ABSTRACT
Atractylodis Rhizoma is a kind of commonly used clinical Chinese medicine （TCM）， which was first recorded in Shennong Bencaojing （《神农本草经》）. At that time， it was called "Zhu"， which is the general name of Atractylodis Rhizoma and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma. After Song dynasty， Atractylodis Rhizoma and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma were separated. Atractylodis Rhizoma can be divided into Atractylodes lancea and A. chinensis. In history， A. lancea as authentic， that its quality is better than A. chinensis. However， the quality of Atractylodis Rhizoma was evaluated by the index component atractylodin in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The general results showed that the content of atractylodin in A. lancea was low， even failed to meet the specified standard， and its content in A. chinensis was significantly higher than that in A. lancea. The results were inconsistent with the records of ancient books and documents， and the quality theory of "genuine medicine is the best". It could not reflect the quality advantage of genuine Atractylodis Rhizoma， and may even affect the clinical application and development momentum of genuine medicine. In short， the quality standard of TCM should not only conform to the historical experience， but also have the connotation of modern science and technology， which can stand the test of practice. Based on this， the author intends to sort out relevant laws and regulations， sort out the literature related to the authenticity， composition and efficacy of Atractylodis Rhizoma， and analyze the rationality of the current standard of Atractylodis Rhizoma by integrating the relevant records of historical classics and modern research results， so as to provide a basis for the improvement of the quality standard of Atractylodis Rhizoma.
ABSTRACT
Through the combing of ancient books of Chinese herbal medicine in the past dynasties， a textual research of Coptidis Rhizoma involved the name， origin， medicinal parts， producing area， quality evaluation， harvesting and processing methods in famous classical formulas was conducted in this paper. After textual research， the mainstream varieties of Coptidis Rhizoma in the Ranunculaceae family before Tang and Song dynasties were Coptis chinensis and C. chinensis var. brevisepala， after the Ming and Qing dynasties， C. deltoidea， C. teeta and C. omeiensis were gradually praised. In ancient times， the authentic producing area of Coptidis Rhizoma has the characteristics of gradually moving to the west. The eastern Coptidis Rhizoma was highly praised in the early stage， while in the later stage， western Coptidis Rhizoma like chicken feet was highly praised. In the early stage， western Coptidis Rhizoma probably originated from C. chinensis and its genus， while Coptidis Rhizoma like chicken feet was cultivated， and no wild species has been found so far. As Coptidis Rhizoma has mixed use of multiple origins in ancient books of past dynasties， based on the current shortage of market resources in C. teeta and C. deltoidea， there are also endangered and protected plants of C. chinensis var. brevisepala and C. omeiensis， combined with the mainstream medicines and resources of past generations， it is recommended to choose C. chinensis as the base of the formulas. In ancient times， there were many processing methods for Coptidis Rhizoma， such as frying and wine-， ginger-， honey-processed. In the process of developing famous classical formulas， the appropriate processing specifications of Coptidis Rhizoma should be selected based on the original source records and the requirements of the medicinal material.
ABSTRACT
Plantaginis Semen is a traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） commonly used in China， which is one of the authentic medicinal materials in Jiangxi. It has great development prospects. However， the current research on Plantaginis Semen is not in-depth enough， mainly involving chemical components and pharmacological activities. There are few researches on processing and variety of Plantaginis Semen. In order to further develop and utilize the resources of Plantaginis Semen， we summarized 4 varieties that have been studied more at present， the processing contents of Plantaginis Semen in ancient and modern literature were consulted and sorted out， and its processing historical evolution were summarized. The influences of different processing technologies and methods on the chemical composition and pharmacological effects of Plantaginis Semen were analyzed， the possible processing mechanism was discussed. Meanwhile， and the quality evaluation methods of Plantaginis Semen varieties included in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia were summarized. The author mainly analyzed the researches status of Plantaginis Semen and its decoction pieces in the three aspects of variety， processing and quality evaluation， and summarized its current major problems such as insufficient use and development of varieties， unclear processing mechanisms， and undetermined quality evaluation standards. And combined with the national standardization project of TCM to carry out the prospect and analysis for it， in order to solve the problems in the actual production and use of Plantaginis Semen， and provide reference for its further development， production of the high-quality decoction pieces， analysis of the processing mechanism， and establishment of the quality control system.
ABSTRACT
Qizhu, the dried rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala in Compositae family, is the representative wild variety of Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (Baizhu) with modern excellent quality. Through textual research of materia medica works and modern studies, the medication methods between Qizhu and ancient Baizhu were systematically compared. Focusing on seven key issues, this paper systematically summarized the medicinal history, characters, cultivation and other related contents of Qizhu, in order to provide a basis of Qizhu in the recovery and development of its own Daodi-status, and further serve the industrial development of this herb. The name, harvesting time, processing method and other issues had undergone a relatively complicated evolution process. At present, acknowledged points are as following：①The distribution areas of Qizhu include southern areas of the Yangtze River in Anhui province and its surrounding regions. ②Harvesting time is late October. ③Qizhu can be dried in the shade or micro-hot dried after being wrapped with absorbent paper, later it can be divided into two commercial specifications. ④In addition to cutting, there is still a lack of other processing methods. ⑤The superior characters of Qizhu contain white, less oil, fragrant smell and sweet taste and so on. ⑥The history of Qizhu as a genuine medicinal material can be traced back to the Ming dynasty.
ABSTRACT
Zhaoqing city is located in the midwest of Guangdong province,the middle and lower reaches of the mainstream of the Xijiang river.Many species of southern medicines grow very well in the Xijiang river basin of Zhaoqing because of existing of enormous mountainous and hilly areas,loose and fertile soil,warm climate,as well as abundant sunshine and rain.Zhaoqing has a long history of cultivating some species of southern medicines.For example,Cinnamomi Cortex was planted more than 300 years ago in Zhaoqing.Under the advocacy of national policy,the planting scale of some species of southern medicines expanded rapidly since 1980s.Up to now,plantation of the 4 species of southern medicines,namely,Morindae Officinalis Radix,Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus,Polygoni Multiflori Radix and Cinnamomi Cortex,has developed into a important representative industry in Zhaoqing.Zhaoqing also develops into the genuine producing area of this 4 species of southern medicines currently,and these products are sold well at home and abroad.Although great progress has been made in southern medicine industry in Zhaoqing,there still exist lots of problems for its future development,such as scattering planting instead of overall program,impure germplasm resources,plant diseases and insect pests,pesticide residue and pollution of heavy metal,lack of quality control in trading process,as well as absence of deep-processing and additional value of products.This paper analyzes the development status,advantages and problems of southern medicine industry in Zhaoqing,and puts forward some corresponding measures and suggestions.These proposals may have important guiding significance for promoting the development of local southern medicine industry.
ABSTRACT
The origin place and quality of the traditional medicinal materials have been revolutionized in the last hundred years. The cultivated one, loom larger and larger, have become popular, with a result of declined quality, varied origin place, lack of criterion to measure quality, and confused definition usage, etc. The famous-region drug, with a high quality, should be defined not only as the origin place, but also as specific germplasm, ecological condition, and modes of production. On the basis of defining the concept of genuine medicinal materials, optimizing germplasm resources and origin place and strengthening the research of quality formation would be a main route to improve the quality of cultivated medicinal materials and promote the healthy development of traditional Chinese medicine industry.
ABSTRACT
"Xishuang" is a special phenomenon that chemical composition of medicinal materials crystallize on the surface exposed to air for a long time. We summarized Herbal textual research of "Xishuang" phenomenon of six herbs, such as Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus, Moutan Cortex, Atractylodis Rhizoma, Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex, dried persimmon frost and watermelon frost. From historical perspective, cream of Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus was firstly discovered in Lei Gong's Moxibustion Theory. Thereafter, dried persimmon frost was found in Song Dynasty, which was named "white persimmon" in Ben Cao Tu Jing and had become an independent medicine in Compendium of Materia Medica. Then, watermelon frost was found in Yang Yi Da Quan of the Qing Dynasty, and Moutan Cortex's "sand star" was recorded in Zeng Ding Wei Yao Tiao Bian of the Republic of China. After that, "Xishuang" phenomenon of Atractylodis Rhizomaand Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex were reported in 1950s and 1960s in succession. The pattern of "Xishuang" is divided into different type, natural "Xishuang" includes Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus, Moutan Cortex, Atractylodis Rhizoma and Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex, artificial "Xishuang" includes watermelon frost, and dried persimmon frost formed crystals by using artificial intervention. The above 6 kinds of herbs have different crystal structure and chemical composition. Therefore, according to traditional identification experience, "Xishuang" phenomenon is related to varieties and quality of medicinal herbs. These research provide herbalism basis for the modern study of "Xishuang" medicinal materials.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To characterize rhizospheric microbial flora of Hunyuan Astragali Mongolici Radix (HAMR) and to provide scientific evidence for understanding quality formation of the herb. Methods: The soil microbial flora were fingerprinted by automated ribosomal intergenic-spacer analysis (ARISA). The raw data were processed and analyzed by GeneMarker and PAST, respectively. Results: Compared with non-rhizospheric soil flora, the rhizospheric flora from 2-and 3-year-old herbs shifted obviously, and the similarities were decreased but diversities increased. Meanwhile, the flora from 5-year-old herbs had no significant similarity difference to non-rhizospheric ones and their sample rare fraction curves were more consistent with each other. When compared to the ones from other production areas, the flora from HAMR had relatively lower core OTUs but had significantly higher abundance of core OTUs shared by all areas. Conclusion: The structure of rhizospheric microbial flora of HAMR is associated with the herb's age and is quite different from thoes from other areas.
ABSTRACT
Genuine medicinal materials (GMM) is the representative of high quality materials, the particular area, excellent quality, and good efficacy make it into the essence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). But the scientific connotation of the GMM quality and the relationship between the quality and efficacy of GMM are the emphases and difficulty in its study. The evaluation on the theory system of “correlation in quality, curative effect, and metabolism” is carried on the curative effect with GMMs and non-GMMs as research objects and the simultaneous detection of multi-components as means. The “correlation in quality, efficacy, and metabolism” is based on the combination of chemical analysis method, pharmacological model experiment, and mathematical analysis model calculation method. The quality evaluation indexes and methods of GMM are disscused and the quality of GMM is assessed by the various views of absorption, metabolism, and effectiveness of TCM. At first, the fingerprint method to identify and select the quality control components of GMM is adopted and the qualitative and quantitative methods of multi-components in GMM are established in this study. Then the “correlation of quality, curative effect, and metabolism” is experimented through the comparison on physiological animals and model animals, the constituents are comprehensively investigated. Finally, based on the mathematical models for the medicines-related methods, we can get the components with preferred quality control, which associates with the efficacy and the proportional relationship, ascertain the material basis for the efficacy of GMM, establish a scientific optimal quality evaluation system, and provide the new ideas for the research of GMM.
ABSTRACT
The application of plant metabolomic technology in the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMM) was reviewed, using Buplerui Radix, Farfarae Flos, Polygale Radix, and Astragali Radix as genuine medicinal materials. In quality evaluation of TCMM, not only the cluster, but also the differential metabolites between different groups could be revealed simultaneously by metabolomic technology. Thus, plant metabolomic technology is complimentary with fingerprint technology, the characteristics of TCMM could be reflected in quality standards, and the controllability could be also improved. The advantage as well as the prospect is discussed. In addition, the limitations of this technique are pointed and the improvement methods are also suggested.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the differences of the active components of different parts of rhubarb(the head,the body and the end part of the root)from genuine medicinal materials in Gansu province so as to provide theoretical basis for its quality control.METHODS:A comparative study of the fingerprints of different parts of rhubarb extract were conducted by HPLC,in which,the C18 was used as the chromatographic column under room temperature,the mobile phase consisted of menthol-0.1%H3PO4(70∶30)with a flow rate of 1.0ml/min,the column's temperature of room temperature and detection wavel_ ength of 280nm.RESULTS:Significant differences were noted in the HPLC fingerprints of different parts of rhubarb,there were significant differences in the contents of the active components such as emodin,chrysophanol,etc.,the contents decreased progressively from the head of root,the body part to the end part.CONCLUSION:In order to ensure the medical value and the quality of rhubarb medicinal material,different parts of which should be differentiated in the quality control.