Schisandra chinensis

Schisandra chinensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
Order:	Austrobaileyales
Family:	Schisandraceae
Genus:	Schisandra
Species:	S. chinensis
Binomial name
Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.[1]
Synonyms
Kadsura chinensis - Turcz.[1][2] Maximowiczia chinensis - (Turcz.) Rupr.[2] Schisandra japonica - (Siebold. & Zucc. ex A. Gray.) Hance.[2]

A mug of Korean omija cha (wǔ wèi zi tea), with added pine nuts

Schisandra chinensis (五味子 in Chinese, pinyin: wǔ wèi zi, literally "five flavor berry" which is its common name^[1]) is a deciduous woody vine native to forests of Northern China and the Russian Far East. It is hardy in USDA Zone 4. The plant likes some shade with moist, well-drained soil. The species itself is dioecious, thus flowers on a female plant will only produce fruit when fertilized with pollen from a male plant. However, there is a hybrid selection titled "Eastern Prince" which has perfect flowers and is self-fertile. Gardeners should beware that seedlings of "Eastern Prince" are sometimes sold under the same name but are typically single-sex plants.

Etymology

Its Chinese name comes from the fact that its berries possess all five basic flavors: salty, sweet, sour, pungent (spicy), and bitter. Sometimes it is more specifically called běi wǔ wèi zi ((Chinese: 北五味子); literally "northern five flavor berry") to distinguish it from another traditionally medicinal schisandraceous plant Kadsura japonica that grows only in subtropical areas. Another variant of schizandra berry is that of Schisandra Sphenanthera which has a similar but different biochemical profile; the Chinese pharmaceopia distinguishes between Schisandra Chinensis (běi wǔ wèi zi) and Schisandra Sphenanthera (nan wǔ wèi zi) (see Difference between Schisandra chinensis and Schisandra sphenanthera)

Uses

General uses

Its berries are used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. They are most often used in dried form, and boiled to make a tea. Medicinally it is used as a tonic and restorative adaptogen with notable clinically documented liver protecting effects. The primary hepatoprotective (liver protecting) and immuno-modulating constituents are the lignans schizandrin, deoxyschizandrin, gomisins, and pregomisin, which are found in the seeds of the fruit. It should not be used by pregnant women.

China

In China, a wine is made from the berries.[1]

Korea

In Korean the berries are known as omija (hangul: 오미자), and the tea made from the berries is called omija cha (hangul: 오미자 차); see Korean tea.

Japan

In Japanese, they are called gomishi (Japanese: ゴミシ). The Ainu people used this plant, called repnihat, as a remedy for colds and sea-sickness.^[3]

Russia

In 1998, Russia released a postage stamp depicting S. chinensis.^photo (Russian: Лимонник китайский)

Use in traditional Chinese medicine

In traditional Chinese medicine, Schisandra chinensis (known as wu wei zi (Chinese: 五味子)) is believed to:

1. Astringe Lung Qi and nourish the Kidneys
2. Restrain the essence and stop Diarrhea--astringent Kidneys
3. Arrest excessive sweating from Yin or Yang deficiency
4. Calm the Spirit by tonification of Heart and Kidney
5. Generate body fluids and alleviate thirst

S. chinensis yields schisandrin B.

Traditional uses in Russia

The great interest in Limonnik (Schisandra chinensis) in Russia arises from results of ethnopharmacological investigations of Russian scientists in the Far East regions where the berries and seeds were used by Nanai (Goldes or Samagir) hunters to improve night vision, as a tonic and to reduce hunger, thirst and exhaustion since “it gives forces to follow a sable all the day without food”^[4]

Medicinal Uses

"Pharmacological studies on animals have shown that Schizandra increases physical working capacity and affords a stress-protective effect against a broad spectrum of harmful factors including heat shock, skin burn, cooling, frostbite, immobilisation, swimming under load in an atmosphere with decreased air pressure, aseptic inflammation, irradiation, and heavy metal intoxication. The phytoadaptogen exerts an effect on the central nervous, sympathetic, endocrine, immune, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal systems, on the development of experimental atherosclerosis, on blood sugar and acid-base balance, and on uterus myotonic activity."^[5]

Two major lignans, schizandrin and gomisin A , have shown to induce interleukin (IL)-8, macrophage inflammatory protein-1β , and granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) release by THP-1 cells. Therefore, S. Chinensis may be therapeutically beneficial in promoting the body's humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.^[6]

Chemistry

Schizandrin is one of the main dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans present in the fruit of Schisandra Chinensis. Biological activities including hepatoprotective, antiviral and neuroprotective effects of schizandrin and other dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans have been reported.^[7]

Recent studies have demonstrated that schisandrin exhibits anti-oxidative effects in vivo.^[8]

γ-schizandrin, gomisin A, γ-terpinene, bisabolene (+)-gomisin K2, gomisin S, Pregomisin, Schisantherin A, Schicantherin B, Angeloylgomisin Q , Rubrildilactione .^[9]

Growing Information

Schizandra is native to northern and northeastern China Cultivation requirements are thought to be similar to those of grapes http://bayflora.com/magnoliavine.html http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/homehort/plant/Magnolia.htm Schisandra chinensis is hardy to US Zone 4. Plants require conditions of moderate humidity and light, together with a wet, humus-rich soil.

Tens of tons of berries are used annually in Russia in the Primorsky and Khabarovsky regions for the commercial manufacture of juices, wines, extracts and sweets

Gallery

• 

  Fruit

• 

  Seeds

• 

  Berries

• 
• 
• 

See also

• Chinese herbology 50 fundamental herbs

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Schisandra chinensis information from NPGS/GRIN". USDA. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?70678. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Schisandra chinensis - Plants For A Future database report". www.pfaf.org. http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Schisandra+chinensis. Retrieved 2008-03-10. 
3. ^ Batchelor, John; Miyabe, Kingo (1893). "Ainu economic plants". Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan (R. Meiklejohn & Co) 51: 198–240. 
4. ^ Panossian A. Wikman G. "Pharmacology of Schisandra chinensis Bail.: an overview of Russian research and uses in medicine. [Review]" [239 refs] Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 118(2):183-212, 2008 Jul 23.
5. ^ Panossian A. Wikman G."Pharmacology of Schisandra chinensis Bail.: an overview of Russian research and uses in medicine. [Review]" Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 118(2):183-212, 2008 Jul 23.
6. ^ Lin RD, Mao YW, Leu SJ, Huang CY, Lee MH.,"The immuno-regulatory effects of Schisandra chinensis and its constituents on human monocytic leukemia cells." Molecules. 2011;16(6):4836-49
7. ^ Kim SJ. Min HY. Lee EJ. Kim YS. Bae K. Kang SS. Lee SK. 'Growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 by schizandrin, a dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan isolated from Schisandra chinensis, on T47D human breast cancer cells." Phytotherapy Research. 24(2):193-7, 2010 Feb.
8. ^ Guo LY. Hung TM. Bae KH. Shin EM. Zhou HY. Hong YN. Kang SS. Kim HP. Kim YS.,"Anti-inflammatory effects of schisandrin isolated from the fruit of Schisandra chinensis Baill." European Journal of Pharmacology. 591(1-3):293-9, 2008 Sep 4.
9. ^ Xu XM, Li L, Chen M., "Studies on the chemical constituents of Schisandra pubescens". Zhong Yao Cai. 2009 Sep;32(9):1399-401.

Further reading

• Winston, David, and Steven Maimes. ADAPTOGENS: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief. Healing Arts Press, 2007. (Contains a detailed monograph on S. chinensis as well as a discussion of health benefits.)

External links

• Photo of dried S. chinensis berries
• Schizandra chinensis List of Chemicals (Dr. Duke's Databases)
• Wuweizi site (Chinese)