Processing Methods and Quality Evaluation of Pinelliae Rhizoma： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

In this paper， by consulting the historical herbs and medical classics coupled with related literature in modern research， the historical edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia and local chronicles of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） along with the ancient historical evolution of the processing methods of Pinelliae Rhizoma origin as well as the related processing methods of Pinelliae Rhizoma origin from 1959 to 2020 were systematically collated and summarized. It was found that the main processing methods of Pinelliae Rhizoma origin were peeling， decoction washing， lime wrapping and sun-drying. However， stacking， peeling， sun-drying or oven-drying are the primary methods in modern local chronicles of TCM. Meanwhile， washing， peeling， removing fibrous roots and sun-drying are the main methods in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In addition， there were some changes in the quality evaluation of Pinelliae Rhizoma in different historical periods. Round and white were the best in the quality evaluation of Pinelliae Rhizoma in ancient times， while the evaluation indexes were further refined to size， color， texture， powder property， purity and evenness in modern herbal works. In modern studies， the quality of Pinelliae Rhizoma was mostly evaluated by the chemical components such as alkaloids， total organic acids， polysaccharides， nucleosides， fingerprint and pharmacodynamics. At present， the purification and drying stages of Pinelliae Rhizoma are in the transitional stage between the traditional manual peeling and natural drying methods as well as the modern mechanized and large-scale production. Therefore， a reasonable and feasible modern processing methods and guiding standards of Pinelliae Rhizoma are developed urgently to normalize the processing of Pinelliae Rhizoma and ensure the quality of medicinal materials.