Severe Loss of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Material Resources: First-Ever Plan Expected to Solve the Problem
Not long ago, the "Plan for the Protection and Development of Chinese Medicinal Materials (2015-2020)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") was released, proposing that Chinese medicinal materials are a unique and strategically significant precious resource of China, and that it is necessary to adhere to the basic principles of combining market leadership with government guidance, combining resource protection with industrial development, and combining increasing output with improving quality.
According to media reports on June 13, Sudan Red I and Sudan Red IV were detected in the Gujin Wan capsules produced by Shanxi Huakang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The quality problem of Chinese medicinal materials has almost become the plight of traditional Chinese medicine and even traditional Chinese medical science.
The loss of Chinese medicinal material resources is equally severe, "and there is even a trend of worsening." Zhang Bengang, a researcher at the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the China Science Daily that in recent years, with urbanization, the establishment of development zones, the reduction of land resources, and the destruction of the natural environment, wild Chinese medicinal materials have suffered from environmental pollution and have been continuously decreasing. Apart from national nature reserves, no other areas have been spared.
Not long ago, the "Plan for the Protection and Development of Chinese Medicinal Materials (2015-2020)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") was released, proposing that Chinese medicinal materials are a unique and strategically significant precious resource of China, and that it is necessary to adhere to the basic principles of combining market leadership with government guidance, combining resource protection with industrial development, and combining increasing output with improving quality. This is China's first plan concerning Chinese medicinal materials, and it plays a very good role in promoting the protection of Chinese medicinal materials.
Severe Loss of Chinese Medicinal Material Resources
"In recent years, the production of Chinese medicinal materials has basically met the needs of clinical medication in traditional Chinese medicine, the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and the rapid development of the health service industry. However, due to the reduction of land resources and the deterioration of the ecological environment, the sustainable utilization of some wild Chinese medicinal material resources still faces severe challenges." said Huang Luqi, vice president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
This is not only true of wild medicinal materials; even cultivated ones inevitably suffer from quality decline due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and the like.
"The introduction of the 'Plan' is timely, and it is hoped that it can well solve problems such as the standardization of Chinese medicinal material cultivation and the protection of medicinal materials." Zhang Boli, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, told reporters.
The "Plan" specifies 7 main tasks, precisely in order to break the current dilemma of predatory development of traditional Chinese medicine resources, so as to ensure the quality of medicinal materials, stabilize the prices of Chinese medicinal materials, and promote good results in comprehensive governance.
"'Implementing the wild Chinese medicinal material resource protection project, carrying out the fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources, establishing a nationwide dynamic monitoring network for traditional Chinese medicine resources, and establishing a protection system for traditional Chinese medicine germplasm resources' are specifically set for the protection of wild traditional Chinese medicine resources." Huang Luqi said. And "implementing the high-quality Chinese medicinal material production project, building planting and breeding bases for endangered and scarce Chinese medicinal materials, production bases for bulk high-quality Chinese medicinal materials, and breeding bases for improved varieties of Chinese medicinal materials, and developing the economy of Chinese medicinal material-producing areas" is intended, by expanding the output and quality of cultivated Chinese medicinal materials, to ultimately achieve the goal of protecting wild resources.
Emphasis on Output, Neglect of Quality
"The market demand for Chinese medicinal materials is much greater than before, and relying solely on wild medicinal materials can no longer meet demand. This is why wild medicinal materials must be converted to domestic cultivation." Zhang Boli told reporters that for large-scale cultivation, investment in science and technology must be increased, and scientific research must be strengthened, so that the cultivation process truly conforms to the growth patterns of the medicinal materials themselves. "The cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine has stringent requirements for sunlight, soil, and water, and the cultivation conditions for each variety are different. We cannot simply copy grain cultivation in applying fertilizer and water."
Why is the cultivation and breeding of Chinese medicinal materials different from crops? It is reported that for the fruits grown from crops, the higher the content of protein, amino acids, and the like, the better, while the fruits grown from Chinese medicinal materials are judged only by medicinal efficacy. At the same time, research investment in Chinese medicinal materials is also far behind research investment in crops.
"The number of grams of medicinal materials needed for a prescription is fixed. If Chinese medicinal materials, like crops, were extended into many varieties, and each variety were different, then traditional Chinese medicine doctors might not be able to write prescriptions. This is because the quality, size, and other requirements for Chinese medicinal materials are relatively stable." Zhang Bengang took Isatis root as an example and introduced that tetraploids have now been developed for this medicinal material. Using it purely as an extract is not a problem, but when traditional Chinese medicine practitioners receive medicinal material with such a large individual size, they cannot determine the dosage.
According to Zhang Bengang, driven by profit, some medicinal material traders use substandard medicinal materials, and even mix in non-medicinal materials to make up the numbers. In this way, output meets the standard, but quality is hardly commendable. At the same time, user units also do not attach importance to the quality of medicinal materials - if user units strictly required medicinal material quality and pointed out that low active ingredients or impurities made them unusable, then producers would attach importance to medicinal material quality standards.
"Another link affecting quality is the processing of medicinal materials." Zhang Boli emphasized that some processing is not carried out according to standards, and because the sources of medicinal materials are diverse, the quality of the processed medicinal materials varies.
Materials show that because Chinese medicinal materials are mostly crude drugs, often attached to soil and other foreign matter, or have odors, toxicity, moisture making them difficult to preserve, and so on, certain processing treatments can achieve the purposes of making the medicinal materials pure, correcting odors, reducing toxicity, and drying them so they are not prone to deterioration. In addition, processing also has effects such as enhancing drug efficacy, changing drug properties, and facilitating dispensing and preparation.
"Processing is a traditional processing technique. For example, prepared rehmannia needs to be soaked in yellow rice wine. The traditional method is nine steamings and nine sun-dryings, but current prepared rehmannia is only soaked through and then steamed once, so the medicinal efficacy is naturally different." However, this does not mean that traditional processing methods are necessarily better. Zhang Bengang introduced that traditional processing methods use sulfur fumigation, which can extend the preservation period and make the appearance look good, but now it is stipulated that sulfur must not exceed the standard, so traditional methods naturally need improvement. At present, relevant standards have been issued for the processing of Chinese medicinal materials, but there is still no clear regulatory method for how to operate specifically.
Development Is Needed, but Protection Is Even More Needed
"At present, China still lacks systematic research on Chinese medicinal materials. The introduction of the 'Plan' has determined the main goals and tasks and pointed out the direction for the protection and development of traditional Chinese medicine." said Chen Keji, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Among the 7 tasks specified in the "Plan," apart from "implementing the wild Chinese medicinal material resource protection project," which is mainly to ensure the sustainable utilization of wild resources, the remaining 6 tasks are all related to ensuring the quality of Chinese medicinal materials.
Huang Luqi pointed out that the "Plan" proposes a series of safeguard measures in various aspects, including improving relevant laws, regulations, and systems and the price formation mechanism for Chinese medicinal materials, strengthening industry supervision, increasing fiscal and financial support, accelerating the training of professional talent, giving play to the role of industry organizations, and creating a favorable international environment.
Some of these policy measures are considered to have achieved obvious innovation and breakthroughs. For example, the "Plan" proposes encouraging the development of Chinese medicinal material production insurance, building a market-oriented mechanism for dispersing risks and compensating losses in Chinese medicinal material production, and encouraging financial institutions to improve financial services, which will provide strong financial support for the healthy development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry.
"The 'Plan' proposes that when registering traditional Chinese medicines and natural drugs, the place of origin of the Chinese medicinal material raw materials should be clearly specified, and those using endangered wild Chinese medicinal materials must assess their resource guarantee situation. This is very important for protecting wild Chinese medicinal material resources and ensuring the quality and safety of traditional Chinese medicine." Huang Luqi pointed out that with the continuous expansion of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, vigorously developing traditional Chinese medicine agriculture is the only way to protect wild Chinese medicinal material resources.
"The production management model is also very important." Zhang Bengang said that models such as company plus farmers or farms should be chosen according to local conditions. For example, plains are suitable for large-scale, mechanized models, while mountainous areas are more suitable for farmer-based models. Only an appropriate choice is conducive to resource protection and ensuring the quality of medicinal materials.
"For Chinese medicinal material resources, we must also clearly understand the 'family assets,' formulate quality control standards, and study clinical efficacy and drug components. This requires the state to strengthen supervision and arrange tasks well. It cannot rely only on documents; it must achieve sustainable development while protecting medicinal materials." Chen Keji said.