Medicinal Textual Research of Tsaoko Fructus / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Tsaoko Fructus is a type of food with the homology of medicine and food，and has a long history of cultivation and application in China. With the deepening of the development and utilization of Tsaoko Fructus，its economic value has appeared obviously，and relevant industries have great potential，with an important role in poverty alleviation in mountainous areas. However，the plants source of Tsaoko Fructus are confused in the process of actual production and resource utilization，and there is a lack of systematic report about the origin of varieties and medicinal history. The paper focused on a textual research for its names，plant sources，changes of the genuine producing areas and traditional efficacy through consulting the herbal works and the analysis of modern literature. The results showed that the medicine of Tsaoko Fructus was first recorded in ancient literatures of the Song dynasty，and there were many aliases and synonyms of the herb， with a great difference between ancient and modern times. In modern records，the medicinal alias names such as Hongcaoguo，Tucaoguo，Caoguoren are similar with the Chinese name of Caoguo，but they are not the same kind of plant and shall be distinguished. In the Ming dynasty，variety and source of the herb was complicated，and it was often recorded as the same class of medicinal materials with Amomi Fructus Rotundus and Alpiniae Katsumadai Semen，until it was listed as a class of medicinal material and distinguished from confounding medicines in the Qing Dynasty. The prescriptions containing Tsaoko Fructus include Caoguoyin，Caoguosan，Caoguowan，Caoguoshushui. Tsaoko Fructus could be used as medicine with peel or only kernel according to different diseases，and mainly processed with water or wine. In addition，there are other processing methods，such as frying，salt-processing， ginger- processing，simmering flour. Ancient literatures have basically the same records on properties，efficacies and indications of Tsaoko Fructus，considering it was warm in nature with the effect in relieving vomiting，eliminating food，intercepting malaria，expelling phlegm. This study provided a theoretical basis for its origin，quality control and resource development and utilization.