OBJECTIVETo study morphological features of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs in cold property, such as shape, color, odor and taste.

METHODTotally 118 traditional Chinese medicinal herbs in cold property were selected as study objects. EpiData 3.02 software was applied to establish a database, and SPSS 18.0 statistical software was used for data analysis.

RESULTIn terms of shape, traditional Chinese medicinal herbs in cold property were classified into 20 categories. Specifically, there were 33 cylindrical herbs, accounting for 28%; there were 10 flaky, ovate and massive herbs respectively, taking up 8.5%; there were 7 oval and curled herbs, occupying 5.9%; there were 6 sphere herbs, accounting for 5.1%; and other shapes were distributed dispersedly. By color, they were classified into 18 kinds, including 15 cases in yellow-brown color, accounting for 12.7% ; 14 cases in yellow-white color, taking up 11.9%; 13 cases in white color, occupying 11.0%; 9 cases in gray-brown color, accounting for 8.5%; 7 cases in dark brown, taking up 5.9%; and there were 6 cases in green, gray and brown colors respectively, occupying 5. 1%. By odor, they could be classified into 6 categories, including 49 cases with feeble odor, accounting for 41.5%, 31 cases without odor, taking up 26.3%; 15 cases with specific odor, occupying 12.7%; with respect to taste, there were 26 cases in slight bitter taste, accounting for 22.0%; 25 cases in flat taste, taking up 21.2%; 24 cases in bitter taste, occupying 20.3%; and 16 cases in sweet taste, accounting for 13.6%. In terms of texture, there were 34 cases in crisp texture, taking up 28.8%; 26 cases in light weight, occupying 22%; 25 cases in hard texture, accounting for 21.2%; 11 cases in solid and tough textures, respectively, taking up 9.3%; those in heavy weight and loose, hard, smooth and other textures occupied a small proportion.

CONCLUSIONThe morphologic characteristics of traditional Chinese medicines in cold property show certain regularity. They are mostly cylindrical, yellow, slightly bitter and crisp, with feeble odor. They provide reference for further studies.