Recently, there have been customers who have reported that gecko counterfeit products have appeared in the market in 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 geckos currently in circulation on the market.
First, the origin, the huge gap between the prices of the two geckos
Geckos, also known as "Tianlong", originate and distribute in secluded places such as between walls and elms, and enter and exit the ceiling and walls at night, preying on mosquitoes, flies and other insects. It is distributed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places. At present, the price of geckos in the market is around 550 yuan, and the price of the whole high-quality goods is 700 yuan; while there are other imported geckos on the market, the price of the unified goods is 180 yuan, and the price of high-quality goods is 230 yuan. And the circulation is also greater than that of domestic geckos. Which one is genuine?
Second, the original is clear, which one is the original
Tianlong (gecko) is not included in the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia", the content of its traits and medicinal ingredients can only refer to historical documents when medicinal, from the "National Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicine", "Dictionary of Chinese Medicine", "Chinese Materia Medica", "Compendium of Materia Medica" and other Chinese herbal medicine literature and historical prescriptions, it can be seen that the gecko used for medicine is a webbed gecko, a web-toed gecko, a warty gecko and a wartless gecko produced in China.
Figure 2: Genuine Tianlong physical object.
The specifications for the preparation of traditional Chinese medicine tablets formulated by provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government have also made clear provisions on the Chinese medicinal material Tianlong (gecko), and the geckos that can be used as drinking tablets are: warty geckos, wartless geckos, web-free geckos, and web-toed geckos.
Therefore, domestic geckos are the genuine drugs, and imported geckos have never entered the medicinal category.
3. Counterfeits are actually substitutes for different genera of the same family
Figure 3: Physical comparison of counterfeit lizard tigers.
Geckos belong to the gecko genus of the gecko family; while the lizard tiger is a genus of lizard tigers in the family Gecko, with different genera in the same family. Most of the lizards currently sold as geckos on the market come from the thorn-tailed lizard tiger, warty-tailed lizard tiger and sawtail lizard tiger produced on tropical islands, as well as clam seedlings grown in the water, and the sources are extremely complex.
Geckos used for medicine inhabit the old houses inhabited by humans, the corners of the walls of the old houses, tile cracks, wall rooms, wardrobe seams and other secluded places, enter and exit the ceiling and walls at night, prey on mosquitoes, flies and other insects, when the temperature is lower than 11 degrees into hibernation; and the lizard tigers living on tropical islands, due to the high temperature all year round, so they do not hibernate all year round. Geckos live under the same roof as humans, feed on mosquitoes, flies, moths, cockroaches, and spiders, and accumulate a large number of mosquitoes, flies, moths, cockroaches, and spiders in their bodies. Because the lizard tiger lives on a tropical island, it is often in and out of mountain streams, woods, rock crevices, where it is often affected by the sea breeze, there is no mosquito, fly suitable for survival, so the food of the lizard tiger is mostly local worms, and sometimes eat local young leaf plants; the composition contained in the body is very different from that of domestic geckos.
Fourth, identification, the daily identification method of geckos and lizard tigers
In addition to physical and chemical identification, the identification of the two experiences is actually very simple: one is to look at the color, the gecko is black and the lizard tiger is yellow; the second is to look at the head, the gecko is obviously larger than the lizard tiger; the third is to look at the appearance, the gecko's whole body to the tail ring pattern is very obvious. At the same time, adult geckos often have two milky white clumps on the neck near the jaw, which are milky white and creamy.
Fifth, reflect that bad money expelling good money will kill Chinese medicine
In our market research, we found that market distributors often distribute both genuine geckos and imported geckos, that is, lizard tigers. When you buy a gecko, the merchant will take the initiative to ask you whether it is cheap or expensive. Expensive refers to genuine geckos, cheap refers to imported lizard tigers.
Due to the lack of ability of market managers to identify genuine geckos and lizard tigers, a large number of lizard tigers are sold as geckos. Unscrupulous traders took advantage of the similar shape of the lizard tiger and the gecko to deliberately mix the lizard tiger into the gecko to sell, for huge profits. Some pharmaceutical factory buyers, when purchasing, buy a part of the gecko to buy a part of the lizard tiger, through the relationship with the gecko to do quality inspection, and then mixed into a large number of lizard tigers 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!
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