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

ABSTRACT

By reviewing ancient materia medica， medical books， prescription books and modern literature， the herbal textual research of Sanguisorbae Radix has been conducted to verify the name， origin， evolution of scientific name， producing area， harvesting time， quality evaluation and processing methods. Through herbal textual research， the name of Diyu was first published in the Shennong Bencaojing， and has been used as the proper name of this herb for generations since then. The origin of the mainstream Diyu of previous generations was the roots of Sanguisorba officinalis or its variant S. officinalis var. longifolia. In ancient times， this herb was preferred to those with soft and fat roots， according to this characteristic， its origin should be S. officinalis var. longifolia. In modern literature， the root is preferred to those with thick， hard， pink or red sections， without rhizomes or fibrous roots， according to these characteristics， its origin should be S. officinalis. Most of the time， the past generation used Diyu directly. Occasionally， Sanguisorbae Radix was processed by frying with vinegar， baking or other methods. Since the Qing dynasty， the carbonized products has appeared and has continued to now. Based on research， it is recommended that the roots of S. officinalis var. longifolia should be used in the development of famous classical formulas， and the processing method should be selected according to the formula.