Abstract

Stemonae Radix (dried roots of Stemona japonica (Bl.) Miq., Stemona sessilifolia (Miq.) Miq., and Stemona tuberosa Lour.), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is also known as “Baibu” (Chinese: 百部). Stemonae Radix has a wide range of pharmacological effects, mainly used to treat respiratory diseases and as an insecticide. In this review, with the help of both published materials (such as ancient and modern books, monographs on medicinal plants, and the pharmacopoeia of different countries) and electronic databases (such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), we have summarized the up-to-date research progress in botany, traditional application, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and quality control, and discussed the research prospects and development direction of Stemonae Radix and its origin plants. Up to now, more than 170 compounds were isolated and identified from the three official species of Stemonae Radix, mainly including Stemona alkaloids, Stemona stilbenoids and other components. This medicine has also exhibited pharmacological activities, including antitussive, antiviral, insecticidal, antitumor, antioxidant, and therapeutic effects on lung diseases. However, pharmacological reports most often attribute activities to various extracts, rather than specific compounds. This hampers the establishment of a connection between chemical constituents and pharmacological activities, resulting in a difficulty to identify the major active compounds. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to design experiments to deeply understand the development and clinical use of Stemonae Radix.

Graphic abstract