Herbal Textual Research on Menthae Haplocalycis Herba in Famous Classical Formulas / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

In this paper， the name， origin， producing area and other aspects of Menthae Haplocalycis Herba in the famous classical formulas were carried out by consulting herbal literature， medical books， prescription books in the past dynasties and related modern documents. Through the textual research， it can be seen that the name of Bohe was used as the correct name in the mainstream of the past dynasties， and there were still multiple synonyms， most of which originated from the false transmission of dialectal accent， producing area and efficacy. There are many varieties recorded in the literature of the past dynasties such as Bohe， Longnao Bohe， Hubohe and Shibohe. According to the textual research， Bohe， Longnao Bohe and Yebohe are consistent with Mentha haplocalyx， whcih is the mainstream variety. Longnao Bohe is named for its form of producing area， Shibohe is Mosla chinensis， Daye Bohe is Agastache rugosa， and Nanbohe is M. crispata. Menthae Haplocalycis Herba has been widely planted since Tang dynasty. It was mainly grown in Jiangsu， Zhejiang， Jiangxi and Sichuan in Ming and Qing dynasties， and Jiangsu is the genuine production area. Its quality is best if it has dry body， no roots， many leaves， green color and strong smell. In ancient times， the stems and leaves of Menthae Haplocalycis Herba were often picked and dried in summer and autumn， which is basically the same as the records of modern times when the stems and leaves are luxuriant in summer and autumn， or when the flowers bloom to three rounds， they are picked in sunny days and cut in different times， and then dried in the sun or in the shade， and the raw products was often used as medicine in ancient and modern times. Before the Song dynasty， Menthae Haplocalycis Herba was recorded as pungent and warm. Until the Song dynasty， it was written as “extremely cool” in Lyuchanyan Bencao. It may have been thought in the early stage that it was similar to several warm herbs， such as Perilla frutescens， Stachys japonica， Elsholtzia ciliata and M. chinensis in appearance， all of which have the function of Xinsan， so it was recorded as warm. Since the Qing dynasty， Menthae Haplocalycis Herba has been recorded as cool property in the mainstream materia medica， Menthae Haplocalycis Herba recorded as pungent and cool in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， and its effect is to dissipate wind heat， clear the head， relieve the pharynx and so on， the records of efficacy in ancient and modern times are basically the same. Based on the research results， it is suggested that raw products of M. haplocalyx should be selected when developing the famous classical formulas containing Menthae Haplocalycis Herba.