Huangbo, also known as Huangbo or Bo Pi, is the bark of the plant Huangbo or Huangpi, which belongs to the family Rutaceae. It was first recorded in "Shennong's Herbal Classic" and is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine for clearing heat and detoxification. It has a cold nature and a bitter taste, and is known for its effects of clearing heat and drying dampness, relieving fire and eliminating steaming, and detoxifying and treating sores. It is often used in the treatment of conditions such as damp-heat diarrhea, jaundice, abnormal vaginal discharge, cloudy urine, nocturnal emission, bone steaming and heat due to overwork, night sweats, red and swollen eyes, mouth ulcers, swollen and toxic sores, eczema, and itching. Currently, there are counterfeit products on the market that use the tuber of the Convolvulaceae plant sweet potato as a substitute for Huangbo, so it is important to be cautious when using it.
Genuine Huangbo
The appearance is slightly curved and plate-like, with uneven edges, varying in length and width, and a thickness of about 2-5 millimeters. The cork layer has mostly peeled off, and the outer surface is yellow-brown or yellow-brown with longitudinal ridges and brownish pores. The texture is hard and light, easy to break, and the cross-section is fibrous, appearing as layered flakes, fresh yellow in color. It has a slight odor and an extremely bitter taste when tasted.
Tuber of Sweet Potato (counterfeit product)
The shape is irregular and plate-like or filamentous, thinner than the genuine product, artificially dyed yellow, smooth surface without longitudinal grooves. The texture is brittle, and the cross-section is powdery and light yellow. It also has a slight odor, but when tasted, it is not bitter and has a slight sweet taste. The authenticity of Huangbo can be distinguished based on these three points.
Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Huangbo, like Huanglian, contains a significant amount of berberine, which has antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Enterococcus faecalis, and Shigella. Its decoction also has varying degrees of inhibitory effects on several common pathogenic fungi. Huangbo also has effects such as central nervous system inhibition, platelet protection, and blood pressure reduction. However, the counterfeit product made from sweet potato tubers is neither the same family as Huangbo nor possesses these effects, so it cannot be used as a substitute for Huangbo in medicine. Taking the counterfeit product by mistake can delay treatment, so it is important to distinguish between the two.
