ABSTRACT
Tibetan medicine Edgeworthia gardneri is the flower bud of Edgeworthia gardneri, mainly distributed in the eastern Tibet as well as the northwest and west parts of Yunnan. It is called one of the " Eighteen treasures of Qinghai-Tibet" and has been used in many Tibetan secret recipes for a long time. Nowadays, the local people often drink E. gardneri Meisn tea for blood glucose regulation and health care. In this study, the related papers were searched in CNKI, Wanfang, Weipu, PubMed and other databases by using the keywords " Lv luo hua" and " flower of E. gardneri Meisn" . Then the status quo of the flower of E. gardneri was summarized from three aspects: provenance, chemical compositions and extraction method, as well as efficacy and function. It is found that E. gardneri mainly contains coumarins, flavonoids, polysaccharides and polyphenols. The extraction methods of E. gardneri include ultrasonic extraction, microwave extraction, supercritical CO2 extraction, and bio-enzyme-assisted extraction method, et al. The extraction of flavonoids and polyphenols is more common. In terms of medicinal efficacy, it has many medicinal effects such as regulating blood sugar, lowering blood fat, anti-oxidation, enhancing immunity and anti-tumor. The flower of E. gardneri has broad pharmacological effect, attracting more and more scholars to research it. However, studies on its medicinal effectiveness both at home and abroad are mainly focusing on it' s crude extractions or extracts, with no in-depth studies on action mechanism. This review aims to summarize the provenance, main chemical compositions and extraction methods, efficacy and effect of the flower of E. gardneri, especially focusing on the research on the medicinal efficacy and mechanism of the flower of E. gardneri, and provide a reference for the further research of the flower of E. gardneri.