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Product Introduction: Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle, also known as Lonicera japonica Thunb., is a traditional Chinese medicine used to clear heat and detoxify. The most suitable time to harvest is when the flower buds are swollen at the top, turning from green to white, and not yet fully open. Honeysuckle has a sweet and cold nature, and it acts on the lung, heart, and stomach meridians. It primarily clears heat, detoxifies, and disperses wind-heat. It is used for carbuncles, sore throats, erysipelas, heat-toxicity dysentery, wind-heat colds, and febrile diseases. Main chemical components include chlorogenic acid and isochlorogenic acid, volatile oils: caryophyllene, linalool, geraniol, octanal, and more than twenty other ingredients. Common dosage is 10–20g. It is widely used in pharmaceuticals, functional foods, and other industries.
Major Chemical Components
- Organic Acids
- Chlorogenic acid compounds are the main effective ingredients in honeysuckle, including chlorogenic acid and isochlorogenic acid, with isochlorogenic acid being a mixture. The content of organic acids in honeysuckle varies depending on its origin, variety, part, and harvest time.
- Chlorogenic Acid (C16H18O9): Molecular weight 354.30. The half-hydrate form is needle-like crystals (water), converting to the anhydrous form at 110°C. Melting point: 208°C. Solubility in water at 25°C is 4%, higher in hot water, easily soluble in ethanol and acetone, and slightly soluble in ethyl acetate.
- Flavonoids
- The earliest flavonoids extracted from honeysuckle include luteolin, with the next being rutin.
- Trace Elements
- Honeysuckle contains at least seven essential trace elements: manganese, chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, and iron. It also includes essential major elements such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. The content and types of trace elements in honeysuckle vary depending on the growing conditions and environment.
Applications: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Health Foods, Foods
- Traditional Chinese Medicine: Honeysuckle granules, etc.
- Health Foods: Honeysuckle tablets and candies, etc.
- Foods: Honeysuckle tea, etc.
Plant Description
Honeysuckle, also known as silver flower, twin flower, winter honeysuckle, egret flower, or Erbao flower, is the flower bud of a perennial semi-evergreen climbing woody vine of the Caprifoliaceae family.
Honeysuckle is a semi-evergreen vine; young branches are dark reddish-brown and densely covered with yellow-brown, spreading, stiff hairs, glandular hairs, and short soft hairs, with the lower part often hairless. The leaves are papery, oval to broadly ovate, sometimes ovate-lanceolate, rarely round-ovate or inversely ovate, with few to several blunt notches, 3–5 (up to 9.5) cm long, with a pointed or gradually pointed tip, occasionally blunt, rounded, or slightly indented, and a rounded or nearly heart-shaped base with rough edge hairs. The upper side of the leaf is deep green, the underside is pale green, and the upper leaves on the young branches are usually densely covered with short rough hairs on both sides, while the lower leaves are often smooth and hairless, with a bluish-gray tint. Leaf stalks are 4–8 mm long and densely covered with short soft hairs. The flower stalks are usually solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, equal in length to or slightly shorter than the leaf stalks, with the lower ones up to 2–4 cm long, densely covered with short soft hairs and intermixed with glandular hairs. The bracts are large, leaf-like, oval to elliptical, up to 2–3 cm long, covered with short soft hairs on both sides or sometimes nearly hairless. The small bracts have a rounded or truncate apex, about 1 mm long, covering 1/2 to 4/5 of the calyx tube, with short rough hairs and glandular hairs. The calyx tube is about 2 mm long, hairless, with ovate triangular or long triangular teeth, with pointed tips and long hairs, and dense hairs on the outer surface and edges. The corolla is white, sometimes slightly reddish at the base, turning yellow later, 2–3 cm (up to 6 cm) long, with the tube slightly longer than the lip segments, rarely nearly equal in length, covered with somewhat downward spreading or half-spreading rough hairs and long glandular hairs, the upper lip segments are blunt at the tip, and the lower lip is strap-like and curved. The stamens and pistil protrude above the corolla. The fruit is round, 6–7 mm in diameter, turning glossy blue-black when ripe; seeds are oval or elliptical, brown, about 3 mm long, with a raised ridge in the middle and shallow transverse grooves on both sides. Flowering period is April to June (often flowering in autumn as well), and fruit ripens in October to November.
Growing Environment
Honeysuckle grows on hillside shrubs or sparse forests, rock piles, footpaths, and village fences, up to 1500 meters above sea level. It is also commonly cultivated.
Distribution
Honeysuckle is widely distributed in East China, Central and South China, Southwest China, as well as in Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, and Gansu. In South China, it is found in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan; in Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Taiwan. It is known for its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties.
Harvesting and Processing
Honeysuckle flowers after 3–4 years of transplanting. Flowering time is concentrated and should be harvested in batches. Generally, the first harvest occurs in mid to late May, and the second in mid to late June. The optimal time to harvest is when the flower buds have swollen, turned white from green, and have not yet opened. After harvesting, honeysuckle should be dried or baked immediately to prevent mold and deterioration. During drying, avoid flipping to prevent blackening of the flowers. The drying temperature should be controlled: initial drying at 30–35°C for 2 hours, then increase to 40°C, drying for 5–10 hours, followed by maintaining room temperature at 45–50°C for 10 hours, then increase to 55–60°C to ensure rapid drying. Avoid flipping or halting drying before the flowers are fully dry. Baking yields higher quality and quantity than air drying.
Storage and Maintenance
Store in a dry container in a cool, dry place, protecting it from moisture and pests. Prevent rekindling of honeysuckle charcoal.
