Analysis and prospect of correlation between relative molecular weight and efficacy of polysaccharides from medicinal plant resources

The sustainable use of medicinal plants is the foundation of the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) and the acquisition of information on medicinal plants is the basis for the development of TCM. The traditional methods of investigating medicinal plant resources are disadvantageous in strong subjectivity and poor timeliness, making it difficult to real-time monitor medicinal plant resources. In recent years, remote sensing technology has become an important means of obtaining information on medicinal plants. The application of this technology has made up for the shortcomings of traditional methods. The open-access remote sensing data with medium spatial resolution satellites provide an opportunity for extracting information on medicinal plant resources. This study firstly introduced the principles of remote sensing technology, summarized the satellites and the parameters commonly used in the field of medicinal plant resources, and compared the survey methods of remote sensing technology with traditional methods. Secondly, it reviewed the applications of remote sensing technology in the extraction of information on the cultivation of medicinal plants and the common methods for extracting the planting structure information of medicinal plants based on remote sensing technology. Thirdly, the applications of remote sensing technology in the investigation and monitoring of medicinal plants were further analyzed with the research objects divided into wild and cultivated medicinal plants according to the characteristics of the habitats. Finally, it pointed out the key unsolved technical problems in the remote sensing monitoring of medicinal plant resources, and proposed solutions for the intelligent information processing of medicinal plants based on remote sensing big data, which is expected to provide references for the development of remote sensing technology in derivative application in medicinal plant resources.

Mutagens present in the environment manifest toxic effects and are considered as serious threat for human health and healthcare. Recent reports reveal that medicinal plant resources are being explored for identifying potent antimutagenic as well as cancer preventing agents. There is mounting evidence that cancer and other mutation-related diseases can be prevented with the use of medicinal pant resources including crude extracts, active fractions, phytochemicals, and pure phytomolecules. These medicinal plant resources possessing antimutagenic potentials have been shown to target molecular mechanisms underlying the mutagenic impacts. Technological advents and high-throughput screening/activity methods have revolutionized this field, though several potent plants and their active principles have been reported as effective antimutagens. The translational success rate needs to be improved, but the trends are encouraging. In this review, we present the current understandings and updates on various mutagens in the environment, toxicities related/attributed to them, the resultant mutations (and cancer), and how medicinal plants come to the rescue. A perspective review has been presented on whether and how medicinal plant resources can be an effective approach for addressing mutagens in the environment. An account of medicinal plant resources used as antimutagenic agents has been given along with the underlying mechanism of action and their therapeutic potential in various models of cancer. Recent success stories, current challenges, and future prospects are discussed.

The medicinal plant resource reserve refers to the natural resources of medicinal plants in a certain time and a certain region within the scope of the volume. In recent years, with the demand of medicinal plant resources surging and the change of the environment and human intervention factors, the medicinal plant resources reserve had accelerated pace of change. It is the prerequisite and basis for the development and utilization of medical plants that how to quickly and accurately attain reserve of some medicinal plants resources, the selection of suitable and accurate estimating method is reliable basis and can guarantee medicinal plant reserve survey, and also is one of the key reserve investigation of success. This paper systematically summarized the estimation method of medicinal plants in recent 30 years, and discussed the basic principle, the estimation model of development and evolution, advantages and disadvantages and applicability, and it aimed to improve the accuracy about reserves survey of medicinal plant resources, and provide scientific and reliable support data to medicinal plants resources for sustainable development and utilization of resources.

This study is based on the data analysis of medicinal plant resources and diversity collected from the fourth Chinese traditional medicine resource survey( pilot). Through the analysis of relevant data from 33 census pioneer plots in Guizhou province( area),a total of 265 families,1 432 genera and 5 296 species of medicinal resources were reported,including algae,fungi,lichens,mosses,a total of 43 genera and 35 families,57,48 families,120 genera and 453 species of ferns,gymnosperms 11 families,22 genera and 61 species,167 families,1 243 genera and 4 721 species of angiosperms,4 genera and 4 families four medicinal animals.Compared with the data related to the third survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources,the number of ferns,gymnosperms and angiosperms in the fourth survey has increased far more than that of the third survey. From the regional distribution of medicinal resources,the composition of the genus,the type of life,and the location of the medicine,the richness of the medicinal plant resources in Guizhou province is not only reflected in many types,but also in the variety of medicinal resources. These studies provide a scientific basis for vigorously developing the Chinese herbal medicine industry and the sustainably using medicinal plant resources in Guizhou province.

The protection, development, and utilization of medicinal plant resources are important cornerstones of maintaining human health. However, due to factors such as the reduction of high-quality land resources, deterioration of ecological environments, and excessive and disorderly resource development, medicinal plant resources are becoming scarce, and some of them are insufficiently supplied. With the proposal of "the Belt and Road" Initiative, the cooperation between China and "the Belt and Road" partners(the countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative)is increasingly close, which provides a new opportunity for carrying out trade of medicinal plant resources and alleviating the problem of imbalance and relative inadequacy of medicinal plant resources in countries. This study first determined the distribution and species information of plant resources in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative by investigating the database of plant distribution and that of medicinal plant resources. Then, according to the published data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES), this study identified the rare and endangered medicinal plants and the medicinal plants under trade control in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative and finally sorted out the list of potential medicinal plant resources in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative that can be used by China. This data resource can not only be used for the overall protection of important endangered species but also scientifically guide the development and utilization of medicinal resources, providing guidance and a theoretical basis for the sustainable development of medicinal plant resources in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative.

Among the more than 10,000 kinds of medicinal plant resources in China, there are many precious and endangered medicinal materials, and varied plant resources suitable for using in landscape design. The rational application of medicinal plant resources in landscape engineering is of great significance in many aspects, such as increasing landscape design, improving environment, and providing resources for scientific research and popular science. However, there lack of summaries and comments on the application of medicinal plant resources in landscape engineering. This paper summarizes the significance of the application of Chinese medicinal resources in landscape design and the categories of garden medicinal plant resources. It also elucidates the using of three kinds of garden medicinal plant resources as to improve the ecological environment, to release fragrance, and to supply medicine and food. Moreover, it summarized the application of medicinal plant resources in the configuration of specialized gardens of medicinal plants, the configuration of characteristic landscapes of botanical gardens, the configuration of characteristic landscape for urban gardens and the configuration for horticultural therapy. Finally, it discusses some problems existing in the application of medicinal plant resources in landscape designing and prospects the development of medicinal plants in landscape designing, in order to provide a basis for more scientific and more extensive application of medicinal plants in landscape designing.

Isolation, structures and bioactivities of the polysaccharides from Radix Hedysari: A review

Polysaccharides are natural polymers that widely exist in medicinal plants. Polysaccharides are complex molecules composed of long chains of monosaccharide units joined by glycosidic bonds from a structural point of view. Modern pharmacological research shows that the molecular weight (MW) of polysaccharides is closely related to their bioactivity. This review summarizes the preparation and detection methods of medicinal plant polysaccharides with different molecular weights. Subsequently, the paper analyzed the general experience of the correlation between bioactivity and their relative MW of polysaccharides from medicinal plants. The results showed that the polysaccharides with large relative MW (>100kDa) play a leading role in immune regulation. Polysaccharides with medium relative MW (10-100kDa) play a leading role in the protection of the liver. Polysaccharides with small relative MW (<10kDa) play a leading role in the antioxidant effect, regulation of intestinal flora, and regulation of blood glucose. Consequently, the precise development of polysaccharides from medicinal plant resources based on relative MW is expected to be a shortcut for searching high biological activities of polysaccharides and provide a theoretical reference for polysaccharide research.

The study aims at exploring the composition and characteristics of the medicinal plant resources of six major ethnic minorities living in Xishuangbanna, as well as the characteristics of traditional utilization of ethnic medicine, and promote the rational protection and inheritance and utilization of ethnic medicine resources and traditional knowledge. Based on the fourth survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, through the methods of literature collection, interviewing and field investigation, this paper analyzed the data of the types, medicinal parts and attending diseases of medicinal plant resources of Dai, Hani, Jinuo, Wa, Lahu and Bulang nationalities. The results showed that there were 1 048 medicinal plant resources of the six ethnic minorities, and the medicinal plants were 735, 497, 272, 295, 280 and 49 in the six nationalities, respectively. The cross-use of medicinal plants among the six nationalities accounted for 62.45%, 78.07%, 88.60%, 87.46%, 82.25% and 95.92%, respectively. The main medicinal plants used by the six major ethnic minorities are root and rhizome, whole grass, leaf and stem. Various ethnic medicinal plants are mainly used in the treatment of diseases of digestive system, respiratory system, rheumatic disease, trauma, snake and insect bite and other external diseases. This study showed that Xishuangbanna has rich resources of ethnic medicinal plants. The ethnic medicine culture with Dai medicine as the main part has a long history and diversified theories, forming a unique ethnic characteristic culture. However, all ethnic medicine resources and the application of traditional knowledge are faced with the risk of gradually decreasing, it is suggested to strengthen the mining, Xishuangbanna folk medicine of ethnic culture protection and inheri-tance, and to develop regional economy and the international community has a positive influence.

With the further development of Chinese medicine health services, the social demand for medicinal plant resources has further increased. Many wild animals and plants have become extinct or are in danger of extinction. It is imperative to protect wildlife resources. Reasonable development and utilization to achieve sustainable development of resources has become a concern and urgent problem for all sectors of society. So far, many medicinal plant resources are still mainly based on wild resources. After decades of long-term predatory development, many precious Chinese herbal medicines have been in short supply. Therefore, the protection of traditional medicinal plant resources is one of the key tasks of the current state in the field of traditional Chinese medicine research. This chapter conducts the theory, method, and practice of the protection of traditional Chinese medicine resources and introduces the definition of Chinese medicine resource protection, the reasons for the destruction of Chinese medicine resources and the significance of resource protection, the classification of endangered medicinal plants and animals, and the specific examples of protection of Chinese medicine resources in order to provide reference for researchers.

Two major problems of medicinal plants are developing more effective resources and searching for new medicine resources. In recent years, many studies are focused on medicinal plant resources. Molecular systematics of medicinal plants plays an important role in identifying medicinal plants and searching for new medicinal plants. This chapter introduces development of plant systematics, research methods of plant systematics, theoretical basis for molecular systematics of medicinal plants, and some study cases in resources of medicinal plants. Research methods of plant systematics contain morphological taxonomy, anatomy taxonomy, embryo taxonomy, and cell taxonomy. Determination of monophyletic group and character analysis were also based on these theories. Beside the taxonomy, nDNA, cpDNA, and mtDNA, existing in the plant cells and responsible for the differences of the genome structure and function, provide alternative and diversified sources of characters for phylogenetic. These studies all provide the theoretical basis for new members of medicinal plants.

Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China and Mongolia are the primary regions where Chinese and Mongolian medicine and its medicinal plant resources are distributed. In this study, 133 families, 586 genera, and 1 497 species of medicinal plants in Inner Mongolia as well as 62 families, 261 genera, and 467 species of medicinal plants in Mongolia were collected through field investigation, specimen collection and identification, and literature research. And the species, geographic distribution, and influencing factors of the above medicinal plants were analyzed. The results revealed that there were more plant species utilized for medicinal reasons in Inner Mongolia than in Mongolia. Hotspots emerged in Hulunbuir, Chifeng, and Tongliao of Inner Mongolia, while there were several hotspots in Eastern province, Sukhbaatar province, Gobi Altai province, Bayankhongor province, Middle Gobi province, Kobdo province, South Gobi province, and Central province of Mongolia. The interplay of elevation and climate made a non-significant overall contribution to the diversity of plant types in Inner Mongolia and Mongolia. The contribution of each factor increased significantly when the vegetation types of Inner Mongolia and Mongolia were broadly divided into forest, grassland and desert. Thus, the distribution of medicinal plant resources and vegetation cover were jointly influenced by a variety of natural factors such as topography, climate and interactions between species, and these factors contributed to and constrained each other. This study provided reference for sustainable development and rational exploitation of medicinal plant resources in future.

Paeoniaceae is an abundant germplasm resource with significant medicinal values in China, the principal medicinal components of which include paeoniflorin and paeonol. These compounds are typically obtained from air-dried root samples, which the use of freeze-drying as an alternative method has not been tested. Additionally, the presence of these two compounds in various wild Paeoniaceae species has not been previously explored, nor have the differences between various plant organs been fully evaluated. Here, freeze-drying and air-drying methods were compared to assess the changes in paeoniflorin and paeonol in root samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer. The contents of these compounds in the roots, leaves, stems, and petals were then tested in freeze-dried materials. We also quantitatively detected the paeoniflorin and paeonol contents in the roots of 14 species collected from 20 natural habitats. Results indicated that the paeoniflorin content decreased under air-drying in comparison to freeze-drying, while the opposite trend was observed for paeonol. Our findings also demonstrated that the root xylem of species in Section Moutan, particularly Paeonia ostii, contains considerable paeonol and paeoniflorin and should thus be fully utilized as a medicinal resource. Furthermore, paeonol was mainly detected in the roots, while paeoniflorin was widely distributed in different organs; the highest content was in the leaf at the budding stage, suggesting that the leaves should be developed as a new paeoniflorin resource. Paeoniflorin contents were also found to be higher at earlier development stages. Based on the standards of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, five species of Section Moutan and six species of Section Paeonia could be used as potential traditional Chinese medicinal resources. These findings of this study enhance our understanding of these two medicinal compounds and provide a foundation for the further development and utilization of Paeoniaceae as medicinal plant resources.

The article presents the research results on medicinal plant resources at Tan Phu Protective Forests, Dong Nai Province. Initially, 351 plant species have been identified for medicinal use, belonging to 83 families, 3 plant divisions; in which: Pinophyta has 1 species belonging to 1 family; Polypodiophyta has 11 species belonging to 4 families; Magnoliophyta has 339 species belonging to 78 families. The life form is very diverse with the woody group having the highest number of species 152 species (accounting for 43.3%), the group of herbs having 73 species (20.8%), the group of shrubs, having 72 species (20.5%); The liana has 40 species (11.4%) and the epiphytes has the least with 14 species (4.0%), respectively. Medicinal plants are mainly used to treat groups of pimples, rashes, inflammation with 155 species (accounting for 44.16%); the group used to treat colds and fever with 112 species (accounting for 31.9%); group used to treat dysentery, diarrhea with 107 species (30.5%); group used to treat low and painful anesthesia with 105 species (29.9%); in the digestive system with 104 species (29.63%), respectively. The most commonly used treatment is pounding for topical use and excellent for internal use. Recorded 07 species in Group IIA in Decree 06/2019/ND-CP; 06 species in the Vietnam Red Data Book (2007): 03 species classified as Vulnerable - VU; 03 species classified as Endangered - EN. The medicinal resources here are being over-exploited, so it is necessary to have measures for conservation and development.

Medicinal plant resources have very high application value. In recent years, with the continuous development of Chinese traditional medicine industry, medicinal plant resources have also been developed and utilized to a certain extent, but there are still many in the specific development process. The problem is that it is difficult to meet the specific needs of the society, and directly affects the utilization rate of medicinal plant resources and the application effect. This paper mainly analyzes the status quo and development of medicinal plant resources.