by Eric Brand

Many medicinals in Chinese medicine have substitute species or local variants. In some instances, the local variants are acceptable medicinals that are regarded to have similar clinical effects. In other instances, the local variant is considered to be unacceptable because it has different traditional actions or poses a risk of toxicity. In previous blogs, we have explored some of the most commonly confused Chinese medicinals on the U.S. market.

Some commonly confused medicinals, such as Wang Bu Liu Xing, have similar traditional actions but dramatically different source plants and chemical profiles. In many instances, little is known about the safety and chemistry of the local variants. Wang Bu Liu Xing is such an example, and its local variants often differ from region to region. For example, the product commonly sold as Wang Bu Liu Xing in the Cantonese and U.S. markets is a product called Bi Li Guo (derived from Ficus pumila). In Taiwan, the most common “Wang Bu Liu Xing” product is derived from a plant called Melastoma candidum, known in Chinese as Ye Mu Dan. The former is a fruit and the latter is a root/stem product, so they are easily differentiated from the authentic item, which is a small seed from a plant called Vaccaria segetalis.

...

Dr. Chang Yuan-Shiun (張永勳, pronounced Zhang Yong-Xun), a pharmacy expert and professor at China Medical University, conducted an analysis of 37 samples of Wang Bu Liu Xing from pharmacies throughout Taiwan. He found only 3 samples (8.1%) of the authentic item, 32 samples (86.5%) of Ye Mu Dan, and 2 samples (5.4%) of Bi Li Guo. Interestingly, the product that dominates the market in Taiwan is almost never seen on the U.S. market. The authentic product is relatively rare on the U.S. market as well, but we mostly see the Cantonese substitute Bi Li Guo instead of the Taiwanese substitute Ye Mu Dan.

Wang Bu Liu Xing is an example of a medicinal that has common substitutes that are probably safe but are nonetheless relatively unexplored in terms of their chemistry, efficacy, and processing methods. By contrast, San Qi, for example, is a safe medicinal that has a toxic substitute on the market (see this blog entry for more information).

Tomorrow, we will explore the fascinating case of Huang Qi, which has two common products on the market, astragalus (known as Huang Qi or Bei Qi) and hedysarum (known as Jin Qi or Hong Qi). Come back to visit our blog tomorrow for this fascinating discussion!

At Blue Poppy, our third-party FDA cGMP-certified manufacturing facility is staffed by herbal pharmacy experts who understand the intricacies of proper medicinal identification. We use traditional organoleptic quality discernment as well as advanced chemical testing to ensure the safety, authenticity, and efficacy of every product that we produce.