Panax notoginseng
| Notoginseng | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Araliaceae |
| Genus: | Panax |
| Subgenus: | Panax |
| Section: | Panax |
| Species: | P. notoginseng |
| Binomial name | |
|
Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H. Chen ex C. Y. Wu & K. M. Feng |
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Panax notoginseng is a species of the genus Panax, and it is most commonly referred to in English as notoginseng. In Chinese it is called tiánqī (田七), tienchi ginseng, sānqī (三七) or sanchi, three-seven root, and mountain paint. Notoginseng belongs to the same scientific genus as Asian ginseng. In Latin, the word panax means "cure-all", and the family of ginseng plants is one of the best-known herbs.
Notoginseng grows naturally in China and Japan. The herb is a perennial with dark green leaves branching from a stem with a red cluster of berries in the middle. It is both cultivated and gathered from wild forests, with wild plants being the most valuable. The Chinese refer to it as "three-seven root" because the plant has three petioles with seven leaflets each. It is also said that the root should be harvested between three and seven years after planting it.
It is classified in Chinese medicine as warm in nature, sweet and slightly bitter in taste, and nontoxic. The dose in decoction for clinical use is 5-10 g. It can be ground to powder for swallowing directly or taking mixed with water: the dose in that case is usually 1-3 grams. In the Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica, 1596 A.D.) it is stated: "On account of the fact that sanqi is a herb belonging to the blood phase of the yang ming and jue yin meridians, it can treat all diseases of the blood." Notoginseng is a herb that has been used in China quite extensively since the end of the 19th century. It has acquired a very favorable reputation for treatment of blood disorders, including blood stasis, bleeding, and blood deficiency. It is the largest ingredient in 云南白药 (Yunnan Bai Yao), a famous hemostatic proprietary herbal remedy that was notably carried by the Viet Cong to deal with wounds during the Vietnam war.
Notoginseng, P. ginseng, P. quinquefolius and P. vietnamensis, contain dammarane-type ginsenosides as the major constituents. Dammarane type ginsenosides includes 2 classifications: the 20(S)-protopanaxadiol (ppd) and 20(S)-protopanaxatriol (ppt) classifications. P. notoginseng contains high levels of Rb1, Rd (ppd classification) and Rg1 (ppt classification)ginsenosides. Rb1, Rd and Rg1 content of P. notoginseng is found to be higher than that of P. ginseng and P. quinquefolius in one study.
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