used as an ingredient in a number of traditional Chinese medicine drugs for centuries.

In traditional Chinese medicine, bilirubin has long been considered to have a broad range of effects, including anti-pyretic, anti-convulsive, analgesic, diuretic, and anti-inflamatory. These qualities, in addition to their abrasive properties, also make gallstones desirable for use as an exfoliant or detoxifier.

But despite their medicinal value, the actual supply of these valuable stones is rather limited. According to Beef Central, the entire Australian cattle industry produces only 200 kilograms of bovine gallstones a year. This means that ox gallstones are among the rarest commodities on the market, and therefore highly prized by traders and buyers.

The price of these precious rocks can vary greatly, depending on their shape, size and quality. Dark, pitted and broken ones are typically worth less than full-bodied, golden specimens.

Similarly, if a rock is slightly damp, its value drops significantly. These pitfalls can be avoided by storing and drying stones in a dark, well-ventilated area. Ideally, the gallstones should be placed in hermetically sealed biscuit tins or egg cartons for storage before shipping.

One shopper at Katherine meatworks in the Northern Territory had a distinct memory of an old-time Chinese gent visiting the plant to buy gallstones, bringing along a set of ornate jeweller’s scales and keeping his collection in a Log Cabin tin in his back pocket. He’d then sell them on to a buyer, who would appraise them one by one–assessing their shape, size and colour; whether they had any imperfections or lumps of calcite–and then lay them out on the table in order of most to least valuable.

A similar story played out at a nearby abattoir, where an employee was caught on camera carrying a large bin filled with ox gallstones, worth around $20,000 a kilogram in Australia. The stolen rocks were believed to be a result of an organised crime scheme.

Origin

Ox Gallstones Lesotho are a type of bile stone that forms in the gall bladders of cattle. These stones can be retrieved during the bile extraction process on the eviscera table at abattoirs.

They are usually egg-shaped or pyramid shaped and come in various colors, like brown, gray, black and pink. Occasionally, they can be as big as a hen’s egg and weigh up to 100 grams.

These stones are usually a solid, hard substance that consists mainly of calcium bilirubinate. They are a popular Chinese medicine and have been used for thousands of years to treat several diseases.

The most common use of these stones is for the treatment of fever and other inflammatory conditions. They have also been shown to have antipyretic, anticonvulsive, and antihypertensive properties.

This is one of the reasons why these stones are highly sought after by pharmaceutical companies. This is because they have a wide range of therapeutic applications and are considered a valuable addition to medical formulas.

Some of the other common uses of ox gallstones include treatment for bile reflux, constipation, diarrhea, and stomach pain. They are also helpful in treating rheumatism and arthritis.

While ox gallstones are the most expensive of all animal biles, they have been a staple for centuries in China. These gallstones are made of calcium bilirubinate and are one of the most important medicinal substances in traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

However, it is difficult to find enough of these natural ox gallstones to meet the demand for their medicinal properties. Therefore, a number of methods have been developed to produce these artificial ox gallstones from fresh ox gallbladder bile. These artificial ox gallstones can be prepared ex vivo or in situ. These artificial ox gallstones have been clinically proven to be as effective as spontaneously forming ox gallstones.

The price of these ox gallstones fluctuates with the market and depends on their quality. Some of these stones can be worth hundreds of dollars while others can be as little as a dollar per gram. Hence, it is very important to buy ox gallstones from reliable suppliers.

Types

Gallstones are small crystallised stones of cholesterol, bile pigment and calcium salts that form in the gallbladder of the human or animal. They are common and not usually dangerous, but they may cause problems if they block ducts in the liver or pancreas. The stones can be large and hard to pass or small and soft. They occur most commonly in overweight people and in people with a family history of gallstones.

When a person suffers from gallstones, he or she often feels sick, has pain and is unable to eat. Surgery is sometimes necessary, such as a cholecystectomy, to remove the gallbladder and ducts if they are blocked or infected.

A lot of cattle have gallstones – especially older cows and bulls, because they have more gallstones than young ones. But they are very rare to find in young yearlings, because they are not yet able to produce enough bile for them to form the stones.

It is not easy to sell ox gallstones in Lesotho. They are very high in demand but the quality and quantity of ox gallstones vary greatly from one plant to another, depending on access to bore water, number and type of plants, and so on.

The best quality ox gallstones are smooth, bright, lustrous, golden in colour and whole in size. They are worth the highest prices; dark and pitted stones have less value. Stones with white calcium inclusions are also of lesser value.

Most gallstones are harvested from the bile ducts of slaughtered cattle in the abattoir, after being retrieved during the bile extraction process on the eviscera table. They can be round, egg shaped, square or pyramid shaped or as tubes from the bile ducts.

They are very popular as a Chinese herbal medicine, which can be used to treat and cure diseases such as sore throats and fevers. They can be dried, crushed and mixed with other ingredients, and are pressed into pills.

The price of these’stones’ is high, as they are in high demand and the domestic supply is not sufficient to satisfy the growing Chinese market for propriety Chinese medicines containing bilirubin. As a result, there has been a recent emergence of synthetic/ artificial gallstones in China.

Processing

MONDAY’s story about an abattoir employee being charged with stealing gallstones (click here to read original story) has triggered an outpouring of interest in what these small crystals are worth, and how they’re obtained. The rapacious gutties who steal the coveted stones can walk away with up to $20,000 per kilogram.

The value of gallstones depends on the size, colour and dryness of the stone. Whole, smooth, lustrous golden specimens attract the highest prices. Dark and pitted stones are of reduced value.

There are a variety of ways to process these gems. First they are separated from other waste products in the gut and then washed thoroughly with cold water to remove blood clots, impurities etc. They are then dried in a dark and well ventilated room at a temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius for two to three weeks. This requires moving them regularly to avoid them sticking together.

These are then packed in hermetically sealed bags and shipped to China. They are used in a number of Chinese medicines including Coptisroot, Rhinohorn, Animalic Musk and natural Indigo.

A major challenge for the Chinese is to find enough natural gallstones to supply their demand. They require about 100 metric tons of the stuff each year for their proprietary medicines, and domestic production is only a fraction of that.

As a result, gallstones are a hot commodity in the Chinese market and are often sold as a propriety Chinese medicine or mixed with other ingredients as a herbal supplement. Ox gallstones have a high demand and are one of the most important sources of calcium bilirubin, which is a key component of these pharmaceuticals.

The Chinese government is promoting the use of bilirubin in a variety of products and as such gallstones are expected to be in high demand in the near future. As such, cattle processors in the United States should take a close look at this lucrative market as it’s unlikely to drop anytime soon.

Ox Gallstones Lesotho