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Herbs in Life

San Qi
San Qi
San Qi
【Latin Name】
Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H.
【Function】
Disperse blood stasis, stop bleeding, promote blood circulation and ease pain [1]. Mainly treat with several disorders such as hemorrhage due to various reasons, thoracic obstruction, angina, amenorrhea due to blood stasis and postpartum abdominal pain due to stasis.

The growth situation of Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H. was firstly recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica, “It was grown in the remote mountains of Fandong, states of Nandan, Guangxi province” [2]. It is grown either under bamboo forest in medium or high mountains or in the damp areas of the ravine, which can be planted in many provinces including Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei and Jiangxi [2]. San Qi in Yunnan province is genuine medicinal material, mainly produced in some places in Yunnan province such as Wenshan, Yanshan and Guangnan [3] [4]. Chun Qi refers to San Qi harvested from August to September, which has good quality, high plumpness and high yield, while Dong Qi refers to the plant harvested in November, which has poor quality and low plumpness with many wrinkles [4].

Plant San Qi
Harvest San Qi

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As San Qi is a kind of commonly used and famous traditional Chinese medicine with very high price, its many counterfeit are present such as Panax japonicus (T.Nees) C.A.Mey., Gynura japonica (Thunb.) Juel., Anredera cordifolia, Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Rosc, and Lobedfruit SchizocapsaRhizome. [5].

Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H. (San Qi): It has conical shape with the color of greyish brown or greyish yellow, which contains nodules and longitudinal wrinkles on the surface. It has solid texture and difficult to break. Its skin and xylem are easily separated after trituration, whose section has the color in greyish green, yellow green or grey white, with radial lines. The scent is light and the taste is bitter with slightly sweet.

San Qi

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San Qi was described in Compendium of Materia Medica that “It tastes sweet and slightly bitter. It is warm in nature and non-toxic.” and “It can treat blood disorders including Yang Ming and Jue Yin.” San Qi is suitable for the treatment of various bleeding symptoms. For example, Seven-Jewel Powder, mentioned in Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica, contains San Qi in combination with several medicines such as Fossil Fragments, Dragon’s Blood and Elephant Skin. In order to relieve swelling, stop pain, and disperse blood stasis, San Qi can be compatible with Angelica sinensis, Carthamus tinctorius and Ground Beeltle Eupolyphaga seu Steleophaga. For the patients suffered from Qi Deficiency or Blood Deficiency, San Qi can be compatible with Radix astragali, Angelica sinensis, and Suberect Spatholobus Stem in order to replenish Qi, enrich Blood, and stimulate the menstrual flow to stop pain. In addition, San Qi  also has  anti-cancer efficacy by the compatibility with Musk, Calculus Bovis, and Paris rhizome. Furthermore, San Qi is taken as a medicinal diet, usually used for meat stew, in order to promote and benefit your body. [4].

Saponin Glycosides

The saponins which were earliest isolated from San Qi include Ginsenosides Rb1, Rd and Rg1 [6]. There were more than 60 kinds of saponins isolated from San Qi, most of which werePanax notoginseng saponins and Ginsenosides. Among them, ginsenoside Rg3 could effectively inhibit the growth of the cancer cells [7]. After steaming and boiling treatment, the content of Ginsenosides Rg3 in San Qi was significantly increased, which significantly enhanced its inhibitory efficacy on the proliferation of the cancer cells [8][9].

Many pharmacological studies confirmed that San Qi was beneficial to maintain cardiovascular system health and had a protective effect in the treatment of cerebral ischemia [10]. Panax Notoginseng Saponins significantly inhibited the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle and prevent the oxidation of LDL [14][15]. In vivo studies have shown that panax notoginseng saponins inhibited the contractility of myocardium by inhibiting the release of intracellular calcium. Besides, the studies also found that intravenous injection of Panax Notoginseng Saponins can counteract the symptoms of myocardial ischemia caused by pituitary substances [4]. In the treatment of cerebral ischemia, Panax Notoginseng Saponins can dilate the cerebral blood vessels, increase cerebral blood flow, significantly reduce thromboxane levels and alleviate cerebral cortical structural damage [4].

Slices of Raw San Qi: Remove the impurities from San Qi, wash cleanly and separate San Qi according to size, and then drench with water to make it wet and soft. Cut it into very thin slices and dry them. After San Qi is cut into very thin slices, whose section has the color in grey green, yellow green or grey white, and whose outer skin has the color in grey brown or grey yellow. The taste can be turned from bitterness to sweetness [4].

Powder of San Qi: Wash San Qi cleanly, break into pieces and separate them according to size. Fry them with edible oil until the surface has the color in brown, take out and grind them to fine powder. The powder of San Qi is fine powder with the color of light brownish yellow or greyish yellow and the taste from bitterness to sweetness [4].

It was recorded in Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine that “Pregnant women should use San Qi with caution” [4]. San Qi is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine that can be used in health-care food announced by National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. The toxicological studies have found that, direct injection of the active components of San Qi such as ginsenosides will lead to some adverse reactions or sub-chronic toxicity, which is usually related to the dose and specific components [11]. For oral extract products of San Qi (with panaxatriol saponins as the main raw material), the studies have shown that the patients will have mild gastrointestinal discomfort, such as the increased stool frequency and stomach discomfort, with a short duration [12].

In the clinical treatment of cardiovascular diseases, 73 patients with cerebral thrombosis were treated with the agents containing Panax Notoginseng Saponins. After 20 days of treatment, 15 cases were cured, 35 cases showed obvious effect, and 17 cases were improved. The various examinations on the patients have proved that panax notoginseng saponins had no damage to the heart, liver and kidney [4]. In the clinical treatment of reducing the levels of blood lipids and cholesterol, the patients took orally the powder of Raw San Qi before meals for 1 month, 3 times per day and 0.6g per time. The patient reported that his energy was recovered after treatment, the symptoms of hypertension, coronary heart disease and cerebral arteriosclerosis were alleviated, and no side effects were found. In addition, some cases have shown that San Qi can decrease the level of cholesterol [4][13]. In the clinical trial, the patient was given oral administration of Raw San Qi for more than 10 weeks, 0.9g per day, and western medicine was not used during the treatment. The results showed that the mean level of blood cholesterol of 73 patients (74 patients in total) was decreased by 2.824mmol/L [4].

  1. 左言富. 中藥學. 上海中醫藥大學出版社.
  2. 王強，徐國均. 道地藥材圖典.福建科學技術出版社. 2003.
  3. 中央財經大學智慧財產權研究中心. 道地藥材與地理標誌關係研究.
  4. 國家中藥學管理局《中華本草》編委會. 中華本草 [M]. 上海科學技術出版社，1999.
  5. 紀俊元，張繼，宋長義. 常用中藥材真偽對照鑒別圖譜. 遼寧科學技術出版社.
  6. Zhao, Yuqing. “Panax notoginseng (Burk.) FH Chen 三七 (Sanqi, Notoginseng).” Dietary Chinese Herbs. Springer, Vienna, 2015. 185-193.
  7. Mochizuki, Mami, et al. “Inhibitory effect of tumor metastasis in mice by saponins, ginsenoside-Rb2, 20 (R)-and 20 (S)-ginsenoside-Rg3, of red ginseng.” Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 18.9 (1995): 1197-1202.
  8. Sun, Shi, et al. “Effects of steaming the root of Panax notoginseng on chemical composition and anticancer activities.” Food Chemistry 118.2 (2010): 307-314.
  9. Wang, Chong-Zhi, and Chun-Su Yuan. “Panax Quinquefolius (American Ginseng) and Panax Notoginseng (Notoginseng) in Cancer Chemoprevention.” Evidence-based Anticancer Materia Medica. Springer, Dordrecht, 2011. 97-109.
  10. Chan, Paul, G. Neil Thomas, and Brian Tomlinson. “Protective effects of trilinolein extrated from Panax notoginseng against cardiovascular disease.” Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 23.12 (2002): 1157-1162.
  11. Xu, Congcong, et al. “Analytical methods and biological activities of Panax notoginseng saponins: Recent trends.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 236 (2019): 443-465.
  12. He, Li, et al. “Radix/rhizoma notoginseng extract (sanchitongtshu) for ischemic stroke: a randomized controlled study.” Phytomedicine, 18.6 (2011): 437-442.
  13. Namba, T., et al. “Fundamental studies on the evaluation of the crude drugs (I).” Planta Medica, 25.01 (1974): 28-38.
  14. 徐輝. 三七總皂苷對心血管系統的影響及作用機制. 現代中西醫結合雜誌, 2006, 2720-2722.
  15. 郭潔文，楊敏，朱劍光，鄧志軍. 三七總皂苷對心血管作用的藥理研究新進展. 現代食品與藥品雜誌, 2007, 314-317.

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