Cistanches Herba, from an endangered species to a big brand of Chinese medicine

Abstract

Cistanches Herba (CH, Chinese name: Roucongrong), is a very precious, tonic Chinese medicine. Cistanche deserticola and Cistanche tubulosa are the two commonly used species and authenticated in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Due to the parasitic nature of Cistanche plants, the wild source was once endangered and listed in the Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. However, after continuously struggling in the past decades, CH has grown up to a big brand of Chinese medicine featured with the cultivation area as 1.26 million mu, the annual output as 6000 tons, and the related industrial output value as more than 20 billion China Yuan, attributing to large‐scale cultivation and in‐depth phytochemical and pharmacological investigations. Noteworthily, great achievements have reached concerning the research and development of relevant products, such as modern drugs, traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, and dietary supplements. The current review summarizes the research progresses concerning the distribution and cultivation, phytochemistry, pharmacology, metabolism and product development of CH in the past decades, and the emerging challenges and developing prospects are discussed as well.

Widely Targeted Metabolomics Analysis to Reveal Transformation Mechanism of Cistanche Deserticola Active Compounds During Steaming and Drying Processes

“…The active ingredients of Cistanche deserticola have been shown to be responsible for its medicinal functions (7). Some active ingredients in Cistanche deserticola, such as phenylpropanoids (for example phenylethanoid glycosides), flavonoids, polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, iridoids, and lignans have been reported in the previous studies (6,8).…”

“…Cistanche deserticola serves as one of the most commonly utilized herbal medicines for the treatments of kidney deficiency, impotence, female infertility, morbid leucorrhea, profuse metrorrhagia, and senile ( 4 , 5 ). Modern pharmacological research showed that Cistanche deserticola has the effects of improving immunity, anti-fatigue, anti-aging, and enhancing learning and memorization ability ( 6 ). Owing to these health benefits, Cistanche deserticola tea made from its stem tubers has been developed as a nourishing supplement and is being increasingly favored by consumers.…”

Desert hyacinths: An obscure solution to a global problem?

“…The propagation of stabilising 'shelter forests' is proposed as a possible solution to the global desertification crisis and often involves the plantation of drought-tolerant small trees and shrubs such as saxaul (Haloxylon; Orlovsky & Birnbaum, 2002) and tamarisk (Tamarix) specifically (Ning et al, 2021)-both of which happen to be ideal hosts of Cistanche. Cistanche is already established as an ancillary crop in China's provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia (Song et al, 2021) which demonstrates the potential for cultivation elsewhere; it may well be a neglected and underutilised crop on a global scale (Xu et al, 2009). Banks of tamarisk and other halophytic trees and shrubs have been planted recently in southern Iran to mitigate the impact of dust storms.…”

“…This is concerning where species may be rare even or threatened with extinction. Cistanche deserticola Ma, for example, is endangered (Qin et al, 2017;Song et al, 2021) and listed in the appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).…”

Echinacoside Upregulates Sirt1 to Suppress Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Inhibit Extracellular Matrix Degradation In Vitro and Ameliorates Osteoarthritis In Vivo

“…Cistanche is an endangered species but a precious, tonic Chinese medicine, honored as “Ginseng of the Deserts” [ 37 ]. Echinacoside (ECH) is a natural phenethyl alcohol commonly found in Cistanche [ 38 , 39 ], and with potent anti-inflammatory [ 38 ], antiaging [ 40 ], and anti-OS [ 41 ] properties.…”