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

ABSTRACT

By reviewing the ancient and modern literature， the name， origin， scientific name evolution， place of origin， quality， harvesting， processing， efficacy and toxicity of Asteris Radix et Rhizoma（ARR） were systematically sorted out， so as to provide reference for the development and utilization of the relevant famous classical formulas. According to textual research， ARR was first contained in Shennong Bencaojing， all generations are Ziwan for its proper name， and there are still aliases such as Ziyuan， Ziqian and Xiaobianer. Its mainstream origin in successive generations was Aster tataricus， and there are also Ligularia fischeri and others in local area of use. The medicinal parts of ARR are root and rhizome， but in modern times， the rhizome is mostly used for propagation and cultivation， so some of ARR medicinal materials only have the root without the rhizome. The earliest recorded ancient origin of ARR was now Fangxian（Hubei）， Zhengding and Handan（Heibei）， then the range of production areas gradually expanded， the mainstream production areas from the Song dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties included Hebei， Jiangsu， Anhui， Henan and other places， since modern times， two major producing areas have been formed in Anguo， Hebei province and Bozhou， Anhui province. From the quality evaluation， it is clear that from ancient times， flexible roots and purple color are the best. The ancient harvesting was mainly in lunar February or March， and then dried in the shade， and the modern harvesting is mostly in spring and autumn， and the roots are braided into pigtails and then dried in the sun or dried in the sun after 1-2 d. The ancient and modern processing method of ARR are basically the same， mainly honey processing， there are still methods of frying， steaming， vinegar sizzling， etc. Based on the results， it is recommended that the dried roots and rhizomes of A. tataricus should be used in clinical and the development of related famous classical formulas， and those whose original formulas specify the processing requirements can be processed according to the relevant requirements， while whose processing requirements are not specified should be used in the form of raw products.