Thick wood is a common traditional Chinese medicine. However, due to its wide medicinal value and high demand, coupled with the slow growth period of thick wood trees, there is a shortage in the market. In order to prevent the depletion of thick wood resources, it is urgent to protect and improve them.
1. Reasons for the depletion of thick wood
Thick wood has a history of more than 2000 years as a medicinal plant in China and is one of the tree species with ecological, economic, and social benefits. In addition to clinical applications and export supply, thick wood is also the main raw material for more than 20 commonly used Chinese patent medicines, such as Huoxiang Zhengqi Water and Xiangsha Yangwei Pills. Therefore, there is a high demand for thick wood in the medicinal herb market. Over the years, thick wood has mainly relied on wild resources, and with the development of the economy, the demand has increased. Despite the fact that the country has listed thick wood (including Aoye thick wood) as an endangered plant and a second-class protected medicinal material, resource destruction is still very serious. Many traditional production areas no longer have bark or flowers, and some excellent genetic resources are disappearing. In recent decades, excessive excavation of thick wood has led to the depletion of resources and the situation where "there is no bark to peel and no flowers to harvest" in forest areas.
2. Main phenomena of thick wood depletion
1. Thick wood has a long growth cycle. It generally takes more than 15 years of growth to peel off the bark for medicinal use. The investment return for thick wood is high, but the effectiveness is not obvious, which leads to low enthusiasm for local cultivation of thick wood.
2. Over the years, thick wood has mainly relied on wild resources, leading to the depletion of genetic resources, and thick wood has been operating under overload.
3. The area of artificial cultivation of thick wood is large, and the distribution of resources is wide, but there are problems such as improper site selection, excessive density, single species planting in thick wood stands, and backward nurturing and thinning techniques.
3. Protection and improvement of thick wood
Thick wood is a unique medicinal and timber tree species in China. Protecting and developing thick wood resources is of great practical and historical significance. Generally, resource protection relies on increasing supply and reducing consumption, but for thick wood, a commonly used medicinal material, it is not realistic to rely on controlling resource utilization to achieve protection. Establishing commercial bases and improving management levels are the fundamental guarantees for expanding medicinal sources and ensuring resource protection.
The utilization of resources is limited to the use of thick wood bark and has not made full use of the abundant leaves on thick wood trees, allowing them to "grow in spring and fall in autumn". This is also the fundamental reason for the depletion of thick wood resources.
Wild thick wood resources are now scarce. If we continue to let them be "wild and ownerless", the genetic resources will be extinct in a few years. Therefore, it is necessary to further strengthen the protection and management of thick wood resources. Wild thick wood should be prohibited from peeling and logging, and the mother trees should be protected to promote natural regeneration. The plants in nature reserves and botanical gardens should be protected as genetic resources.
Therefore, fully utilizing thick wood leaves and extracting phenolic substances from them can fundamentally solve the problem of shortage of thick wood medicinal resources, alleviate the phenomenon of random cutting of thick wood trees, and effectively guarantee the market demand for thick wood medicinal materials. If the development of phenolic substances in tree leaves can meet the demand of the medicinal herb market, it can reduce the damage to the normal growth of thick wood caused by peeling and beneficially reflect the economic benefits of thick wood.
