Harvesting and Primary Processing in Fritillaria Medicinal Materials： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Chinese medicinal material from Fritillaria， Beimu in Chinese， is a commonly used antitussive and expectorant traditional Chinese herbal medicine， with the significant functions of clearing heat and moistening lung，resolving phlegm and relieving cough. Five kinds of Fritillaria were recorded in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， including Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus， Fritillariae Ussuriensis Bulbus， Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus， Fritillariae Hupehensis Bulbus and Fritillariae Pallidiflorae Bulbus. At present， the reports on Fritillaria mainly focus on the pharmacological effect， chemical composition， identification of authenticity and other aspects， while there were few reports on harvesting and primary processing of original medicinal materials. Fritillaria medicines were perennial medicinal plant with various and complex varieties， their quality and curative effect were greatly affected by harvesting and processing in producing area. The processing method differed according to its variety. Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus mainly from western Sichuan plateau， Fritillariae Pallidiflorae Bulbus from Xinjiang and Fritillariae Ussuriensis Bulbus from Northeast China were mostly harvested from June to July and sun dried directly or dried. But Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus and Fritillariae Hupehensis Bulbus from Yangtze River basin were harvested when the plants wilted at the beginning of summer， and auxiliary materials such as shell powder and lime must be added during the processing. At present， the drying methods of Fritillaria were still traditional， which is not suitable for large-scale production of cultivated products. Therefore， it is urgent to find a scientific， reasonable and efficient processing methods. Aimed at providing references for standardization production of Fritillaria， this paper made a textual research on the ancient and modern herbal literature， the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and other medicinal standards， combined with modern literature， the harvesting and processing methods of Fritillaria were sorted out and prospected.