''Astragalus mongholicus'',

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

including ''Astragalus propinquus'' and ''Astragalus membranaceus'', commonly known as Mongolian milkvetch in English; 'Хунчир' in Mongolian; ''huángqí'' (), ''běiqí'' () or ''huánghuā huángqí'' (), in Mongolia, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Mongolian medicine. It is a

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

and it is not listed as being threatened.

Distribution

''A. mongholicus'' is widespread in temperate Asia, being found in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, from

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

, in

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, and in west and north China.

Herbalism

''A. mongholicus'' is used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

(TCM). ''A. mongholicus'' is a component in Lectranal, a

food supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources, or that are synthetic ( ...

used in treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis, though there is limited evidence of its effectiveness.

Chemistry

Chemical constituents of the roots (Radix Astragali) include

polysaccharide Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long-chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with wat ...

s and triterpenoids (such as astragalosides), as well as

isoflavone Isoflavones are a type of naturally-occurring isoflavonoids, many of which act as phytoestrogens in mammals. Isoflavones occur in many plant species, but are especially high in soybeans. Although isoflavones and closely-related phytoestrogens ar ...

s (including kumatakenin, calycosin, and formononetin) and their

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s and

malonate The conjugate acids are in :Carboxylic acids. {{Commons category, Carboxylate ions, Carboxylate anions Carbon compounds Anions ...

s. It contains the saponin cycloastragenol.

Toxicology

While several other species of ''Astragalus'' are known to cause severe poisonings in livestock due to indolizine

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s, aliphatic

nitro compound In organic chemistry, nitro compounds are organic compounds that contain one or more nitro functional groups (). The nitro group is one of the most common explosophores (functional group that makes a compound explosive) used globally. The nit ...

s, and accumulated

selenium Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elem ...

, none of these constituents have been detected in ''Astragalus mongholicus'' used in

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

s and TCM preparations.

Compendial status

''A. mongholicus'' is listed (as ''A. propinquus'') in the following official

pharmacopoeia A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (or the typographically obsolete rendering, ''pharmacopœia''), meaning "drug-making", in its modern technical sense, is a reference work containing directions for the identification of compound med ...

: * Japanese Pharmacopoeia

Notes and references

External links

* * {{Medicinal herbs & fungi mongholicus Flora of China Flora of Kazakhstan Flora of Mongolia Flora of the Russian Far East Flora of Siberia Forages Herbs Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine