In order to better inherit and carry forward the traditional medicine of Li ethnic group, the research team of natural products chemistry in TBBRI has relieved the bottleneck in the development of Li medicine industry through isolating hundreds of bioactive components from Li medicinal plants and developing 32 new products from Li medicinal plants on the basis of completing their investigation on locations and varieties of Li medicinal resources, The research team has carried out the study on active ingredients of natural products from 35 characteristic Li medicinal plants including Antiaris toxicaria, Hainan dragon’s blood (Dracaena cambodiana), Dalbergia odorifera, Alpinia oxyphylla, Ancistrocladus tectorius, Atalantia buxifolia, Ganoderma hainanense, etc. and led to the isolation of 1326 compounds including 352 new ones and discovery of 420 extractions, active components and compounds exhibiting bioactivities for neuroprotection, hypoglycemia, antibacteria, anticancer, anti-HIV, etc.
The research team has developed 32 new products from some Li medicinal plants, including Yizhi Wine(Sharpleaf Galangal wine), Rosewood Essential Oil, Dingguo Capsule, Yizhi Coffee, Yizhi(Sharpleaf Galangal) Coconut Milk, Dragon Blood External Ointment, Dragon Blood Huoluo (Collaterals Activating) Oil, Moringa Tea, etc. based on process improvement and extraction of bioactive constituents.
The development of new products can not be separated from the research team's comprehensive investigation and collection of Li medicine resources in Hainan. In the last 11 years, the research team travelled throughout 105 cottages inhabited by the Li ethnics in 11 counties to visit the rural Li doctors and collect folk recipes, and eventually published Records of Li Folk Medicine and Complication of Proved Folk Recipes from the Li Nationality, established the germplasm resource nursery of Li medicines, which contains 511 Li medicinal plants, and based on which a data sharing platform for Li medicine resources is developed.
So far a number of commercial companies have cooperated with TBBRI to grow characteristic Li medicinal plants with an area of nearly 670 ha, from which a total return of about RMB 170 million has generated, which helps to realized gradually the integration of commercial sector, universities and research institutions in the development of Li ethno-medicine industry. It is believed that the aim of industrialization of the Li ethno-medicine in Hainan could be achieved in the future.
