Re: He Shou Wu - Prepared vs Unprepared

The root of both prepared (Zhi-He Shou Wu) and raw He Shou Wu (latin name of the plant is: Polygonum Multiflorum) are used in Chinese medicine. However, the two possess different properties and are used for different purposes.

In most cases, the prepared root is the one you would be interested in. For one matter, the raw version has a high content of emodin, which in small quantities has hepatoprotective qualities, but is also a strong laxative. The content of emodin is decreased by the processing. The cured/prepared He Shou is the version known in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for its anti-aging qualities.

These anti-aging and other healing properties of the plant have attracted a lot of research, most of which is conducted by scientists in the research institutes in China. However, all of the reaserch papers are available on the pubmed.org, which is a collection of all research papers.

A research was recently published, under the name "Changes in Chemical Components of Roor of Polygonum Multiflorum Thunb and how Maillard Reaction involves during the Heating Process" (you can google it). Skipping on the technical language, the bottom line is that the best root is the one that has been stewed in the black bean sauce for 32 hours. The heat processing indeed destroys some compounds (e.g., emodin is decreased), but it also triggers chemical reactions that create new compounds not found in the raw version of the root. Some data suggests that it is the products of those chemical reactions that possess anti-oxidant, chemopreventative, anti-mutagenic etc activity.

As for the why the black bean sauce: the black bean sauce processing comes from the long-time preparation method in the TCM. But there is no modern scientific research yet, which would answer the why question. However, the research in the paper I mentioned above, also tried water steaming of the root, but the content of active ingredients after the processing was the best after the 32-h black bean stewing.
 

Hope this helps,

Elena.