What we already know about rhubarb: a comprehensive review
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Chinese Medicine Open Access
REVIEW
What we already know about rhubarb: a comprehensive review Hong Xiang1†, Jiaxin Zuo1,2†, Fangyue Guo3† and Deshi Dong4*
Abstract Rhubarb (also named Rhei or Dahuang), one of the most ancient and important herbs in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), belongs to the Rheum L. genus from the Polygonaceae family, and its application can be traced back to 270 BC in “Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing”. Rhubarb has long been used as an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and anticancer medicine in China. However, for a variety of reasons, such as origin, variety and processing methods, there are differences in the effective components of rhubarb, which eventually lead to decreased quality and poor efficacy. Additionally, although some papers have reviewed the relationship between the active ingredients of rhubarb and pharmacologic actions, most studies have concentrated on one or several aspects, although there has been great progress in rhubarb research in recent years. Therefore, this review aims to summarize recent studies on the geographic distribution, taxonomic identification, pharmacology, clinical applications and safety issues related to rhubarb and provide insights into the further development and application of rhubarb in the future. Keywords: Rhubarb, TCMs, Taxonomic identification, Pharmacology, Clinical application Background Rhubarb is one of the most ancient and important herbs with thick roots, hollow and erect stems and small whitegreen or purple-red flowers clustered on the branches [1]. Rhubarb includes approximately 60 species of plants of the genus Rheum L. from the Polygonaceae family [2]. The rhizome of rhubarb was classified as a top medicinal plant, which can be traced back to 270 BC in an ancient Chinese book “Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing” [3]. Rhubarb has mainly been used for medicinal purposes in Asia, but it often refers to a few edible rhubarbs in Europe and the Middle East. Modern studies of rhubarb have identified the chemical constituents [4], pharmacological activities [5, 6] and functional mechanisms [7] in a more scientific and rigorous way. Although some papers have reviewed the relationships between the active ingredients *Correspondence: [email protected] † Hong Xiang, Jiaxin Zuo and Fangyue Guo contributed same work to this paper and they are the co-first authors 4 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
of rhubarb and pharmacologic actions [2], most of these studies have concentrated on one or several aspects, although research on rhubarb has made great progress in recent years. In this review, we not only summarize the leading-edge understanding in certification methods, quality control, pharmacology and clinical applications of rhubarb but also introduce the geographic distribution, taxonomic identification and toxicity. This review delivers multifaceted and different views and opinions from the field, which wi
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