Study on Fresh Herb Processing and Application Methods on the Basis of Shengcao Yaoxing Beiyao / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To briefly analyze the fresh herb processing and application methods in Shengcao Yaoxing Beiyao, and to offer references for modern fresh herb application. METHODS:All 311 herbs stated in Shengcao Yaoxing Beiyao were stud-ied individually to record their processing and application methods from property and performance. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS:19 fresh herb processing methods and 25 application methods were recorded in this book. The 19 fresh herb processing methods in-cluded juicing method,mud method,soaking method,water-boiling method,wine-boiling method,ten-steaming and nine-basking method,carbon method,burning-ash method,chewing method,mincing method,cooking method,and so on. The 25 application methods of fresh herbs included applying,scraping,painting,sticking,washing,spreading,immersing,bathing,ear-dropping, fuming,oral administration with wine,mouth-keeping,juice-drinking,boiling,water-boiling-drinking and tea-drinking,frying, decocting,toasting,steaming,blending,stewing,oral administration with tea,pastry,brewing,alleviating fishy smell,and so on. It is necessary to strengthen the origins research and re-research of herbs,and develop several empirical studies about the influ-ence for fresh herbs’effective ingredient quantitative change by their processing methods,and the influence for fresh herbs’phar-macology index by application methods,in order to form intellectual property.

Research Progress in She Medicine Fresh Herb Tea / 中国药师

Objective:To investigate the biological characteristics, wild resources distribution, chemical constituents, pharmacologi-cal effects and clinical application of She medicine fresh herb tea. Methods: The related literatures on fresh herb tea in CNKI, CBM, Wanfang and Vip database from 1989 to 2014 were sunmmrized and analyzed. Results:Fresh herb tea showed narrow distribution, and mainly contained volatile oils, alkaloids and flavonoids etc with the effects of antioxidant, immune regulation, antibiosis and so on. Con-clusion:The researches on the chemical composition of fresh herb tea provide reliable basis for the separation and extraction of specific chemical components, which also provide reliable support for the development of health products and other products containing fresh herb tea.

High-potency Anti-influenza Therapy by a Combination of Echinacea purpurea fresh herb and root tinctures.

The medicinal plant Echinacea purpurea (EP) contains potent antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities, which are believed to be responsible for the efficacy of such preparations in the treatment of colds and ‘flu. To determine to what extent the processes of drying, composition and extraction could affect this efficacy, different parts of fresh and dried EP plants: herb, root, flower heads and petals, were separately extracted and evaluated for activity against Influenza virus. Maximal activity was obtained from freshly extracted herb, while root extracts showed no such activity. The observed antiviral activity did not correlate with the total dry mass, or the cichoric acid, rutoside, total phenols or alkylamide content. The latter however appears to be responsible for the antiinflammatory effects of the root extracts. Thus, the parallel extraction of antiviral and anti-inflammatory substances from fresh EP herb and root could represent an optimized combination for the treatment of influenza infections.