Review Article
Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo:
A Review on Its Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry,
Pharmacology, and Industrialization
Hanxiao Tang, Tianwen Zhao, Yunjie Sheng, Ting Zheng,
Lingzhu Fu, and Yongsheng Zhang
Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 548 Binwen Rd., Binjiang District, Hangzhou, China
Correspondence should be addressed to Yongsheng Zhang; [email protected]
Received 17 July 2016; Accepted 23 October 2016; Published 12 March 2017
Academic Editor: Hilal Zaid
Copyright © 2017 Hanxiao Tang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Ethnopharmacological Relevance. Dendrobii Officinalis Caulis, the stems ofDendrobium officinaleKimura etMigo, as a tonic herb in
Chinese materia medica and health food in folk, has been utilized for the treatment of yin-deficiency diseases for decades.Methods.
Information for analysis ofDendrobium officinaleKimura etMigowas obtained from libraries and Internet scientific databases such
as PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Wiley InterScience, Ingenta, Embase, CNKI, and PubChem. Results.
Over the past decades, about 190 compounds have been isolated from Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo. Its wide modern
pharmacological actions in hepatoprotective effect, anticancer effect, hypoglycemic effect, antifatigue effect, gastric ulcer protective
effect, and so on were reported. This may mainly attribute to the major and bioactive components: polysaccharides. However,
other small molecule components require further study. Conclusions. Due to the lack of systematic data of Dendrobium officinale,
it is important to explore its ingredient-function relationships with modern pharmacology. Recently, studies on the chemical
constituents of Dendrobium officinale concentrated in crude polysaccharides and its structure-activity relationships remain scant.
Further research is required to determine theDendrobium officinale toxicological action and pharmacological mechanisms of other
pure ingredients and crude extracts. In addition, investigation is needed for better quality control and novel drug or product
development.
1. Introduction
Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo spreads in several
countries over the world, such as Japan, United States,
and Australia, and it distributes more widely in China [1]
(Table 1). Modern pharmacology research has confirmed that
Dendrobium officinale and its polysaccharide fraction pos-
sess anticancer, hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, antifatigue,
antioxidant, anticonstipation, hypoglycemic, gastric ulcer
protective, and antihypertensive effects, immunoenhance-
ment, and so on [2–4].
Since 1994, polysaccharides of Dendrobium officinale
have been extracted and analyzed [5], and polysaccharides
gradually became research focus of Dendrobium officinale.
Recently, the chemical compositions and pharmacological
effects of Dendrobium officinale have attracted more and
more attention. In this review, from substantial data about
Dendrobium officinale, approximately 190 monomer compo-
sitions and plenty of pharmacological researches studied in
vivo and/or in vitro were summarized. In addition, the devel-
opment of artificial cultivation of Dendrobium officinale
accelerates the promotion of its industrialization in China.
Patents and health care products were also improved by the
combination of production and research mode.
2. Pharmaceutical Botany
Dendrobium, pertaining to the second largest family, Orchi-
daceae, includes approximately l,400 species worldwide dis-
tributed from tropical Asia to Oceania [6]. There are 74
species and 2 variants of genus Dendrobium Sw. in China
[7]. Some of them can be processed as Dendrobii Caulis
Hindawi
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2017, Article ID 7436259, 19 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7436259
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7436259
2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
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http://www.gbif.org/
http://www.eol.org/
http://frps.eflora.cn/
