Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN), 17007-2, Matsubarayama, Noma, Nakatane-cho, Kumage-gun, Kagoshima 891-3604, Japan; Department of Medicinal Plant, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan.
Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN), 17007-2, Matsubarayama, Noma, Nakatane-cho, Kumage-gun, Kagoshima 891-3604, Japan.
Fitoterapia. 2024 Oct;178:106132. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2024.106132. Epub 2024 Jul 30.
Rauvolfia serpentina roots are used as herbal medicine for snake and insect bites, fever, malaria, abdominal pain, hypertension, and dysentery in Southeast Asian countries. This study evaluates the content of reserpine, ajmaline, and ajmalicine in R. serpentina roots obtained with an efficient root processing method. The plants were cultivated in Tanegashima Island in southern part of Japan, where NIBIOHN's experimental farm station is located. We examined both the type of cork layer removal method (manual work, drum mixer washing, and high-pressure washing) and dried roots. We found that the resulting active ingredient contents were not significantly different between manual work and 30 min of drum mixer washing, and high-pressure washing. The washing in a drum mixer for 30 min could be an efficient root processing method. The amount of each active ingredient was compared in each root part (large-, middle-, and small-diameter roots), and there were no significant difference in their contents. In conclusion, R. serpentina roots having a diameter ≥ 0.5 cm contain a similar amount of active ingredients, suggesting that the quality of the crude drug does not vary in the root part. Thus, our study provides significant insights into the use of R. serpentina roots for herbal medicine applications as well as constituents of active ingredients.
萝芙木根在东南亚国家被用作草药治疗蛇虫咬伤、发热、疟疾、腹痛、高血压和痢疾。本研究采用一种有效的根处理方法评估了在日本南部种子岛（NIBIOHN 的实验农场站所在地）种植的萝芙木根中育亨宾、阿马林和阿马里新的含量。我们分别考察了软木层去除方法（手工、鼓式混合器洗涤和高压洗涤）和干根的类型。结果发现，手工处理和鼓式混合器洗涤 30 分钟之间，以及高压洗涤之间的活性成分含量没有显著差异。鼓式混合器洗涤 30 分钟可能是一种有效的根处理方法。我们比较了每个根部分（大、中、小直径根）中每种活性成分的含量，它们的含量没有显著差异。总之，直径≥0.5cm 的萝芙木根含有相似含量的活性成分，这表明在根部分中，草药的质量没有差异。因此，我们的研究为萝芙木根在草药应用以及活性成分方面提供了重要的见解。
