What medicinal herb is Huangjing, and how much did it cost per jin in 2019?
Huangjing is a plant of the Liliaceae family and the genus Polygonatum, and its dried rhizome can be used as medicine. It is generally harvested in spring and autumn, the fibrous roots removed, washed clean, briefly blanched in boiling water or steamed until thoroughly cooked through, and then dried. So, what medicinal herb is Huangjing? How much does it cost per jin?
1. What medicinal herb is Huangjing?
Huangjing is a tonic medicinal herb.
1. Huangjing is also called chicken-head Huangjing, yellow chicken vegetable, brush-tube vegetable, claw ginseng, tiger ginger, chicken-claw ginseng, etc. Its stem is 50-90 cm tall, or can reach more than 1 m; the leaves are whorled, 4-6 per whorl, linear-lanceolate, with the tip curled or bent into a hook; the flowering period is May-June, and the inflorescence usually has 2-4 flowers, appearing umbel-like, with flowers ranging from milky white to pale yellow; the fruiting period is August-September, and the berry is black; the rhizome is cylindrical, with the “internodes” thick at one end and thin at the other.
2. In China, Huangjing is produced in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu (eastern part), Henan, Shandong, Anhui (eastern part), and Zhejiang (northwestern part). Abroad, it is also produced in Korea, Mongolia, and the eastern Siberia region of the Soviet Union. It grows under forests, in thickets, or in shady mountain slopes, at an altitude of 800-2800 m.
3. According to differences in shape, Huangjing is customarily called “large Huangjing”, “chicken-head Huangjing”, and “ginger-shaped Huangjing”. Large Huangjing is in thick, fleshy, nodular blocks, with a pale yellow to yellow-brown surface and a pale yellow to yellow-brown cross-section; chicken-head Huangjing is in nodular curved columnar form, with a yellowish-white or grayish-yellow, semi-transparent surface; ginger-shaped Huangjing is in long strip-like nodular blocks, with a grayish-yellow or yellowish-brown surface, and a grayish-yellow or yellowish-brown surface.
4. Huangjing is sweet in taste and neutral in nature, and has the effects of tonifying qi and nourishing yin, strengthening the spleen, moistening the lungs, and benefiting the kidneys. It is often used for spleen and stomach qi deficiency, physical fatigue and weakness, stomach yin insufficiency, dry mouth and reduced food intake, lung deficiency with dry cough, consumptive cough with blood-streaked sputum, insufficiency of essence and blood, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, premature graying of beard and hair, internal heat and wasting-thirst, etc. However, note that it is contraindicated for those with middle-jiao cold diarrhea, or phlegm-dampness distention and fullness with qi stagnation.
2. How much did Huangjing cost per jin in 2019?
1. According to the 8u58 Medicinal Materials Network, the price of Huangjing (whole pieces) is 66 yuan/kg.
2. According to the Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials World Network, the price of Huangjing (whole pieces, Southwest) in the Anguo medicine market is 70 yuan/kg, in the Bozhou medicine market 60-65 yuan/kg, in the Hehuachi medicine market 61-66 yuan/kg, and in the Yulin medicine market 66 yuan/kg.
3. According to the Kangmei Traditional Chinese Medicine Network, the price of Huangjing (whole, Hunan) in the Bozhou, Yulin, and Lianqiao areas is 62 yuan/kg, in the Anguo and Chengdu areas 65 yuan/kg, and in the Puning area 65 yuan/kg; the price of Huangjing (chicken-head, Yunnan) in the Bozhou area is 70 yuan/kg, in the Anguo, Chengdu, and Lianqiao areas 72 yuan/kg, and in the Yulin and Puning areas 73 yuan/kg.
Summary: Huangjing is the dried rhizome of Polygonatum kingianum, Polygonatum sibiricum, or Polygonatum cyrtonema of the Liliaceae family and the genus Polygonatum. According to differences in shape, it is customarily called “large Huangjing”, “chicken-head Huangjing”, and “ginger-shaped Huangjing”. Its dried rhizome can be used as medicine, and it is a tonic medicinal herb with the effects of tonifying qi and nourishing yin, strengthening the spleen, moistening the lungs, and benefiting the kidneys; its price is between 60-73 yuan/kg, and prices differ depending on place of origin and specifications.