Official name: Angelicae Dahuricae Radix
English name: Dahurian Angelica Root
Scientific name: Angelica dahurica (Fisch. Ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. / Angelica dahurica (Fisch. Ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. var. formosana (Boiss.) Shan et Yuan
Chinese name: 白芷
Chinese phonetic name: bai zhi

Source

Dried root of Angelica dahurica (Fisch. Ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. or Angelica dahurica (Fisch. Ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. var. formosana (Boiss.) Shan et Yuan (Fam. Umbelliferae). ^[1]

Place of origin

Dahurian angelica root is mainly produced in Henan, Hebei, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Sichuan provinces in China. ^[2]

Properties

Dahurian angelica root is pungent in flavor, warm in nature, and mainly manifests its therapeutic actions in the stomach, large intestine and lung meridians. ^[1]

Major Chemical Constituents

Major active components in Dahurian angelica root include volatile oil, coumarins and furocoumarin derivatives etc. ^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Drug actions in TCM

Dahurian angelica root release the exterior, dissipate cold, dispel wind to relieve pain, relieve the stuffy nose, dry dampness to check vaginal discharge, disperse swelling and drain pus.^[1]

Traditional Uses in TCM

Traditionally, dahurian angelica root is used to treat exterior cold pattern, various pain, allergic rhinitis, vaginal discharge, abscess and sore etc.

• Dahurian angelica root can release the exterior and dissipate cold

Dahurian angelica root mildly release the exterior and dissipate cold. Especially good at relieve pain, relieve the stuffy nose. Often used in exterior cold pattern, headache, Nasal congestion.

• Treatment for different pain condition

Dahurian angelica root enter Leg Yang Ming Stomach Meridian, used for yang-ming headache (front head) and swollen gums. Dahurian angelica root solely use for exterior cold pattern yang-ming headache or matching with divaricate saposhnikovia root, manchurian wildginger root, szechwan lovage rhizome, such as “chuan xiong cha tiao san”. For relieve toothache often used in combination with gypsum, fineleaf schizonepeta spike etc. Matching with atractylodes rhizome and kusnezoff monkshood mother root for joint pain in rheumatic or rheumatoid arthritis, immobilized limbs.

• For stuffy nose and sinusitis

Dahurian angelica root can dispel wind, dissipate cold and dry dampness. Used for headache, particularly pain in supra-orbital ridge; stuffy nose and sinusitis.

• Clear dampness in Yang Ming Meridian

Dahurian angelica root often used in combination with degelatined deer-horn, common yam rhizome, plantain seed and Chinese cork-tree cortex for treatment of excessive leukorrhea.

• Disperse abscesses and swelling

Use together with Japanese honeysuckle flower, Chinese angelica for disperse abscesses and nodules. Matching with tonifying and replenishing medicinal such as ginseng, milkvetch root to outthrusts toxin and expels pus. Dahurian angelica root can also use for skin itching caused by wind-dampness evil.

Pharmacological effects

Studies showed that dahurian angelica root has effects like analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, inhibit melanin synthesis, expansion of blood vessels, anti-tumor, Excitement of the central nervous system, antispasmodic etc. ^[7][8]

Administration and dosage

Decoction, 3〜10 g.^[1]

 

References

[1]國家藥典委員會編《中華人民共和國藥典》2015年版，中國醫藥技術出版社，2015年6月

[2]雷載權主編《中藥學》上海科學技術出版社，2006年6月

[3]張燁,孫建,屠鵬飛,薛培鳳,. 白芷的化學成分研究[J]. 內蒙古醫學院學報,2012,(4).

[4]陳瑩,李婷婷,. 白芷生物學及化學成分研究進展(綜述)[J]. 亞熱帶植物科學,2012,(4).

[5]趙興增,賈曉東,陳軍,王鳴,董云發,馮煦,. 白芷化學成分研究[J]. 時珍國醫國藥,2008,(8).

[6]周冰,劉培,陳京,許源,錢大瑋,段金廒,. 不同產地白芷藥材中香豆素類及多糖類化學成分的分析評價[J]. 南京中醫藥大學學報,2015,(1).

[7]朱藝欣,李寶莉,馬宏勝,劉永仙,. 白芷的有效成分提取、藥理作用及臨床應用研究進展[J]. 中國醫藥導報,2014,(31).

[8]吳媛媛,蔣桂華,馬逾英,高穎,. 白芷的藥理作用研究進展[J]. 時珍國醫國藥,2009,(3).