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

ABSTRACT

By reviewing ancient materia medica， prescription books， medical books and modern literature， this article makes a systematic textual research on the name， origin， commercial specification， producing area， harvesting and processing of Scutellariae Radix used in famous classical formulas according to the historical development， in order to provide a reference for the development and utilization of famous classical formulas. Scutellariae Radix was first named as Qian， Qin and so on， while Huangqin was used as the official name in ancient literature， as well as many aliases such as Fuchang， Huangwen and Dufu. The main origin of Scutellariae Radix in the past dynasties was Scutellaria baicalensis， and other Scutellaria plants were also used for Scutellariae Radix at different times. The medicinal parts of Scutellariae Radix in all dynasties are roots， since the Northern and Southern dynasties， it has gradually differentiated into Ziqin and Kuqin with different efficacy according to their different growth stages and characteristics， and continued to this day. At present， most of Scutellariae Radix are Ziqin in the market， due to the influence of cultivation cost， index component content requirements and other factors. The production area of Scutellariae Radix recorded in ancient literature was wide and gradually expanded from the Yangtze River basin to the northward. Since modern times， Chengde city of Hebei province has been respected as a geo-authentic area， now S. baicalensis is cultivated in a wide area， spreading over north and northeast China. Scutellariae Radix was mostly used as raw products in the early period， and a variety of processed products appeared in the Ming dynasty. Development continues to this day， Scutellariae Radix mainly includes raw products and wine-processed products. According to the research conclusion， it is suggested that S. baicalensis should be used as Scutellariae Radix in famous classical formulas， and the selection of its commercial specifications and processed products can be comprehensively determined according to the requirements of original prescription and the clinical effect.