School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Apr 12;134(3):556-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2011.01.018. Epub 2011 Jan 18.
Authentication is fundamental for the standardization of Chinese Materia Medica. Macroscopic identification, an important method of authentication, has a long history rooted in practice and experience over generations. In ancient times, macroscopic features were used not only to identify the genuineness, but also to evaluate the quality of Chinese medicinal materials (CMMs). In many ancient documents, picturesque terms were used to describe the quality of certain specific CMMs. These traditional macroscopic descriptions used for identification are filled with characteristics, quality descriptions, and specifications of CMM that need to be confirmed by modern scientific analysis. In this paper, the essential and fundamental components of macroscopic identification are introduced. As the quality and macroscopic characteristics of CMM are traditionally thought to be closely related, modern scientific approaches to confirm the validity of these associations are discussed. This review clarifies the role of macroscopic features in the quality assessment of CMM.
鉴定是中药材标准化的基础。宏观鉴定是一种重要的鉴定方法，其历史悠久，根植于历代的实践和经验。在古代，宏观特征不仅用于鉴别真伪，还用于评价中药材的质量。在许多古代文献中，使用了形象的术语来描述某些特定中药材的质量。这些传统的用于鉴定的宏观描述充满了中药材的特征、质量描述和规格，需要通过现代科学分析来证实。本文介绍了宏观鉴定的基本组成部分。由于中药材的质量和宏观特征传统上被认为密切相关，因此讨论了现代科学方法来证实这些关联的有效性。本综述阐明了宏观特征在中药材质量评估中的作用。
