ABSTRACT
Visci Herba， a commonly used Chinese medicinal， was often mistaken as Taxilli Herba in ancient Chinese materia medica. The two Chinese medicinals have often been confused even in present clinical practice， and their origins are difficult to be identified. Hence， it is necessary to carry out systematic and in-depth textual research. This paper explored the origin， producing area， quality evaluation， harvesting and processing， property， flavor， and efficacy of Visci Herba based on ancient Chinese materia medica of the past dynasties and modern plant morphology， so as to provide evidence for the development and utilization of Visci Herba. The findings demonstrated that Visci Herba was mostly recorded as Taxilli Herba until the name of Visci Herba appeared in the Tang Dynasty. The records of the two Chinese medicinals could be traced back to the Song Dynasty. Visci Herba and Taxilli Herba were officially listed as two different Chinese medicinals in the 1977 edition Chinese Pharmacopoeia for the first time， where the origin of Visci Herba was determined to be Viscum coloratum（Komar.）Nakai. According to the ancient Chinese materia medica， V. coloratum was mainly distributed in Lingbao， Henan province and Xuzhou， Jiangsu province and now it mostly grows in Northeast China and North China. In ancient times， Visci Herba with deep yellow cross-section and sticky fruit juice on the tree was preferred， which was often harvested on 3， March in spring， dried in the shade， grinded together with the roots， branches， stems， and leaves using the copper file， and preserved away from fire. By contrast， it is now usually harvested from winter to the next spring and then cut into sections for drying after the removal of thick stems， or dried after being steamed. As described in ancient Chinese materia medica， Visci Herba， bitter and sweet in flavor， neutral in property， possessed the effects of dispelling rheumatism， tonifying kidney， strengthening sinews and bones， benefiting blood vessels， and preventing abortion， basically consistent with its modern functions of dispelling rheumatism， tonifying liver and kidney， strengthening sinews and bones， and preventing abortion.
ABSTRACT
Visci Herba used as traditional Chinese materia medica has a long history. Flavonoids, triterpenoids, phenylpropanoids and so on are the main chemical constituents in Visci Herba. The study shows that Visci Herba has a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as antineoplastic, antineoplastic, hyperglycemic effect, anti-microbial, anti-aging, antioxidant, antiplatelet aggregation, anti-thrombus formation, and improving minicirculation. In this paper, through arrenging the domestic and foreign relevant literatures on Visci Herba systematacially, the chemical constituents from Visci Herba and their pharmacological activities are reviewed, which could provide the reference for the further investigation and development of this plant.