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Authentication and Quality Assessment of the Antitussive Herb Baibu (Radix Stemonae)

Authors But, Paul Pui-Hay; Shaw, Pang-Chui; Lin, Ge; Jiang, Ren-Wang; Xu, Yan-Tong

Journal RECENT TRENDS IN MEDICINAL PLANTS RESEARCH , 2012,:62

DOI 10.1016/B978-0-12-394591-4.00001-5

Abstract The Chinese herb Radix Stemonae, or Baibu in Chinese, has been used for treating coughing for over 15 centuries. According to the Pharmacopoeia of the People''s Republic of China, it comes from the tuberous roots of three species of Stemona. The properties of multiple origins of source plants and existence of multiple antitussive components made the authentication and quality assessment extremely difficult. This review provides an up-to-date coverage of scientific advances in species identification and authentication among the three genuine species and substitutes derived from the genus Asparagus, characterization of the Stemona alkaloids including chemical diversities among the three genuine species and among the major commodity derived from Stemona tuberosa from different locations, identification of the antitussive components and mechanisms of action, clarification of adverse reactions, and, based on all these information, development of quality assessment methods.

Species covered 大百部 Stemona tuberosa 天门冬属 Asparagus