the sliced root with honey (from 25–30 parts to
100 parts of root) over medium heat until no
longer sticky to touch.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
The main constituents of the root are saponins,
polysaccharides, isoflavonoids, free amino
acids, and trace minerals.2,3Other constitu-
ents include coumarin, folic acid, nicotinic
acid, choline, betaine, phenolic acids (ferulic,
isoferulic, caffeic and chlorogenic acids, etc.),
sitosterol, sucrose, and linoleic and linolenic
acids (HU;JIANGSU).2,4
More than 40 triterpene glycosides (sapo-
nins) have been isolated from roots of A.
membranaceus,A. mongholicus, and other
ChineseAstragalusspecies, including astrag-
alus saponins I, II, and III; astragalosides I, II,
III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII; acetylastragalo-
side I; isoastragalosides I and II; astrasiever-
sianin I, II, III, IV (astragaloside I), V, VI, VII
(isoastragaloside II), VIII (astragaloside II),
and IX–XVI; cyclogaleginosides A and B;
astramembrannin I (astragaloside IV, astrasie-
versianin XIV) and astramembrannin II (cy-
clogaleginoside B); and soyasaponin I. Soya-
sapogenol B is the aglycone of soyasaponin I
and astragaloside VIII and cycloastragenol
(cyclogalegigenin, astramembrangenin), the
aglycone of the other saponins.4–6Huangqiye-
nins A and B were isolated from the leaves.^7
Polysaccharides (fromA. mongholicusroot)
include astragalan I (mol. wt. 36,300;D-glu-
cose:D-galactose:L-arabinose¼1.75 : 1.63 : 1;
with a trace of pentose), astragalan II (mol.
wt. 12,300;a-(1,4)(1,6)-glucan), and astra-
galan III (mol. wt. 34,600;a-(1,4)(1,6)-glu-
can);2,6and AG-1 (a-glucan witha-(1,4) :
a-(1,6) ratio of 5 : 2), AG-2 (water-insoluble
a-(1,4)-glucan), AH-1 (acidic; galacturonic
acid/glucuronic acid:glucose:rhamnose:
arabinose¼1 : 0.04 : 0.02 : 0.01), and AH-2
(glucose:arabinose¼1 : 0.15).2,8,9
Flavonoids include kaempferol, quercetin,
isorhamnetin,calycosin,formononetin,rhamno-
citrin, kumatakenin, (3R)-2^0 ,3^0 -dihydroxy-7,4-
dimethoxy-isoflavone,L-3-hydroxy-9-methox-
ypterocarpan, (6aR,11aR)-10-hydroxy-3,9-di-
methoxypterocarpan, calycosin glucoside,
9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan-3-O-b-D-gluco-
side and 2^0 -hydroxy-3^0 ,4^0 -dimethoxy-isofla-
vone-7-O-b-D-glucoside, among others.2,10–15
Of over 20 free amino acids identified,
asparagine, glutamic acid, canavanine, pro-
line, arginine,b-aminobutyric acid,g-amino-
butyric acid (GABA), aspartic acid, and ala-
nine are present in the highest concentrations;
they make up 0.50–1.26% of astragalus root,
depending on sources.2,3,16,17
Amongmorethan20tracemineralsfoundin
astragalus are magnesium (1108–1761 ppm),
iron (94–694 ppm), manganese (8–52 ppm),
zinc (11–23 ppm), copper (5–9 ppm), rubidi-
um (11–13 ppm), molybdenum (0.1–10 ppm)
and chromium (0.3–0.8 ppm).2,18–20PHARMACOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL
ACTIVITIESAstragalus root is a highly valued Chinese
herbal tonic with diverse pharmacological
properties. Decoctions, alcoholic extracts,
and/or powders of the root have shown nu-
merous activities in humans and experimental
animals, including immunopotentiating ef-
fects;21–30tumor-inhibiting,^31 antibacterial,^23
and antiviral;^28 promoting nucleic acid syn-
thesis in liver and spleen; elevating and/or
reducing cAMP and cGMP levels in blood,
liver, and spleen of mice;^23 cyclooxygenase-
2-inhibitingin vitro;^32 anti-inflammatory;^33
cardiovascular effects (hypotensive, vasodi-
lating, etc.);28,34inhibiting experimentally in-
duced hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia in
mice;^35 contracting smooth muscles; prolong-
ing life span of silkworm and of cells
in vitro;21,36 larvicidal (Lymantria dispar
L.);^37 antiprotozoal (Trypanosoma cruzi);^38
inducing the release of growth hormone in rat
pituitary cellsin vitro;^39 melanocyte prolifer-
ation-stimulatingin vitro;^40 antioxidant ef-
fects^41 (e.g., increasing superoxide dismutase
activity); antimutagenicin vitro;^28 improving
learning and memory; promoting cartilage
growth in vitro; hepatoprotective against56 Astragalus