肉苁蓉

肉苁蓉 张桂徵绘

肉苁蓉（Herba Cistanches）为我国传统使用的补益类中药材，《中华人民共和国药典》收录了列当科肉苁蓉属（Cistanche）的两种植物作为药材的来源，分别是荒漠肉苁蓉（C.deserticola）和管花肉苁蓉（C. tubulosa），它们的干燥肉质茎作为药材使用。在内蒙和新疆产区，肉苁蓉也常被称为“大芸”，因其补益作用，民间常有“沙漠人参”的美誉。

荒漠肉苁蓉 Cistanche deserticola

肉苁蓉始载于《神农本草经》（东汉），在我国已有两千多年的使用历史。历代本草对肉苁蓉均有记载。传统上认为其主要功效为“补肾阳，益精气，润肠通便。据现代考证，我国古代所使用的肉苁蓉主要来源于荒漠肉苁蓉（C. deserticola），同时列当科的草苁蓉(Boschniakia rossica)、列当(Orobanche coerulescens)、盐生肉苁蓉(Cistanche salsa)均在不同的历史时期被混用过。

荒漠肉苁蓉 Cistanche deserticola

现代药理学研究表明，肉苁蓉具有保肝、免疫调节、抗疲劳、保护神经系统、增强肠胃功能等作用。肉苁蓉苯乙醇总苷及其单体毛蕊花糖苷和松果菊苷具抗肝纤维化的作用；肉苁蓉总苷、肉苁蓉苯乙醇苷、肉苁蓉多糖和毛蕊花糖苷具有保护神经作用；肉苁蓉多糖具有抗疲劳作用；肉苁蓉低分子糖和甘露醇具有免疫调节作用；肉苁蓉多糖、松果菊苷、总寡糖、半乳糖醇可改善肠胃功能。

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

肉苁蓉的两种来源物种均为寄生植物，生于荒漠沙丘中。荒漠肉苁蓉（C.deserticola）为我国特有种，自内蒙古西部经宁夏、甘肃至新疆北部分布，其宿主主要为藜科植物梭梭（Haloxylon ammodendron）和白梭梭（H. persicum）。而管花肉苁蓉（C. tubulosa）主要分布于新疆天山以南塔克拉玛干沙漠周围各县，在中亚至西亚地区也有分布，宿主为柽柳科的柽柳(红柳)属植物（Tamarix spp.）。管花肉苁蓉根据《Flora of China》记载，其正确学名为C. mongolica，然而C.tubulosa在我国沿用已久，诸多研究依然使用，本文未作改变。

荒漠肉苁蓉 Cistanche deserticola

两个物种区别明显，荒漠肉苁蓉茎的横断面上可见维管束成波状排列，其茎柔韧，故药材也称为“软苁蓉”，而管花肉苁蓉维管束在横断面上呈点状散生，其茎较硬，药材也称为“硬苁蓉”。肉苁蓉属植物的种子极为细小，并且具有休眠特性，当遇到适宜环境时，在宿主植物根系分泌的刺激物作用下萌发形成类胚根状体，在其末端形成吸器，吸器与寄主根部接触并到达维管束，不断从寄主身上获取养分，完成寄生及生长过程。

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

肉苁蓉用途广泛，根据国家处方数据库和保健品数据库统计，在中成药中肉苁蓉为原料的药品有 196  种，保健品有 46 种。肉苁蓉出口数量也在不断扩大，已出口到日本、韩国、东南亚地区各国及我国港澳台市场等 38 个国家和地区。逐渐扩大的使用范围使得野生资源量已无法满足市场需求，我国已通过人工栽培不断扩大肉苁蓉的产量，目前荒漠肉苁蓉在内蒙古西部，管花肉苁蓉在新疆南部均有较大量的人工生产。宿主植物的大面积栽培，不仅仅为肉苁蓉的产量提高了保障，而且也起到防风固沙的作用，保护了荒漠生态环境。

Herba Cistanches

Herba Cistanches (Chinese common name as Rou Congrong or Dayun) is a traditional Chinese medicinal material for tonics. In The Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, there are two species of Cistanche (Orobanchaceae) for sources of this herb, namely C.deserticola and C. tubulosa, which  dried succulent stems are used as medicinal materials. Because of its promising health benefits, the folks often have the reputation of "Desert Ginseng".

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

Herba Cistanches was first recorded in "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" (Eastern Han Dynasty) with more than two thousand years of use history. Subsequently it has been documented in a series of ancient herbal classics. Traditionally, its main effects are believed to treat kidney deficiency, impotence, female infertility and senile constipation. According to modern research, Herba Cistanches used in ancient China was mainly sourced from C. deserticola, and some species of Orobanchaceae had been mixed in different historical periods, such as Boschniakia rossica, Orobanche coerulescens and Cistanche salsa .

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

Modern pharmacological studies revealed that Herba Cistanches showed various activities such as protecting liver, immune regulation, anti-fatigue, protecting the nervous system and enhancing gastrointestinal function. Total phenylethanol glycosides of Cistanches and its monomer (verbascoside and echinacoside) have anti-hepatic fibrosis effects; Total glycosides, phenylethanoid glycosides, Cistanches polysaccharides and verbascoside have neuroprotective effects; Cistanches polysaccharide has anti-fatigue effect; Cistanches low molecular sugar and mannitol have immunoregulatory effect; Cistanche polysaccharide, echinacoside, total oligosaccharide and galactose can improve gastrointestinal function.

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

The two source species of Herba Cistanches are parasitic plants in desert. C. deserticola is an endemic species of China, distributed from western Inner Mongolia through Ningxia and Gansu to northern Xinjiang. Its hosts are mainly chenopodiaceous plants Haloxylon ammodendron and H. persicum. C. tubulosa is mainly distributed in counties around the Taklimakan Desert south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, and is also distributed in Central Asia to West Asia. The host is Tamarix spp.( Tamaricaceae).

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

There are obvious differences between the two species. The vascular bundles ofC. deserticola are arranged in a wave shape on transversal surface of stem, and the medicinal material is also called "Soft Congrong " because of softer stems. The vascular bundles of C. tubulosa are scattered in dots on the cross section, and the medicinal material is also called "Hard Congrong" because of harder stems. The seeds ofCistanche spp. are extremely small with dormant characteristics. In a suitable environment, they will germinate to form radicle-like bodies under the action of the stimulus secreted by the roots of the host plant, and continuously obtain nutrients from the host by haustrum of roots ends.

管花肉苁蓉 Cistanche tubulosa

Herba Cistanches has a wide range of uses. According to the statistics of the national prescription database and health care product database, there are 196 kinds of Chinese patent medicines and 46 kinds of health care products. The export volume of Herba Cistanches is also expanding, and it has been exported to 38 countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan of China The gradual expansion of the use of wild resources has made it impossible to meet the market demand. China has continuously expanded the production of Herba Cistanches through artificial cultivation. At present, C. deserticola in western Inner Mongolia, C. tubulosa in southern Xinjiang has a large amount of artificial production. The large-scale cultivation of host plants not only improves the yield of Herba Cistanches, but also plays a role in wind-proof and sand-fixing to protects the desert ecological environment.

专家顾问：张本刚  |  张宪春

文化顾问：张桂徵  |  张振华

摄    影：姜    勇       

稿    源：齐耀东         

翻    译：齐耀东         

责任编辑：孔祥瑞 ｜李姗姗  |  楚雅南