Asarum heterotropoides f. mandshuricum

Asarum heterotropoides f. mandshuricum (Maxim.) Kitag.; Lin. Fl. Manshur. 174 1939.

(Asarum heterotropoides f. mandshuricum (Maxim.) Kitag.; Photo www7a.biglobe.ne.jp)

Latin Name: Asarum heterotropoides f. mandshuricum (Maxim.) Kitag.

Family & Genus: Aristolochiaceae, Asarum

Synonym Name: Asarum sieboldii var. mandshuricum Maxim.; Asiasarum heterotropoides var. mandshuricum (Maxim.) F.Maek.     

English Name: Manchur Wildginger, Manchurian Wildginger

Chinese Name: 细辛 xi xin

Vietnamese Name: Tế tân.

Description: Herbs. Rhizomes vertical or horizontal, 2-3 mm in diam., internodes 1-2 cm. Leaves paired; petiole 8-18 cm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade uniformly colored, cordate or ovate-cordate, 4-11 × 4.5-13.5 cm, abaxial surface pubescent only along veins or densely pubescent, adaxial surface sparsely puberulent, base deeply cordate, lateral lobes 1.5-4 × 2-2.5 cm, apex shortly acuminate or acute; cataphylls reniform-rounded, ca. 1.3 × 1.3 cm. Peduncle declinate, 2-4 cm. Calyx dark purple, urceolate to campanulate, 1-1.5 × 1-1.5 cm; sepals connate beyond attachment to ovary, abaxially glabrous; tube subglobose, 6-8 × 1-1.5 cm, adaxially longitudinally ribbed; lobes erect or spreading, triangular-ovate, ca. 0.7 × 1 cm. Stamens 12; filaments slightly longer than anthers; connectives shortly extended beyond anthers, awl-shaped. Ovary superior. Styles free, short, apex shallowly 2-cleft; stigmas lateral. Fl. Apr-May.

Distribution: Growing in forests, hillsides, dank and fertile places of ravine. Can be cultivated. Distributed in Northeast China, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and etc. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and etc.

Part Used: Medical part: entire plant. Chinese name: Xixin.

Harvest & Processing: Excavated in fruiting summer or early autumn, removed soil and dried in shade.

Chemistry:    

- Contains alkaloid, volatile oil with (metyleugenola, panrnitic acid, safrola, pinen, eucacvon).

- Rhizomes: Lignans:  neoasarinin A–C, neoasarininoside A and B, and asarinin B, and one monoterpene, asarincin A, two amides, asaramid II and III, and one new natural monoterpene, asaricin B.

Pharmacology: Antifebrile, pain-relieving, anti-convulsion, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and inhibitory activities against five human body odor-producing bacteria, anti-HPV activity, immunodepression, anti-nephropathy, local anesthesia, beneficial to respiratory system and cardiovascular system, antihistamine and anti-pathological changes.

Properties & Actions: Pungent, warm, mild-toxic. Removing wind, dispelling cold, stimulating meridians, alleviating pain, warming lung and dissipating phlegm.

Indications & Usage: Used for common cold induced by pathogenic wind-cold, headache, toothache, nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea with turbid discharge, rheumatic arthralgia, dyspnea with cough due to phlegm and retained fluids. Internal: decocting, 2-6g; or powdered, 1-3g. External: appropriate amount, powdered for blowing nose, stuffing in ears, compress on navel; or decocted for gargling. Use with care in case of deficiency of qi and hydrosis. Not use for fever, deficiency of yin and blood, etc.

Examples      

1. Indigestion: wild ginger (removing leaves) 15g, cloves 7.5g. Grind into a powder. Take 3g with persimmon stem soup.

2. Treat wind entered into abdomen, remove pain, expelling restlessness: wild ginger, medicinal evodia, dried ginger, 15g each, angelica, divaricate saposhnikovia root, 30g each, peony 60g. Grind all drugs into powder, 15g each time, water 2 L, cook until 1L remains. Warm up and drink in 3 times.

References

- libproject.hkbu.edu.hk

- efloras.org

- theplantlist

- zhanjo.com

- Yu Jing, Yi-Fan Zhang, Ming-Ying Shang, Guang-Xue Liu, Yao-Li Li, Xuan Wang, and Shao-Qing Cai, Chemical constituents from the roots and Rhizomes of Asarum heterotropoides var. mandshuricum and the In vitro anti-inflammatory activity, Molecules. 2017 Jan; 22(1): 125.

- A.S.M. TanbirulHaque, Jin NamMoon, P.S.Saravana, AdaneTilahun, Byung-SooChun; Composition of Asarum heterotropoides var. mandshuricum radix oil from different extraction methods and activities against human body odor-producing bacteria; Journal of Food and Drug Analysis Volume 24, Issue 4, October 2016, Pages 813-821

- Deng Y et al.; Study on anti-HPV activity of Asarum heterotropoides. Zhong Yao Cai. 2004 Sep; 27(9):665-7.