Plant Resource Availability of Medicinal Fritillaria Species in Traditional Producing Regions in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

The genus Fritillaria (Liliaceae) comprises of ~140 species of bulbous perennials, which are distributed in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Fritillaria species have attracted much attention because of their commercial value, partly as ornamental plants but principally as a source of material for use in traditional medicine. The use of Fritillaria extracts is well established in some countries in Eastern Europe (e.g., Turkey), and Asia (e.g., China, Japan). In traditional Chinese medicine, the medicinal Fritillaria species is called Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae (BFC), which has been used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on resource investigation of plants of BFC in the last ten years. In this study, we chose 32 traditional producing regions in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to perform an investigation on resource availability of BFC. In five sites we did not find any plants of BFC. Results show that the average number of the plants of BFC per quadrat in 26 sites was less than 7, and the average resource density was <22 mg/m2. Habitat types and plant morphology of BFC plants were recorded. Our investigation shows that the area for artificial cultivation of BFC is larger than 400 hm2 and productivity was higher than 180 t. In addition, the total alkaloid contents of samples from cultivated bases and plantations are higher than that from wild fields. This study suggests that the wild populations of BFC are still at the risk of depletion. Artificial cultivation of BFC might be an important way to resolve the current contradiction between resource protection and resource utilization. In addition, identifying the closest European relatives of the Fritillaria species used in traditional medicine may resolve this contradiction.

Effects of different harvesting times and processing methods on the quality of cultivated Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don

“…FCB mainly contains steroidal alkaloids, nucleosides, saponins, terpenoids, and many other compounds (Duan et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2017). Several studies have shown that alkaloids in F. cirrhosa extracts are the main active ingredients, which have the effects of antitussive, expectorant, and antiasthmatic (Guo et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2016a).…”

A Systematic Review on Traditional Uses, Sources, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics, and Toxicity of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus

“…As the development of separation and identification technique, numerous phytochemical investigations concerning FCB have been carried out during the past several decades. Also, many constituents derived from FCB have been identified, including steroidal alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, and glycosides [ 9 ]. Among them, steroidal alkaloids have been regarded as the indicator agent for evaluating the quality of FCB [ 10 ].…”

Combining DNA Barcoding and HPLC Fingerprints to Trace Species of an Important Traditional Chinese Medicine Fritillariae Bulbus

“…Fritillariae Ussuriensis Bulbus, Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus, and Fritillariae Hupehensis Bulbus are from Fritillaria ussuriensis Maxim, Fritillaria thunbergii Miq, and Fritillaria hupehensis Hsiao et K. C. Hsia, respectively. Wild Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus, which has excellent quality and good curative effects, is distributed between the altitudes of 3000 and 5000 m in most parts of Tibet, Northwest Sichuan, Northern Yunnan, Southeastern Qinghai, and Eastern Europe [4]. Because the price of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus has reached 3000 yuan per kilogram [5], which is higher than other Fritillariae Bulbus, merchants adulterate other Fritillariae Bulbus to sell as Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus to obtain high profits.…”