Market Investigation And Study Of Standard Grade Of Cistanches Herba

Abstract:

Cistanches Herba is a kind of rare medicinal material commonly used in China， which has the functions of nourishing the Kidney-Yang， benefiting blood essence， moistening intestines, and defecating. At the same time， Cistanche deserticola has been listed as both food and Chinese medicinal materials by the National Health Commission， which has a large demand for daily use. The grading of Cistanches Herba in the market is chaotic and the standards are different， and the prices of Cistanches Herba with different commodity specifications are quite different. Through sorting out the specifications and grades of Cistanches Herba in the Chinese herbal classics， national standards， industry standards, and literature， the actual grading situation and commodity prices in major medicinal materials market were investigated. The classification standards of CistanchesHerba were summarized and analyzed，including the origin，producing area, wild source and cultivation， harvest season， growth period， growth years, and individual size. In order to provide a reference for the optimization of Cistanches Herba commodity specification grade，the proposed standard was put forward according to the origin， growth period, and individual size. 

Keywords: Cistanches Herba; specifications; grade; standard; quality; market survey

Cistanche deserticola was first recorded in "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic", which is a top-grade tonic Chinese medicine, used for deficiency of kidney yang, deficiency of essence and blood, impotence and infertility, soreness and weakness of waist and knees, weakness of muscles and bones, intestinal dryness and constipation [1].

And Cistanche is safe and non-toxic, and long-term use of small doses can increase strength and relieve fatigue, warm waist and aphrodisiac. Modern research has shown that Cistanche also has the effects of improving cardiovascular function, improving immunity, and anti-aging [2]. Health products developed with Cistanche tubulosa as raw materials, such as "China Jingjiu" and "Huiren Brand Gulikang Capsules" are also widely recognized. .

The 2020 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia") stipulates that Cistanche is the dry, scaly stem of Cistanche deserticola Y. C. Ma or C. tubulosa (Schenk) Wight of the Lidanaceae plant [1]. The former is a habitual species of Cistanche since ancient times, and it is also suggested by some scholars as desert Cistanche deserticola; the latter is considered the base plant since the 2005 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia under the consideration of the reduction of the resources of Cistanche deserticola and the expansion of medicinal sources. There is a huge difference in the market price of Cistanche deserticola from these two bases, and the difference can be nearly 10 times at the highest. Cistanche from the same base can be classified into different specifications and grades according to the origin, size, cultivation, or wild. The current commercial specification and grade standard of Cistanche is the "76 kinds of medicinal material commodity specification standard" promulgated in 1984 [3]. In recent decades, the industrial status of Cistanche has undergone great changes. In the past, Cistanche deserticola was harvested in the wild, resulting in resource depletion and ecological damage. It is urgent to develop the cultivation technology of Cistanche deserticola.

In 1985, Ge Jianxin used Haloxylon ammonium as the host for the first successful artificial cultivation of Cistanche. As of 2016, the area of Cistanche tubulosa cultivated in Xinjiang is about 1.36 × 104 hm2 [5]. In 2015, the cultivated area of Cistanche deserticola in Inner Mongolia was about 2 × 104 hm2 [6]. It is estimated that the profit of cultivating Cistanche deserticola can reach 440/hm2 5 years after inoculation, and the average annual average is 354 yuan/hm2 after that [7]. At present, there are 196 kinds of

The medicine is made from Cistanch. Putting into production with high-quality raw materials will help improve the curative effect of medicines. It is necessary to study the commercial specifications of Cistanche deserticola and classify them according to quality, so as to achieve high quality and high price.

Through a comprehensive analysis of the specifications and grades of Cistanche deserticola in the herbal books, industry standards and literature, combined with the actual grading of Cistanche deserticola in market surveys and commodity prices, this study lists the influencing factors related to the differences in grades, specifications and prices, and analyzes the influencing factors and the quality of medicinal materials. In order to provide reference for the optimization of commercial specifications and grades of Cistanche deserticola.

1.1 Historical documents of Cistanche

As early as 480 AD, Tao Hongjing [8] first introduced the grades of Cistanche in the Compendium of Materia Medica: "The first one that came out of Longxi today is flat, broad, soft, with many flowers and sweet taste. Short in shape and few flowers. Badong and Jianping also have them, but they are not as good.” This method divides the grades according to the place of production. The first grade is produced in Gansu, and according to the description, it is speculated to be Cistanche deserticola; the second grade is produced in Shaanxi and Shanxi, with small size and few inflorescences, which may be Cistanche salinae; the third grade is produced from

Sichuan. In "Xinxiu Materia Medica", it is explained as "Cistanche deserticola", and the textual research is Liedang Orobanche coerulescens Steph. In Song Dynasty Su Song [9]'s "Benkuojing" also has a small amount of elaboration on the pros and cons of the place of origin: "It was born in the Hexi Valley and in the Yanmen of Daijun, and now there are many in the prefectures of Shaanxi, but they are not as good as those who came from the Western Qiang realm. And the strength is tight”, which also means that at that time, there were more Cistanche cistanche in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Yu County of Hebei and northern Shaanxi, but it was not as good as the meat produced in Gansu area (Xiqiang) and had strong medicinal power. It can be seen that Cistanche in Song Dynasty still used the origin as the grading standard. In the Qing Dynasty, "Ben Cao Congxin" recorded: "It grows like an arm, weighs as much as a kilogram, and a person with pine nut scales is good" [10]. In 2001, "New Compilation of Traditional Chinese Medicine" records: "Those with thick, densely covered scales, dark brown in color, and soft in texture are preferred" [11].

After the Qing Dynasty, traits such as individual size, appearance, color and texture gradually began to be used as quality evaluation criteria for Cistanche deserticola. In 1984, in the "76 Commodity Specifications for Medicinal Materials" jointly formulated by the former State Administration of Medicine and the Ministry of Health, Cistanche cistanche was divided into two specifications: sweet cistanche and salty cistanche, and they were all sold as unified goods [3]. Cistanche sweet cistanche is the cistanche cistanche that is directly sun-dried without being soaked in a salt lake after being excavated in spring. The appearance is not much different from that of the fresh product. sweet. Cistanche salty is obtained from fresh cistanche after being excavated in autumn and put into the salt lake. It is flatter in shape and darker in color than sweet cistanche. The surface is dark brown, and the cross section is black or dark green. The texture is soft, shiny and salty. Because the moisture content of Cistanche in autumn is high, it is difficult to dry, and the incompletely dried Cistanche is prone to mildew and corruption during transportation. Therefore, soaking in salt for processing in the origin is helpful for dehydration. In addition, salt enters the kidney meridian, which can also increase the effect of Cistanche deserticola in tonifying kidney yang. In the Qing Dynasty, "Plant Names and Reality Maps" recorded: "Cistanche deserticola... all sold in today's medicine shops are made of salt." [12] With the improvement of drying technology and the convenience of transportation, there are very few salted cistanche in various production areas and markets at present. 

1.2 Specification and grade research and classification indicators

Facing the new market situation, in 2018, the Chinese Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine promulgated the "Commercial Specifications and Grades of Chinese Medicinal Materials Cistanche Cistanche" [13]. The selection specifications of Cistanche deserticola were classified into first-class and second-class according to the length, diameter and number of succulent stems per 1 kg. There are 2 grades, and the specific grade information is shown in Table 1.

"Inner Mongolia Cistanche" has been applied to become an international geographical indication product. According to the quality and technical requirements, it is divided into 4 grades according to the length of the fleshy stem, including general (traditional) goods: the length is less than 30 cm; small strips:

The length is 30 ~ 60 cm; the middle bar: the length is 60 ~ 100 cm; the large bar: the length is more than 100 cm. Some scholars have classified the dried and purified Cistanche according to individual size and shape. The main distinguishing points of desert Cistanche are the length, diameter and impurity content of the succulent stems. The plant is straight and straight; the second-class succulent stem is more than 20 cm in length, and the diameter is more than 3 cm, straight; the third-class succulent stem is more than 15 cm in length, more than 2 cm in diameter, slightly curved, and impurities are less than 1%. The distinguishing points of Cistanche Cistanche are the length of the succulent stem and the impurity content. The length of the succulent stem of the first grade is more than 20 cm, the second grade is 15-20 cm, the third grade is 10-15 cm, and the impurities are less than 1% [14] -15]. The grading criteria given above may be for ease of packaging, so the emphasis is on appearance traits such as length. However, the ultimate purpose of commodity grading is to facilitate sales. Cistanche is sold by the kilogram. Therefore, it is recommended that individual quality be included in the grading standard. Yan Wei et al.[16] conducted a field investigation on the medicinal material market of Cistanche in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, and divided the desert Cistanche into 5 grades based on the market price, the actual sales classification and appearance and shape characteristics of the market, and the unbolted Cistanche is a high-quality product. It is divided into 4 grades, namely, special grade, first grade, second grade, and general goods. The characteristics are heavy, flexible, and dense scales; Cistanche bolting is the second grade, which is characterized by light body, hard quality, and frequent cross-sections. Cracks, sparse scales; at the same time, each grade gives a specific price (Table 2).

Peng Fang et al. [17] graded the fresh Cistanche after harvesting in Ningxia, and compared the contents of various active ingredients, and divided them into three grades according to stem thickness, top thickness, fresh quality and fleshy stem length.

Since the commodity classification generally adopts the dry quality index, the volume changes greatly after drying, but the length remains unchanged. Compared with the grading standard in the previous article, the grading index of fleshy stem length in this standard is much higher than other standards. For example, according to the grading standard given by Chen Qingliang et al. [15], all may be classified into the first-class grade; The indicators are relatively lower than other standards, according to Yan Wei

The standard of etc. [16] should be second-class or unified, and it can be seen that the standards formulated by different scholars are quite different. In addition, when the actual sample is graded, whether all the standards of a certain grade are met to determine the grade, or there is some emphasis, and the grade can be graded when a certain index is satisfied, and further research is required.

2 Survey on specifications, grades and prices of Cistanche in the medicinal material market

2. 1 Wholesale Cistanche

At present, Cistanche is mainly produced in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and other places [4]. In July 2020, the author investigated and sorted out the price data of Cistanche deserticola in the four medicinal material markets of Anguo, Bozhou, Yulin and Hehuachi. The results are shown in Table 4. Different medicinal materials market

There is almost no difference in the price of Cistanche in the market. Since 2018, the price of Cistanche deserticola sold in the medicinal material market has fluctuated less and the price index has been stable. Cistanche in Inner Mongolia, as a genuine production area of Cistanche, has the highest price of Cistanche, which is as high as 150 yuan/kg; the price of Cistanche in Xinjiang is the second; the price of Cistanche in Qinghai is the lowest, only 60 yuan/kg, which is less than 50% of that of Inner Mongolia. The research group purchased Cistanche Cistanche from different origins from the Anguo Medicinal Material Market in the early stage. The test found that the Cistanche Cistanche produced in Qinghai was small in size and was identified as C. salsa (C.A. Mey.) G. Beck. Since wild and cultivated Cistanche are not easy to distinguish in terms of traits, the classification standard of wild or cultivated in the medicinal material market may not be accurate

Exactly. In addition, the origin of some medicinal materials needs to be verified, such as Cistanche pipiensis from Qinghai and Inner Mongolia. The imported Cistanche is wild Cistanche, possibly a mixture of desert Cistanche and salted Cistanche, mainly from Kazakhstan, which borders Xinjiang in my country [5]. since 2000

After Cistanche was listed as a species in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), its international trade was regulated. According to the import and export volume declared and actually executed by the enterprise, the actual import volume is far less than the declared import volume. The main reason may be that the exporting country Kazakhstan

Local trade restrictions in Saskatchewan and lower prices for Cistanche, less profit.

Table 4 Specifications, grades and prices of Cistanche deserticola from different sources

2. 2 Retail Cistanche

Cistanche was included in the "Catalogue of Substances that Are Both Foods and Chinese Medicinal Materials According to Tradition" by the National Health Commission in 2018. This shows that in addition to treating specific diseases, ordinary people can also consume Cistanche deserticola on a daily basis for the needs of health care. The main channels for retailing Cistanche are hospital pharmacies, offline pharmacies, and online stores. Offline pharmacies and hospital pharmacies sell Cistanche decoction pieces. As a drug supervision, they need to meet the standards stipulated in the 2020 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The processing method is used as the specification standard to indicate the origin, origin and shelf life; the online store sells Most of the original medicinal materials of desert cistanche are shipped from the place of origin and sold as primary agricultural products, and the origin cannot be traced, but the various shapes and characteristics of desert cistanche are complete, and the grading standards are more abundant. 

Offline retail channels are mainly pharmacies and hospitals. Consumers buy Cistanche deserticola from pharmacies mostly based on prescriptions and their own needs; doctors in hospitals generally prescribe the processed varieties in accordance with the 2020 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and do not distinguish the base or specifications of the medicinal materials. The dosage of Cistanche deserticola in the prescription is mostly 5-15 g, mainly in small packages of decoction pieces, and some hospitals also provide formula granules. The retail price of Cistanche is generally twice the wholesale price. Whole Cistanche Cistanche is graded by the quality of a single body. The greater the quality of the individual, the higher the price. In addition, when the store sells cistanche, the price of the whole cistanche is higher than that of cistanche slices, and the part of the slice and the processing method will cause differences in product appearance, which will have a greater impact on the price. After being dried in the shade or sun-dried, the volume of Cistanche is reduced sharply, the surface of the slices is obviously shrunken, the color is darkened, and the price is the lowest. Fresh-dried slices are cleaned and peeled after harvesting in the origin, sliced first and then dried. The sliced surface is smooth, the color is yellowish, and the price is in the middle; , the color is darker than the fresh and dried slices, yellowish-brown, and the price is the highest. In addition, some stores also sell "agate slices" that are freeze-dried after steaming. The surface is smooth and hard, the color is reddish-brown, and crystal clear. The price is 1,400 yuan/kg, which is twice the price of ordinary slices.

3 Correlation between the medicinal quality of Cistanche deserticola and different factors of Cistanche

3.1 Fundamentals of Cistanche Tubulosa vs Cistanche Deserticola

The medicinal materials of Cistanche include C. deserticola and C. tubulosa. In ancient times, desert cistanche was rich in wild resources. Cistanche tubulosa was hard in texture and bitter in taste. It was not effective as a decoction piece, and was not used as a medicinal material of cistanche. In the 1960s, due to the shortage of desert cistanche, this variety gradually began to be used as a substitute for cistanche and was included in the 2005 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Therefore, according to traditional experience, the quality of Cistanche Cistanche is not as good as that of Cistanche desert.

Modern research has found that the content of phenylethanol glycosides in Cistanche tubulosa is significantly higher than that of Cistanche deserticola, while the content of polysaccharides and extracts is opposite. Wang Liwei et al. [18] compared 14 phenylethanoid compounds in Cistanche deserticola with different bases and found that the contents of echinacoside, verbascoside, tubuloside A and 2'-verbasin in Cistanche deserticola were significantly higher than those in Cistanche deserticola, and the average The content differs by more than ten times, but the content of other phenylethyl alcohol glycosides such as Cistanche A and Cistanche C are all higher in Cistanche deserticola. Shi Ziyi et al. [19] measured that Cistanche tubulosa did not contain betaine and sucrose, while the contents of these two components in Cistanche deserticola were relatively high, and the differences in the contents of mannitol, fructose and glucose were irregular. Song et al. [20] conducted a comprehensive comparison of the chemical components of Cistanche deserticola and Cistanche deserticola, and detected a total of 513 components and quantified them. As tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) metabolites such as succinic acid, Cistanche deserticola is rich in phenylethanoid glycosides such as echinacoside, verbascoside, tuberosin A, cistanoside D and kankanoside K. It can be seen that the two have significant differences in the types and contents of chemical components, which should be distinguished in clinical application.

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The high content of phenylethyl alcohol glycosides in Cistanche tubulosa has good antioxidant and anti-aging effects, and it is mostly used as a raw material in Chinese patent medicines and health products. Cistanche tubulosa is used as the raw material to develop second-class new drugs for the treatment of vascular dementia; Cistanche deserticola has high content of polysaccharides and extracts, which are good for enhancing immunity and relaxing bowels, and are often used in clinical treatment and dietary health care.

Different Cistanche Products Comparison in the Market

Therefore, it is not necessary to overemphasize the quality comparison between the two, just distinguish the specifications. In market research, the price of desert Cistanche is generally more than 3 times that of Cistanche tuberosa. This is related to the short planting cycle and high yield of Cistanche Cistanche. The yield of Cistanche tuberosa is fresh 4500 kg·hm - 2

above, while the desert cistanche is only 1500 kg·hm - 2 [6]. At the same time, Cistanche pipiensis has the risk of freezing damage in winter, so it should be harvested before winter as much as possible, and the planting period is 11 to 20 months; the planting period of Cistanche deserticola is generally more than 2 to 3 years. For the past 3 years, Cistanche Cistanche

The price of Cistanche deserticola has gradually increased, from 18 yuan/kg in 2017 to 32 yuan/kg in 2020; at the same time, the price of desert cistanche has been declining year by year, from 130 yuan/kg in 2017 to 2020. 95 yuan/kg. The analysis believes that the main reason for this phenomenon is that the price of Cistanche pipiensis was too low in the past few years, resulting in a reduction in the cultivation area and a decrease in yield, which is a normal adjustment of the market. The price difference between Cistanche Cistanche and desert Cistanche is objective and long-term, and has little to do with the quality of medicinal materials.

3.2 Wild sources and artificial cultivation of Cistanche

In recent years, with the advancement of Cistanche cultivation technology, the amount of wild excavation has decreased year by year. In 2014, the output of artificially cultivated Cistanche cistanche was more than 2.3 × 106 kg, accounting for more than 80% of the total output of Cistanche [6]. Cistanche tubulosa has a short planting cycle and large yield, and is mainly cultivated; while the yield of Cistanche deserticola is still unsatisfactory, and most of them come from the wild.

Liu Wenjing et al. [21] used multivariate statistical methods to analyze the hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectra of Cistanche Cistanche from cultivated and wild sources, and the results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two. Yang Xiumei et al. [22] pointed out that the polysaccharide content of cultivated cistanche is significantly higher than that of wild ones, and the echinacoside content of wild cistanche is higher than that of cultivated ones, but the difference is not statistically significant; In the immunological activity experiment of mice, the difference between the two was not statistically significant.

At present, Cistanche Cistanche has been listed as a national second-level key protected wild plant, and has been included in CITES Appendix II. It is protected by law and illegal mining or sales are strictly prohibited. The research team found that wild Cistanche stalks are seriously stolen, and there are a large part of wild Cistanche in the market, and even cultivated products are mixed with wild products. At present, the cultivation of Cistanche in the Alxa area of Inner Mongolia adopts the imitation of wild cultivation, that is, 2 to 3 years of cultivation or natural Haloxylon ammonium trees are selected. In particularly dry conditions, watering and fertilizing are not carried out during the growing period. In this planting mode with minimal human intervention, Cistanche deserticola can grow independently for up to 3 years or more, and the difference between wild and cultivated species is not statistically significant. Therefore, Cistanche deserticola cultivation or wild has little relationship with the quality of medicinal materials.

3.3 Origin factors of Cistanche

Cistanche is mainly distributed in 5 provinces and autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia, northern Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia; Cistanche is only distributed in the counties around the Taklimakan Desert south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, so only the desert Cistanche desert needs to be distinguished. Different origins have different climates, geographical environments and unique ecosystems. Cistanche cistanche produced in Dao has been clinically proven since ancient times with outstanding curative effect and good quality.

Huang Linfang et al.[23] studied the chemical and molecular geographic markers of samples from the two main producing areas of Cistanche tubulosa in northern Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia Alxa Plateau, based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC -QTOF/MS) identified 16 compounds that were clearly separated in multiple cluster analysis modes. At the same time, the samples from the two production areas could also be distinguished in the sequence analysis of the chloroplast gene psbA-trnH, indicating that Cistanche deserticola has formed two stable ecotypes.

Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out on the ecological factors such as annual precipitation, average temperature and relative humidity in these two places. and biochemical indicators, which may ultimately affect the quality and clinical efficacy of medicines. The research of Zhao Zhihong et al. [24] also proved this speculation. In the comparison of the six medicinal components of echinacoside, verbascoside, phenethyl alcohol total glycosides, soluble polysaccharide, galactitol, and betaine, the differences in Significant component content

gender differences, and the overall level in Inner Mongolia is the highest in Taoist real estate.

In the commodity sales link, the quality of cistanche deserticola is the best in Inner Mongolia, and the price of the commodity is above 100 yuan/kg, and the price of the medicinal materials of other origins is 60-90 yuan/kg; Cistanche tubulosa does not distinguish the origin. From the perspective of the eco-geographical environment, the geographical environment conditions of Yinchuan, Ningxia and Alxa, Inner Mongolia are very similar, separated only by the Helan Mountains. The place of origin is the same as that of Inner Mongolia. The research of the research group on the Cistanche desert in Ningxia also shows that the quality of the desert Cistanche in Ningxia is better. Therefore, the classification of Cistanche deserticola production area needs to be adjusted.

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