Angelica sinensis
| Angelica sinensis | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Apiaceae |
| Genus: | Angelica |
| Species: | A. sinensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels |
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| Synonyms | |
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Angelica sinensis, commonly known as dong quai or "female ginseng" is a herb from the family Apiaceae, indigenous to China. Angelica sinensis grows in cool high altitude mountains in China, Japan, and Korea. The yellowish brown root of the plant is harvested in fall and is a well-known Chinese medicine used over thousands of years.
The dried root of A. sinensis is commonly known as Chinese angelica (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: dāngguī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tong-kui) and is widely used in Chinese traditional medicine for women's health, cardiovascular conditions, osteoarthrosis, inflammation, headache, infections, mild anemia, fatigue and high blood pressure. The dong quai (當歸) means that a husband shall return back to his wife, which is implicitly said to help women's sexual health.
Dong quai is used for menopause vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes. However, a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial showed that dong quai was no more effective than placebo.
Potential anti-osteoporotic effects of dong quai independent of any estrogen mechanism were evaluated in rat models which showed that the extract of A. sinensis may prevent the bone loss. However, more high quality human evidence is needed to confirm same anti-osteoporotic effects of dong quai in humans.
Dong quai contains a chemical compound called butylidenephthalide which has antispasmodic activity in vitro and might relieve dysmenorrhoea muscle cramps by relaxing the uterus muscle. However, this claim lacks evidence of effectiveness in human clinical trials.
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Wikipedia