Chinese honey locust

According to research and analysis by the Chinese Academy of Forestry, the Nanjing Institute of Wild Plants and other institutions, the Chinese honey locust (Gleditsia sinensis) is an eco-economic multipurpose tree species with broad development potential in China and deserves widespread attention from all regions. However, for a long time, due to human logging and utilization, no complete natural Chinese honey locust population can be found; only degraded open woodland or scattered trees remain, and the population is in an endangered state.

The Chinese honey locust is a tall tree, with a full-fruit period of 200 years. Its characteristics and value are mainly as follows:

1. Drought-tolerant and water-saving, with a well-developed root system; in the western and northern regions with annual precipitation of around 300 mm, it can be used as a shelterbelt and soil-and-water conservation forest, and is also one of the preferred tree species for establishing grassland shelterbelts.

2. Heat-tolerant, cold-resistant and pollution-resistant, it is a good tree species for urban and rural landscape forests and roadside greening, and is also an important hedge species.

3. It can fix nitrogen, has wide adaptability, strong stress resistance and high comprehensive value; it is a preferred tree species for natural protection forest projects and the Grain for Green Project, can improve soil well, and when mixed with pine trees can inhibit the occurrence and development of pine caterpillars.

4. It grows relatively fast, and its wood has good physical properties and is relatively hard; it is an excellent timber for crafts and a honey-source tree species.

5. The fruit and seeds of the Chinese honey locust are rich in nutrients and plant gum and can be used as feed; its yield and livestock absorption indicators are superior to those of soybeans, and it is a natural green raw material for medicine, food, detergents, beverages and health products.

6. The saponin contained in the Chinese honey locust consists of triterpenes and oligosaccharides, which can resist inflammation, ulcers and pathological changes, and has effects such as fighting cancer and improving immune function in AIDS; it is a bioactive substance with great development potential.

7. China's annual demand for plant gum is more than 40,000 tons, but China's annual output is less than 3,000 tons, far from meeting market demand. In addition to using related substances produced at the cost of large amounts of grain as substitutes, 400 million yuan is spent each year importing guar gum from abroad. However, the Chinese honey locust plant gum isolated from Chinese honey locust seeds by Chinese scientists has colloidal properties similar to imported guar gum, and the gum content of Chinese honey locust seeds is as high as 30%-40%, far higher than that of herbaceous plants.

The wide uses of the Chinese honey locust have attracted the attention of many countries around the world.

In recent years, the United States, Canada, Brazil, France, Italy, Australia and Eastern European countries have successively established Chinese honey locust plantations, cultivating Chinese honey locust as fruit trees are planted, and its cultivation has gradually moved toward variety improvement. After nearly 10 years of surveys, field trials and analysis, experts from the Research Institute of Forestry of the Chinese Academy of Forestry and other institutions have clarified the distribution of the Chinese honey locust in northern China, constructed the core population of the northern production area of the Chinese honey locust, selected 4 excellent germplasms, and carried out off-site conservation and low-temperature seed storage. The Chinese honey locust tree, which is in an endangered state in China, is expected to gain new vitality.