ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the correlation of the botanical characteristics， biological characteristics， habitat， and medicinal property and efficacy of parasitic Chinese medicines， underpin quality evaluation based on property differentiation， and provide references for the development and utilization of parasitic medicinal plant resources. Method:The origin， property and meridian tropism， parasitic type， and the efficacy of the common of parasitic Chinese medicines were summarized. The frequencies of parasitic Chinese medicines in Qingfei Paidu decoction，<italic> Medicine Food Homology</italic>， <italic>Catalogue of Ancient Classical Formulas （the first batch）</italic>， and the 2020 edition of <italic>Chinese Pharmacopoeia</italic> were statistically analyzed. Excel 2013 and SPSS Statistics 23.0 were employed for statistical research. Result:The ranking results of parasitic Chinese medicines are listed below： root parasitism>stem parasitism>root hemiparasitism>symbiosis=saprophytism according to the parasitic type， plain>warm>cool>cold， no heat involved according to nature， sweet>bitter>pungent>sour=salt， with one sweet-pungent， one sweet-bitter， one sweet-salt， and one bitter-salt Chinese medicine according to flavor， kidney>liver>large intestine>spleen>lung>heart=bladder， no small intestine meridian involved according to meridian tropism. Conclusion:Parasitic Chinese medicines were mostly root-parasitic， plain in nature， sweet in flavor， and entered kidney meridian， with main effects of dispelling wind-dampness， nourishing liver and kidney， clearing heat， and removing toxin. The morphology， habit， and habitat of parasitic Chinese medicine were correlated with the property and efficacy. This study is expected to provide comprehensive references and a theoretical basis for in-depth research， clinical application， and resource development.
ABSTRACT
This mini-review aims to outlining the beneficial impacts of the witch-weed parasitic plant; Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. S. hermonthica plant beside its well-known devastating impacts on the most important food cereal crops in Africa and is deemed to be one of the main factors that threatens the food security in this continent; it does also have a beneficial side in the tradition medicine for the African people. S. hermonthica has a wide range of medicinal uses; the pharmacological abortificient effect, dermatosis, diabetes, leprosy ulcer, pneumonia and jaundice remedy, trypanocidal effects, antibacterial and anti-plasmoidal activities have been approved. Here, we focus mainly in the phytochemical studies, its applications in the remediation of both animal and human physiological and infectious diseases and Striga tissue culture advantage as biotechnological application for pharmaceutical production.
ABSTRACT
The pattern of genetic variation among populations of two Orobanche gracilis Sm. taxa (var. gracilis and var. deludens (Beck) A. Pujadas) from Northern and Southern Spain growing on different hosts was analysed using RAPD markers. The diversity analysis within populations revealed a higher level of diversity in the populations from the North when compared to the Southern ones. The results of principal co-ordinate analysis (PCoA) based on Dice distances among samples clearly established the separation of samples according to the taxonomical variety and the geographical origin of each population. The Southern populations of both var. gracilis and var. deludens were more differentiated among them than those of var. gracilis from the North. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the lowest level of population differentiation was found in O. gracilis var. gracilis from the North, whereas in the case of O. gracilis var. deludens from the South most of the genetic diversity was attributable to differences among populations. Possible explanations for the distribution of variation in these populations are discussed.