Implications of the Origin of “Gui” in the “Bencaojingjizhu”

Tsukasa Fueki; Koichiro Tanaka; Toshiaki Makino; Takanori Matsuoka; Tadaaki Satou; Kazuo Koike; Kenshu Lai; Takao Namiki; Koki Chiba; Masashi Beppu; Takao Sunaga; Kenkichi Okada; Kazuhiro Makizumi

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Implications of the Origin of “Gui” in the “Bencaojingjizhu”

VernacularTitle:Implications of the Origin of “Gui” in the “Bencaojingjizhu”
Author: Tsukasa FUEKI ¹ ; Koichiro TANAKA ² ; Toshiaki MAKINO ² ; Takanori MATSUOKA ³ ; Tadaaki SATOU ² ; Kazuo KOIKE ⁴ ; Kenshu LAI ⁵ ; Takao NAMIKI ⁵ ; Koki CHIBA ⁶ ; Masashi BEPPU ⁷ ; Takao SUNAGA ² ; Kenkichi OKADA ⁸ ; Kazuhiro MAKIZUMI ⁹
Author Information

1. Matsuya Pharmacy
2. Department of Traditional Medicine, Toho University school of medicine
3. Department of Pharmacognosy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University
4. Public Interest Corporation Kenikai
5. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University
6. Kampo-iryou Lai Clinic
7. Department of Japanese-Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University
8. Department of Geriatrics and Vascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
9. Kido Clinic
Keywords: gui; the Bencaojingjizhu; Cinnamomum cassia; cinnamic aldehyde, coumarin
From:Kampo Medicine 2017;68(3):281-290
CountryJapan
Language:Japanese
Abstract: Crude drugs that feature the name “gui” have appeared in classical medicinal textbooks with different names,and the correspondence between their names and origins remains the subject of research and discussion. In the present study, we investigated these correspondences using the descriptions in the annotations of the Bencaojingjizhu and through our previous study that revealed the standards of weights and measures in this book. Based on this investigation, we strongly speculate that “gui” in the Bencaojingjizhu was the branch skin of Cinnamomum cassia (C. cassia) (corresponding to cinnamon sticks in the market), which fits with the descriptions about the length and weight of “gui” -related crude drugs in this book. We measured the contents of cinnamic aldehyde and coumarin in the branch skin of C. cassia, and compared these to contents in other crude drugs related to “gui” that can be obtained on the market. The contents of these two compounds in the branch skin of C. cassia were similar to those in the bark of C. cassia from Vietnam that meets the standards for cinnamon bark in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia and is regarded as high-grade in the market. These results support our speculation, and it might be possible that the branch skin of C. cassia can be used as medicine instead of cinnamon bark.