Herbal Textual Research on Coptidis Rhizoma in Famous Classical Formulas / 中国实验方剂学杂志

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.