Authentication Study In Pharmacognosy Of Chinese Caterpillar Fungus And Its Adulterants

Chinese Caterpillar Fungus(CCF), one of the rare traditional chinese herb, called'DongChongXiaCao'in chinese, is used to tonify the lung and the kidney, arrest bleeding, and dissolve phlegm. According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia ( 2010 edition )'Chinese Caterpillar Fungus is a composite consisting of the stroma of the fungus, Cordyceps sinensis ( Berk. ) Sacc. ( Fam. Hypocreaceae ), parasitized on the larva of some species of insects ( Fam. Hepialidae ), and the dead caterpillar'. Due to the substantial appreciation of price, in recent years, the species and amount of the adulterants are increasing. Adulterants studied in this thesis consist the uncertified products and the counterfeits. Uncertified products of CCF refer to these breeds which have not been contained by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, but related to CCF,and has been habitually used as'DongChongXiaCao'in different regions of China. The counterfeits of CCF refer to these products which have been processed with other materials to sale as'DongChongXiaCao'.In this study, On the basis of drug resource investigation,119 batchs of specimens have been collected (49 batchs for experiment, 70 batchs of commercial samples ). Macroscopic and microscopic methods were used to authenticate chinese caterpillar fungus and its adulterants, and then molecular biological method was used in deeply identification of CCF and its common uncertified products.1. Drug resources investigation and the origin identification(1) Drug resources investigationDuring the investigation, supported by the local drug control institute, 29 specimens were collected from Henan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Xinjiang and other provinces; At the same time, the specimens of CCF in our museum were classificated, and we have found 20 specimens which have clear localities.(2) Origin identificationIdentified the fungus of CCF and its uncertified products. For the first time we have identified an uncertified product of CCF—DaiShiChongCao( DSCC ), which is a composite consisting of the stroma of the fungus, Cordyceps sinensis ( Berk. ) Sacc. ( Fam. Hypocreaceae ), parasitized on the larva of some species of insects ( Fam. Hepialidae ), and the dead caterpillar.2. Macroscopical and microscopical study of CCF(1) Study of macroscopical characteristics On the basis of ChP, macroscopical characteristics of Chinese Caterpillar Fungus were studied, emphasizing on the characteristics of caterpillar, such as the insertion position of stroma, colour of polypide part, abdominal leg, et all; first added a few important characters such as the annulations and segments of the caterpillar, the pinaculum, and the spiracle.(2) Study of microscopical characteristics of the caterpillar Microscopical characteristics of Chinese Caterpillar Fungus, such as the caterpillar's body wall and the planta of abdominal leg, were studied and reported for the first time.(3) Identification study of commercial samples On the results of the pharmacognosical study, 17 commercial specimens had been reauthenticated, especially the doubtful samples, incomplete and powder samples.3. Macroscopical and microscopical study of uncertfied products(1) DSCCRefering to the studying method of CCF, macroscopic and microscopic characters of DSCC were reported firstly.(2) Other uncertified productsMacroscopical and microscopical chracters of YXBCC, GuNiChongCao(GNCC), XinJiangChongCao(XJCC) and LiangShanChongCao(LSCC) were complemented and perfected on the basis of the pharmacognosical study of CCF.(3) Comparative study between CCF and its uncertified productsAfter the comparation of macroscopical and microscopical chracters, there were significant differences between CCF and its uncertified products.(4) Comparative study between DSCC and YXBCCAfter the comparation of macroscopical and microscopical chracters, there were many same characters between DSCC and YXBCC on the caterpillar, and we have preliminarily concluded that the parasitized larva of the two species are origined from relatives.(5) Identification study of commercial samples46 commercial specimens have been reauthenticated, included 14 specimens of DSCC, 9 specimens of YXBCC, 18 specimens of GNCC and 5 specimens of XJCC.4. Authentication study in Pharmacognosy of the counterfeitsAfter the analysis of the counterfeits collected from the crude drug markets,5 types of counterfeits which were similar with chinese caterpiller fungus have been summarized,and at the same time,their origin were studied,and it turned out that the counterfeits were entirly or partly origined from the uncertified products ( as DSCC mostly ), the spliced"stromas"were mostly origined from plant organs from Hemerocallis sp., Aster sp., or Pteris sp.5. Preliminary authentication study in molecular biologyThe analysis results of gene sequencing of ITS and Cytb have verified the study of macroscopic and microscopic.