Atractylodes lancea Rhizome(Cang Zhu) and Rhizoma Atractylodes Macrocephalae (Bai Zhu)

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Atractylodes lancea Rhizome(Cang Zhu) Introductions.

Atractylodes Rhizome Extract Swordlike Atractylodes Rhizome Atractylodes lancea Thunb DC Atractylodes chinensis DC Koidz photo picture image This herb is the rhizome of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC., or Atractylodes(DC.) koidz (family Compositae), produced mainly in Jiangsu and Hubei provinces and Inner Mongolia of China.It is dug in spring or autumn and dried. The herb is sliced after being soaked with water. The herb slices are stir-baked to yellowish color, together with water in which rice has been washed.

 Atractylodes refers mainly to Atractylodes macrocephala (macro = big; cephala = head; so, big-headed atractylodes) known in Chinese as baizhu. Less frequently used is Atractylodes lancea (lancea = lance-like, so lance-leaved atractylodes) or its less-desirable (somewhat weaker) substitutes, such as A. chinensis, A. japonicum, and A. ovata, known in Chinese as cangzhu (see plant photos below). The basic term zhu was the only one used when atractylodes was first recorded in the ancient Shennong Bencao Jing (ca. 100 A.D.); the division between these two related herb materials first occurred in the Mingyi Bielu (ca. 500 A.D.). At that time, the tuber-like rhizomes of these plants were specified as either baizhu (bai = white) and chizhu (chi = red), referring to the color observed in the sliced rhizomes, the red being due to spots of accumulated oils. Later, chizhu was renamed cangzhu (cang = gray or black), which refers to the appearance of the outer skin of the rhizome, a dark gray-black color.

 As natural medicines are the best ones for mankind and the use of plant drugs for curing diseases is still the common practice in many developing countries, especially in rural areas, many common, widely-used and traditional medicinal plants are under severe threat and are becoming almost extinct in the areas where people have been collecting them. This situation will lead to the sources of many medicinal plants being exhausted in near future. Atractylodes lancea is one such plant.

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citations1.Atractylodes lancea Rhizome(Cang Zhu) and Rhizoma Atractylodes Macrocephalae (Bai Zhu).

last edit date:2nd,June.2009.