Editor's note: Under the supervision of the State Food and Drug Administration, the quality of Chinese herbal medicines has been significantly improved in recent years. Through strict supervision and treatment of both symptoms and root causes, the quality of Chinese herbal medicines entering the circulation field has been qualitatively improved. Sulfur medicinal materials have been significantly reduced, adulterated and fake, and the phenomenon of filling the true with the false and the inferior has been effectively curbed, and most pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical farmers have consciously complied with industry norms and industry standards from planting to harvesting and processing, and then to circulation and operation. However, there are still some unscrupulous traders and drug-using units that dare to risk the world's greatness and try the law by example; they are still doing illegal activities of using falsehood to fill the truth, inferiority to the superior, and false and chaotic to the real.
Recently, there have been customers who have continuously reported that there are counterfeit nine-spice insects in the market of Bozhou and other places, which not only seriously impacts the genuine market, but also causes a decline in the safety of medication. So, what are the sources of these imitations? And how to identify?
Figure 1: Samples of two species of nine-spice insects currently in circulation on the market
Nine-incense worms are nine-incense worms of the family Hoodedophyllaceae, namely hemiptera, heteroptera, and melon black bugs of the family Bug family. It is a flying blue-black insect, the size of a fingernail, and shaped like a water turtle. The main products are Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places in China.
At present, the price of small wrinkled bugs sold on the market is only 50-60 yuan / kg, while the price of genuine nine incense worms is 700 yuan / kg. However, due to the similarity of shape, unscrupulous traders sell in the name of the nine incense worms, and some are mixed into the genuine nine incense worms for sale, in order to make huge profits. Which is the real thing?
"Compendium of Materia Medica": Nine incense worms, produced in The Wei chishui River in Yongning, Guizhou. Big as a small finger, shaped like water, blue and black. In the winter, it lies under the stone, and after the sting, it flies out, and it is not available. The "Dictionary of Chinese Medicine" contains: Nine incense worms have significant curative effects on neurotic stomach diseases, heartache caused by mental depression, spleen and kidney weakness, waist and knee weakness, impotence, enuresis and other symptoms. Therefore, Li Shizhen said it: salty and warm, non-toxic, rational qi and pain relief, warm aphrodisiac, "long service benefits people", "natives take more to fill people".
The 2015 edition of the Pharmacopoeia describes the nine-scented insect as the dried body of the insect Nine-scented insect Chinensis Dallas of the family Bugidae. Capture before November to March of the following year, put it in a suitable container, suffocate it with a little wine, remove it from the shade, or burn it in boiling water, remove it, and dry it.
Figure 2: Genuine nine incense worms
Although the small wrinkled bug belongs to the same family of insects as the nine incense worms, the nine incense worms used for medicine are melon black bug species, they are not the same insect, so they do not have the medicinal properties of melon black bugs, and cannot act as nine incense worms into medicine.
Figure 3: Physical comparison of the counterfeit nine incense worms
The main points of identifying the nine incense worms: one is small, triangular, with a pair of one eye, point-like protrusions; the second is that the insect body is hexagonal flat oval, 1.8 to 2.2 cm long, and 1.2 cm wide; the third is that the surface is tan to brownish black, the back has 2 pairs of membranous translucent wings, and there are 3 pairs of feet in the chest, most of which have fallen off; the fourth is that the abdomen is raised than the back, with 5 to 6 segments, and there are protruding white dots at the edge of each segment; the fifth is brittle, with a special odor, and the taste is slightly sour. The small wrinkled bugs of the mixed product are very similar to the upper species, only the insect body is small, the head is semi-circular, the insect body is oval, and the rest are the same as the above species.
In our market research, we found that market distributors often distribute both genuine nine incense worms and small nine incense worms, that is, small wrinkle bugs. When you buy the nine-spice worm, the merchant will take the initiative to ask you whether it is cheap or expensive. Expensive refers to the genuine nine incense worms, cheap refers to small wrinkled bugs.
Due to the lack of ability of market managers to distinguish between genuine nine-incense worms and small wrinkled bugs, a large number of small nine-incense insects are sold as nine-incense insects. However, unscrupulous traders use the shape of the nine incense worms to be similar to the small nine incense worms, and deliberately mix the small nine incense worms into the nine incense worms to sell, for huge profits. Some pharmaceutical factory buyers, in the procurement of a part of the nine incense worms to buy a part of the small nine incense worms, through the relationship with the small nine incense worms to do quality inspection, and then mixed into a large number of nine incense worms into the warehouse, feeding. Such behavior will directly lead to a decline in the quality of finished drugs, endangering the interests of consumers, and must arouse everyone's vigilance!
In order to protect more patients from the harm of counterfeit and inferior drugs, it is urgent to strengthen the supervision of the market and the demand side, and the long grasp cannot be relaxed! In view of the harm of counterfeit and inferior drugs, we should expand publicity, use the media to actively expose those who commit illegal acts, and strengthen the publicity of negative teaching materials; continuously popularize the knowledge of identification of confusing varieties within the industry, improve the ability of business and users to identify positive and counterfeit products, strengthen ideological education, enhance moral standards, and let operators fully realize that the Chinese medicinal materials they operate are to cure diseases and save people, and are special commodities that are at stake in human life.
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