Huang Bai


Huáng bǎi, huáng bó or huáng bò is one of the fifty fundamental herbs of traditional Chinese medicine. Known also as Cortex Phellodendri, it is the bark of one of two species of Phellodendron tree: Phellodendron amurense or Phellodendron chinense.
Image:Phellodendron amurense JPG1b.jpg|thumb|right|A fully mature Phellodendron amurense tree. Huáng bǎi is typically harvested from trees 10 years old.
Image:Phellodendron amurense, cut wood.jpg|thumb|right|Phellodendron amurense cross-section. For a younger specimen see

Cultivation

For Phellodendron amurense one of the major producing areas is Taoshan District of Heilongjiang province, though other regions of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia may also be suitable. These provinces are in the far northeast of China, near the Heilong Jiang river, known in Russian as the Аму́р, and Phellodendron amurense is commonly known as the Amur cork tree.
Phellodendron chinense producing areas include Sichuan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi.

Preparation

Bark is collected during Qingming, the fifth solar term. It is sun-dried and cut into slices. The bark may be used raw or fried with salt. Typical dosage is 3–10 grams. A variety of methods of water and ethanol extraction may have differing activities and methods such as "semi-bionic extraction" have been investigated to improve yields. Some pharmacological activities of the bark can be standardized by analyzing the level of berberine using a monoclonal antibody, thin-layer chromatography, HPLC, potentiometry, or acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence. There are quantitative differences between the two species of Cortex Phellodendri and it has been suggested that they should be used as separate resources in the clinic. An analysis of 31 commercial samples in 1993 found that the total level of five alkaloids in samples of P. wilsonii and P. amurense var. sachalinense was 4.1%, while the level in P. amurense and Ph. chinense was 1.5%.
The levels of four harmful trace heavy metals in P. chinense for export are limited by the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China and the Green Trade Standard for Importing and Exporting Medicinal Plant and Preparation.

History

The earliest known writings about this preparation are found in the Shennong ben cao jing

Traditional attributes

The bark is categorized in a traditional Chinese medicine counterpart of humorism, Wu Xing, as bitter and cold, affecting the kidney, urinary bladder and large intestine meridians. Is said "to clear heat and dry dampness", and "to reduce fire and release toxins".

Biochemical analysis

Small molecules found in the bark include:
  • berberine and oxyberberine
  • caffeic acid ethyl ester
  • isovanillin
  • ferulic acid
  • -5,5'-dimethoxylariciresinol
  • methyl beta-orsellinate
  • obacunone
  • limonin and 12alpha-hydroxylimonin
  • nomilin
  • γ-Fagarine
  • canthin-6-one
  • 4-methoxy-N-methyl-2-quinolone
  • palmatine and oxypalmatine
  • -lyoniresinol
  • β-sitosterol
  • stigmasterine
  • amurenlactone A
  • amurenamide A
  • phellodensins and phellodenols
  • -sodium 3-phenyllactate
  • jatrorrhizine
  • an isocoumarin, 3-acetyl-3,4-dihydro-5,6-dimethoxy-1H-2-benzopyran-1-one
  • Ala-Pro-Trp-Cys, a glutathione S-transferase activating peptide