By Eric Brand

This link goes to a fantastic article by my teacher Zhao Zhongzhen's team that compares two species of Huang Qi (astragalus) with Hong Qi (hedysarum). Astragalus and hedysarum are often used interchangeably, and different regions tend to have a market preference for one or the other. Hong Qi is much more common than Huang Qi in Taiwan, but Huang Qi is by far the most prevalent item in the U.S. and Hong Kong. The two look quite similar and share a similar taste, though Hong Qi is much sweeter. Both have been used since at least the time of the Han dynasty and they have only been regarded as separate medicinals with their own individual Chinese Pharmacopoeia entries since 1985. According to research-based estimates from Prof. Chang Yuan-Shiun of China Medical University in Taiwan, Hong Qi accounts for over 90% of the "Huang Qi" sold in herb shops in Taiwan (Taiwan imports over 3 million kilograms of "Huang Qi" per year).

In the article from the above link, a team of researchers at Hong Kong Baptist University assess the chemical and immunological differences between the three herbs (two official species of astragalus as well as hedysarum). The study design is excellent and the conclusions are very interesting. The full-text version is available online for free, so I won't try to summarize it here. For more background on the astragalus vs. hedysarum issue, check out this blog entry.