title: Review of the botanical characteristics, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Astragalus membranaceus (Huangqi).
abstract: Astragalus membranaceus is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese herbal medicines. It is used as immune stimulant, tonic, antioxidant, hepatoprotectant, diuretic, antidiabetic, anticancer, and expectorant. The current paper reviews the botanical characteristics, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Astragali Radix. Information on Astragali Radix was gathered via the Internet (using Google Scholar, Baidu Scholar, Elsevier, ACS, Medline Plus, CNKI, and Web of Science) as well as from libraries and local books. More than 100 compounds, including flavonoids, saponins, polysaccharides, and amino acids, have so far been identified, and the various biological activities of the compounds have been reported. As an important traditional Chinese medicine, further studies on Astragali Radix can lead to the development of new drugs and therapies for various diseases. The improvement of its utilization should be studied further.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100193, China; College of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jinlin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Zenghui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Linfang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Sihao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shilin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shihai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D027883:Astragalus Plant / Q000737:chemistry; D027885:Astragalus propinquus / Q000737:chemistry*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D012503:Saponins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005419:Flavonoids; D011134:Polysaccharides; D012503:Saponins; C027492:Huang Qi
keywords: Astragalus membranaceus; biological activity; botanical characteristics