Textual research on illustration of Heshouwu in historical Bencao literature and its system of assessing quality by distinguishing features of traditional Chinese medicinal materials

Abstract

As a medicine, Heshouwu was first appeared in Kaibao Bencao in Song Dynasty, which was a traditional tonic medicine. In recent years, the hepatotoxicity of Heshouwu has attracted great attention of domestic and foreign scholars. This paper has carried out textual research on illustration, quality evaluation, toxic and side effects of the Heshouwu in the historical Bencao(materia medica) literature. Illustrations of Heshouwu in the historical Bencao literatures are basically Polygonum multiflorum. Only in Taiyixian Zhibencao Yaoxing Daquan and Tujie Bencao, illustrations of Heshouwu may be Pteroxygonum giraldii and Dioscorea bulbifera, respectively. Illustrations of Heshouwu in the historical Bencao literatures are quite different from those of the genus Cynanchum in Asclepiadaceae. In the biography of Heshouwu, the author has noticed the abnormal vascular bundle in the root tuber of Heshouwu, which was inherited by the historical Bencao literatures. This is also one of the evidences to infer that Heshouwu is from Polygonaceae plant P. multiflorum. The description of abnormal vascular bundle in the historical Bencao literatures has been developed and evolved into the term "brocaded patterns", and it is considered that "five petals are good". Furthermore, ancient medical scientists have noticed that there are toxic differences in different characters of Heshouwu, that is, "Heshouwu with abundant parenchyma cells, low fibrous and large is superior in quality", "the hard and fibrous root tuber of P. multiflorum has toxic side effects". In this paper, the germplasm and the theory of assessing the quality by distinguishing features of traditional Chinese medicinal materials of Heshouwu in the historical Bencao literatures are reviewed, which provides the basis of materia medica for the quality evaluation of Heshowu.