Differences of Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Activities of Traditional Herbs Before and After Honey-Frying

Abstract

Processing is one of the important and crucial parts that has been applied in traditional oriental medicine for a long time. The traditional ingredients were processed on the basis of the Yin Yang theory, Five Elements theory, and folk experiences. Among many processing techniques, honey-frying is a process enhancing the effects of traditional herbs on the Spleen and Stomach organs. This report provides an overview of the differences between chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of some traditional ingredients before and after roasting with honey.

Full text

Differences of Chemical Constituents and
Pharmacological Activities of Traditional Herbs
Before and After Honey-Frying
Minh-Nhut Truong
1
, Le-Truong Huynh
1
, Thi-Hiep Vu
1
,
Nguyen-Duc D. Phan
1
and Lan-Phuong L. Thi
1
Abstract
Processing is one of the important and crucial parts that has been applied in traditional oriental medicine for a long time. The tra-
ditional ingredients were processed on the basis of the Yin Yang theory, Five Elements theory, and folk experiences. Among many
processing techniques, honey-frying is a process enhancing the effects of traditional herbs on the Spleen and Stomach organs. This
report provides an overview of the differences between chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of some traditional
ingredients before and after roasting with honey.
Keywords
honey-frying, traditional herbs, processing, chemical constituents, pharmacological activities
Received: June 6th, 2023; Accepted: October 17th, 2023.
Introduction
Processing is a complicated but essential stage and greatly
affects the effectiveness of traditional treatment. There are
several traditional ingredients that can only be used in treatment
after being processed, including Crinis Carbonisatus (burning
human hair), Mu Li (Concha Ostreae), and Haliotis diversicolor.
Moreover, the processing also contains numerous other pur-
poses such as increasing the therapeutical effects, changing
the properties of raw herbs, eliminating side effects, removing
mechanical impurities, and storing.
1
Processing can use heat
(Fire), water (Water) or both (Fire-water combination), with or
without excipients to achieve these purposes.
Among these techniques, roasting is the most commonly
used. Several excipients are used for processing traditional
ingredients such as ginger extract, wine, honey, vinegar, bran,
licorice extract, catjang, of which honey is an excipient increas-
ing the effect on the Spleen organ and delivering drug to the inter-
nal organs.
1
The processing techniques and processed medicinal herbs
were regulated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in
Circular 30/2017/TT-BYT on “Direction’s guide to processing
methods of traditional ingredients”. Among the 103 herbal
medicines that exist in both raw and processed forms, 10
medicinal herbs have been identified as suitable for processing
with honey. There has been many comparative research on the
chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of traditional
ingredients before and after honey-frying. The process of
honey-frying was believed to alter the content of phytochemi-
cals in the medicinal herbs and additionally supplement them
with other bioactive compounds present in honey, enriching
the chemical profile and thereby modifying the pharmacological
effects. To provide an overview of these differences and make it
easier to practice, we have summarized the studies of ten honey-
frying medicinal herbs in Circular 30/2017/TT-BYT (Table 1).
2
Radix Stemonae Tuberosae:Bai Bu (Chinese: 百部), Bách
bo
 (Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 1:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is stirred
with water (ratio 1:1 to honey) and mixed with Bai Bu. The
mixture is incubated for about 12 h and roasted with low
heat until light brown surface.
2
Chemical Constituents. Phytochemical analysis of Radix Stemonae
tuberosae led to the extraction, isolation, and chemical structure
determination of nearly 300 secondary metabolites, including
1
Faculty of Traditional Medicine—University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho
Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Corresponding Author:
Lan-Phuong Le Thi, Faculty of Traditional Medicine—University of Medicine
and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, 217 Hong Bang Street, Ho Chi Minh
City 700000-769, VietNam.
Email: ltlphuong@ump.edu.vn
Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission
provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
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Volume 18(11): 1–12
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alkaloids, stilbenoids, tocopherols, phenolic compounds, phen-
anthrene derivatives, and other.
3
The alkaloids group, especially
tuberstemonine, was the chemical group whose content was dif-
ferent between Bai Bu and honey-fried Bai Bu.
4
In particular,
the content of tuberstemonine in honey-roasted Radix
Stemonae tuberosae was the highest when processed under the
optimal conditions of honey–water ratio of 1:1, frying temper-
ature below 120 °C, and frying time of 10 min.
4,5
Pharmacological Activities. Bai Bu has been used in traditional
medicine for cough treatment. Besides, there were several inves-
tigated bioactivities of Radix Stemonae tuberosae which were anti-
inflammatory, antitumor, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and
others.
3
Among these pharmacological effects, the primary one
of Bai Bu, antitussive, was significantly enhanced after honey-
roasting on in vivo experiment.
4
Bulbus Lilii Brownie:Bai He (Chinese: 百合), Bách Hợp
(Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 1:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is stirred
with water (ratio 2:1 to honey) and mixed with Bai He. The
mixture is incubated for about 1 h and roasted with low heat
until hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. The major chemical compositions in Bai
He as well as species of the genus Lilium were saponins,
sterols, alkaloids, polysaccharides, flavonoids, organic acids,
and others.
6
In addition, in Bai He, there were many volatile
compounds that contributed to the flavor and were influ-
enced by processing. In 2018, a study by Chiang et al
7
showed that the content of several volatile compounds in
honey-fried Bai He dramatically diminished compared to
unprocessed Bai He such as (E)-hex-3-enal, oct-1-en-3-one,
and eucalyptol.
Pharmacological Activities. Pharmacological studies indicated that
Bai He and other species of the genus Lilium had extensive
effects, including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant,
immunology enhancing, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-
depressant, and other.
6
Unfortunately, there have not been
any evaluation studies about the change of bioactivities
between Bai He and honey-roasted Bai He yet.
Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae: Licorice, Gan Cao
(Chinese: 甘草), Cam Tha
o (Vietnamese)
Processing. Refined honey (ratio 1:5 to traditional ingredient, w/w)
is stirred with an equal amount of boiled water and mixed with
Licorice. The mixture is incubated for about 1–2 h and roasted
with low heat until dark yellow surface, brown outer edge, and
hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. The major chemical compositions of
Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae included saponins, flavonoids, phe-
nolic compounds, carbohydrates, alkaloids, and other.
Glycyrrhizic acid, a triterpenoid in saponin group, was one
marker of Licorice.
8
During the processing of Licorice, glycyr-
rhizic acid was broken down to glycyrrhetinic 3-O-glucuronide
acid and glucuronic acid.
9
At a higher temperature and longer
duration, glycyrrhizic acid was completely decomposed and gly-
cyrrhetinic 3-O-glucuronide acid was further degraded to
18β-glycyrrhetinic acid. In addition, honey contributed to a sig-
nificant increase in the content of these decomposition
products.
10
Table 1. List of Honey-Frying Traditional Herbs from Vietnamese Ministry of Health.
2
N
o
Name of ingredients Plant name Crude drug Part used
1 Bách Bo
(Bai Bu) Stemona tuberosa Lour. Radix Stemonae tuberosae Root
2 Bách Hợp (Bai He) Lilium brownie F.E.Brown Bulbus Lilii brownie Bulb
3 Cam Thao (Licorice, Gan Cao) Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae Root and Rhizomes
4 Cát Cánh (Platycodon, Jie Geng) Platycodon grandiflorum (Jacq.) A.DC. Radix Platycodi grandiflora Root
5 Hoàng Kỳ(Huang Qi) Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. Radix Astragali membranacei Root
6 KhoanĐông Hoa (Kuan Dong Hua) Tussilago farfara L. Flos Tussilaginis farfarae Flowers
7 Ma Hoàng (Ma Huang) Ephedra sinica Stapf. Herba Ephedrae Aerial parts
8NgũVi Tử(Schisandra, Wu Wei Zi) Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill Fructus Schisandrae Fruit
9 Tie
nHo
(Zi Hua Qian Hu) Peucedanum decursivum Maxim Radix Peucedani Root
10 Tửuye
n (Tatarinow’s aster, Zi Wan) Aster tataricus L.f. Radix et Rhizoma Asteris Root and Rhizomes
2Natural Product Communications

Licorice processing was responsible for the degradation of
numerous flavonoids as well such as liquiritin apioside, isoliquir-
itin apioside, and glucoisoliquiritin apioside into liquiritin, isoli-
quiritin, and glucoisoliquiritin, respectively.
11
Under thermal
effect, glucoisoliquiritin was further broken down to isoliquiritin
and could be reversibly converted into liquiritin. The presence
of honey caused the deglycosylation of liquiritin and isoliquiritin
to its aglycone form (liquiritigenin and isoliquiritigenin, respec-
tively). These two aglycone flavonoids could also be reversibly
converted. Other flavonoid compounds in Licorice such as
6′’-O-acetylisoliquiritin apioside and 6′’-O-acetylisoliquiritin
were also modified by a similar mechanism.
9
From the understanding of the influence of processing on
the chemical constituents of Licorice, Chen et al proposed
honey-fried Licorice processing with the least effect on the
active ingredients. Particularly, the content of liquiritin apioside
and licorice-saponin G2 was little changed when roasting with
the optimal conditions of honey incubation time of 40 min,
frying temperature of 100 °C, and roasting time of 20 min.
12
In 2022, Jiatong et al
13
developed quality standards for
Licorice after processing. With the roasting temperature of
150 °C in 25 min and the machine’s spreading speed of 20 r/
min, the loss of drying and total ash of Licorice were not
exceeding 5.0%. The content of liquiritin and glycyrrhizic acid
were not less than 0.45% and 1.8%, respectively calculated on
the dried basis.
Pharmacological Activities. The pharmacokinetics of bioactive
ingredients in Licorice are affected by processing. One study
indicated that after honey-frying, the maximum concentration
of isoliquiritin decreased considerably, while the maximum con-
centration and the area under the curve of isoliquiritigenin
climbed. Glycyrrhizic acid had very poor oral bioavailability
after processing and transformed into glycyrrhetinic acid
thanks to intestinal bacteria.
14
Similarly, many studies showed that honey-fried Licorice
enhanced the immunological effect through a significant elimi-
nation coefficient compared with unprocessed Licorice in the
immunosuppression model caused by Pi deficiency.
15
Honey-roasting Licorice also induced a more substantial gran-
ulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) than Licorice.
16
However, the honey processing steeply reduced the antitussive,
expectorant, and detoxifying activities of Licorice. The reason
for these declines was thought to be due to a fall in the
content of some bioactive ingredients such as glycyrrhizic
acid, and liquiritin apioside.
15
Other biological effects of Licorice including anti-
inflammation and hepatoprotection were considerably improved
after honey-roasting by the research of Kong et al
17
This paper
also proposed the enhancement of these activities mainly due to
the change in the content of liquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritin,
isoliquiritigenin, glycyrrhizicacid, and glycyrrhetinic acid in honey-
fried Licorice.
Truong et al. 3

Recently, Lin et al
18
investigated that roasting Licorice could
perform glioma cell inhibition in vitro. This report’s outcomes indi-
cated that honey-roasting Licorice stimulated the apoptosis
process and activated the enzyme caspase-3 more than Licorice,
following the cytotoxicity and inhibition of glioma cells’motility.
The proposed mechanism of apoptosis induction was that the
roasting Licorice activated the DNA error checking and cell
cycle regulation system.
Radix Platycodi grandiflora: Platycodon, Balloon Flower, Jie
Geng (Chinese: 桔梗), Cát cánh (Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 1:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is stirred
with equal amount of water, filtered through gauze, boiled on
low heat, removed white foam, and mixed with Platycodon. The
mixture is incubated and roasted quickly until separation and
hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. Jie Geng contained various chemical com-
ponent groups, including saponins, flavonoids, phenolic com-
pounds, amino acids, polyacetylenes, and sterols.
19
Platycodon
honey-roasting process certainly affected the amino acids
content, especially the essential amino acids subgroup.
Among 8 essentials, the content of arginine gradually dropped
and completely vanished after 4 min of frying. On the opposite
side, the content of phenylalanine went up significantly. There
was a fluctuation in the content of threonine, which increased
at the beginning of the process and decreased after 5 min of
roasting. For nonessential amino acids, the content of glutamic
acid rose over time while aspartic acid and cysteine had a fruc-
tuated change. The content of aspartic acid fell at the beginning
and slightly increased. In contrast, there was a growth of cyste-
ine content when frying in 2 min before decreasing gradually.
20
Moreover, the phenolic compounds were also influenced by
the honey-frying process. There were more than 10 polyphenols
and organic acids isolated in Platycodon grandiflorus such as caffeic
acid, ferulic acid, isoferulic acid, and m-coumaric acid, and these
total content climbed significantly after roasting in 4 min and
slightly went down.
20
Pharmacological Activities. Platycodon was proved to perform
numerous biological activities such as expectorant, antitussive,
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, and other,
19
in
which the antioxidant effect of Platycodon was affected by
the roasting process. Lee et al
20
investigated the extract of
honey-fried Platycodon increased the ABTS free radical scav-
enging in vitro through the lower IC
50
value when compared
to unprocessed Platycodon.
Radix Astragali Membranacei: Huang Qi (Chinese: 黄芪),
Hoàng kỳ(Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 1.5:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is
diluted with boiled water (ratio 1:10 to herb ingredient, v/w)
and mixed with Huang Qi. The mixture is incubated until
absorbed and then roasted with low heat until yellow-brownish
surface and hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. Many researches discovered more than 100
phytochemical compounds including saponins, flavonoids, poly-
saccharides, amino acids, phenolic acids, and others in Hoang
Qi.
21
Among these chemical compound groups, there were
many differences in the content of flavonoids and phenolic com-
pounds between sliced Huang Qi and honey-fried Huang Qi.
After processing, the content of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside
and formononetin-7-O-β-D-glucoside diminished in honey-
roasted Hoang Qi while these aglycon forms, calycosin, and for-
mononetin, had an increase in content.
22
In addition to flavonoids and polyphenols, the processing
of Huang Qi also increased the content of amino acid com-
pounds and carotenoids. However, the lipid content in this tra-
ditional ingredient had a slight decrease (from 2.8% to 1.5%)
after processing with honey. Astragaloside compounds,
especially astragaloside IV, were also affected by roasting.
4Natural Product Communications

Specifically, the content of astragaloside IV decreased
gradually in the order of Huang Qi (0.0219%), honey-dried
Huang Qi for 6 min (0.0094%), honey-dried Huang Qi
for 10 min (0.0088%), and honey-roasted Huang Qi
(0.0082%).
23
Pharmacological Activities. Several biological activities of Radix
Astragali membranacei could be mentioned such as antioxidant,
immunomodulatory, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral,
hypoglycemic, and others.
21
The honey-roasted Huang Qi had
a better antioxidant effect compared to unprocessed Huang
Qi, shown by the diminishment of the IC
50
values in DPPH
and ABTS free radical scavenging in vitro experiments.
22
Sha
et al
24
reported that the polysaccharide substances of honey-
fried Huang Qi had also shown the growth inhibition of
tumor cells through the apoptosis-inducing mechanism. In in
vivo test, the polysaccharide components of roasting Huang
Qi reduced the mass and volume of the tumor and stimulate
the production of lymphocytes.
Moreover, the differences in mice metabolism were also studied
before and after roasting Huang Qi. Huang et al
25
investigated that
there was an increase in the content of numerous metabolites in the
honey-fried Huang Qi treatment group such as demethylated
7,2′-dihydroxy-3′-4′-dimethoxyisoflavane and equole while others
reduced such as calycosin-7-O-glucuronide, daidzein, daidzein-
7-O-sulfate, daidzein-4′-O-sulfate, demethylated 7,2′-dihydroxy-3′,
4′-dimethoxyisoflavane sulfate, calycosin-7-O-sulfate, calycosin-4′-
O-sulfate, and 3′-monomethylated-calycosin. In addition, the
metabolite of 2′,3′,4′,7-tetrahydroxyflavane glucuronide was
detected only in the mice group treated with honey-roasted
Huang Qi.
Liu et al
26
identified 12 chemical compositions (betaine,
L-homoserine, cis-aconitic acid, indoleacetic acid, succinic
acid, 5-hydroxyindoleacetate, creatinine, kynurenic acid, xan-
thurenic acid, hypoxanthine, xanthine, and orotic acid) in
honey-roasted Huang Qi exhibiting Qi tonifying effect and
they were called as biomarkers. In this study, the honey-fried
Huang Qi treatment group had a statistically better recovery
than the sliced one.
Flos Tussilaginis Farfarae: Kuan Dong Hua (Chinese: 款冬
花), Khoa
nĐông hoa (Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 2:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) with
boiled water is mixed with Kuan Dong Hua. The mixture is
incubated until absorbed evenly and then roasted with low
heat until yellow-brownish surface and hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. Nearly 150 chemical substances that have
been extracted and isolated in Kuan Dong Hua are sesquiter-
penes, triterpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids,
and others. Among them, tussilagone (a sesquiterpene com-
pound) and caffeoylquinic acid (a phenolic acid) were potential
components that exhibited the drug’s biological activities.
27
The
honey-roasting process changed the chemical compounds of
this plant, especially caffeoylquinic acid.
28
Many researches
showed the content of caffeoylquinic acid, chlorogenic acid, iso-
chlorogenic B acid, rutin, and isoquercitrin in Kuan Dong Hoa
drecreased dramatically after frying while the content of querce-
tin and caffeic acid increased.
29
In addition, there were 8 chem-
ical compounds discovered from honey-roasted Kuan Dong
Hua, mainly from honey which were dihydrokaempferol, sco-
poletin, lycopsamine, heliotrine, jacobine, 4-hydroxybenzoic
acid, and 2 tyrosine isomers.
28
Truong et al. 5

Pharmacological Activities. Flos Tussilaginis has been known for
many valuable biological effects including antitussive, expec-
torant, anti-asthmatic, antidiarrheal, antioxidant, and
others.
30
The honey-roasting technique has been studied to
influence the pharmacokinetics of several bioactive ingredi-
ents such as flavonoid and phenolic compounds. Yang
et al
31
investigated that after using honey-fried Kuan Dong
Hua,therewasagrowthintheeliminationhalf-lifeandthe
mean residence time of isochlorogenic B acid, isochlorogenic
C acid, and rutin in rat plasma. In addition, the area under the
curve value of 8 compounds statistically increased (isochloro-
genic B acid, isochlorogenic C acid, rutin, ferulic acid, caffeic
acid, chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, and crypto-
chlorogenic acid). These findings showed Kuan Dong Hua
honey-roasting process slowed down the elimination stage
of the drug’s bioactive ingredients, thereby increasing the
effectiveness of this plant.
Herba Ephedrae: Ma Huang (Chinese: 麻黄), Ma Hoàng
(Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 1:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is diluted
with a sufficient amount of water and mixed with Ma Huang.
The mixture is incubated from 30 min to 1 h and then
roasted until hand-unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. Phytochemical analysis of Herba Ephedrae
parts led to the successful isolation and structure determina-
tion of more than 240 chemical compounds including alka-
loids, flavonoids, organic acids, polysaccharides, essential
oil, and others.
32
Among them, alkaloids such as ephedrine,
methylephedrine, and demethylephedrine were known to be
components exhibiting biological effects of Ma Huang. The
content of these alkaloid compounds in Ma Huang
dropped dramatically after honey-frying, especially norephe-
drine, norpseudoephedrine, and methylephedrine.
33
Moreover, the extraction process of this compounds’
group was slower and longer.
23
Therefore, a report by
Xiang-yu et al
34
proposed the least influence processing spec-
ifications on the alkaloid content of honey-roasted Ma
Huang. The optimal roasting conditions were a honey –
herb ingredient ratio of 2:10 w/w, a water–honey ratio of
1:1 w/w, a roasting temperature of 80 °C, and a roasting
time of 2 h.
Similar to alkaloids, the composition of essential oils in Ma
Huang after honey-roasting also decreased significantly up to
52% of the content compared to Ma Huang (from 0.115% to
0.055%).
23
In contrast, the content of many flavonoids and
phenolic acids such as vitexin, isovitexin-2′’-O-L-rhamnoside,
kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside, and ferulic acid increased
significantly.
35
Pharmacological Activities. There were some pharmacokinetics
differences between sliced Ma Huang and honey-fried Ma
Huang. Specifically, after oral administration of honey-roasted
Ma Huang’s extract, the area under the curve value of ephed-
rine hydrochloride and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride
reduced statistically compared to unprocessed Ma Huang’s
extract. This results showed that the roasting process dimin-
ished the absorption of active ingredients in Ma Huang.
36
Ma Huang is currently used in both traditional medicine and
modern medicine with many effects such as antipyretic, sweat-
ing, antitussive, diuretic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-
oxidant.
32
The honey-roasting process enhanced the sedative
effect of Ma Huang demonstrated by a considerable increase
in sleep time in rat model. In addition, honey-fried Ma Huang
was proven to reduce the activities of the automatic nervous
system in mice.
37
Fructus Schisandrae: Schisandra, Wu Wei Zi (Chinese: 五
味子), Ngũvi tử(Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 1:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is diluted
with an equal amount of water, mixed well with halved
Schisandra, and incubated for 3 h. The mixture is then
roasted until blistered fruits and hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. Several compounds in Schisandra were
discovered recently such as lignans, triterpenoids, sesquiter-
penes, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, polysaccharides,
and organic acids.
38
The honey-roasting process greatly
affected the chemical constituents of this herb, especially
the lignan group. Schisandrin and gomisin A had a rise in
the content after processing. The content of schisandrin
reached the highest when roasting at 150 °C for 10 min
while the content of gomisin A also peaked at the same
temperature in 5 min. However, when the heat was above
150 °C, the content of lignans in honey-fried Schisandra
decreased.
39
6Natural Product Communications

Besides, flavonoids, phenolic, and volatile compounds in
Schisandra were also influenced by honey-roasting. The total
content of polyphenols and flavonoids in medicinal herbs
climbed significantly when roasting at a high temperature.
Particularly, the total content of volatile compounds grew
with the increasing temperature but began falling when the tem-
perature was above 180 °C.
39
Pharmacological Activities. Several pieces of in vitro and in vivo
researches of Schisandra showed its ingredient exhibited
many biological activities such as hepatoprotective, anti-
inflammatory, antioxidant, detoxifying, anti-tumor, and
others.
38
The honey-fried Schisandra was proven to increase
statistically the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on
the RAW 264.7 cell line by inhibiting the nitric oxide (NO)
and reactive oxygen substances production. In addition, honey-
roasted Schisandra had better hepatoprotective activity com-
pared to Schisandra demonstrated in a rat model of alcohol-
induced liver injury.
40
Radix Peucedani: Zi Hua Qian Hu (Chinese: 前胡), Tie
n
ho
(Vietnamese)
Processing. Honey (ratio 2:10 to herb ingredient, w/w) is diluted
with boiled water (ratio 3:2 to honey, v/w) and mixed well with
Zi Hua Qian Hu. The mixture is incubated for 30 min and then
roasted with low heat until hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. Peucedanum decursivum contained couma-
rins, flavonoids, saponins, polysaccharides, steroids, and volatile
oils. Among these compounds, coumarins, especially pyrano-
coumarins, were bioactive components.
41
Unfortunately, there
have not been any evaluation studies about the change of chem-
ical compositions between Zi Hua Qian Hu and honey-roasted
Zi Hua Qian Hu yet.
Pharmacological Activities. There have been several papers about
pharmacological activities of phytochemical compounds in
Peucedanum spices such as anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antiox-
idant, tyrosinase inhibiting, neuroprotective, and antiplatelet
aggregating.
42
Moreover, Zi Hua Qian Hu was known for anti-
tussive and expectorant effects, which were enhanced after
honey-frying and had been demonstrated in in vivo test.
43
Radix et Rhizoma Asteris: Tatarinow’s aster, Zi Wan
(Chinese: 紫菀), Tửuye
n (Vietnamese)
Processing. Refined honey (ratio 1:4 to herb ingredient, w/w) is
diluted with water (ratio 4:1 to honey) and then mixed well
with sliced Zi Wan. The mixture is incubated until evenly
absorbed and then roasted with low heat until hand unsticky.
2
Chemical Constituents. There were more than 130 chemical com-
positions that have been isolated from Aster tataricus including
terpenes, flavonoids, peptides, coumarins, anthraquinones,
and organic acids.
44
However, the honey-roasting process
changed the content of 22 nonvolatile compounds and 12 vola-
tile compounds.
45
There was a rise in the content of only 3 com-
pounds, which were protocatechuic acid, isoquercitrin, and
kaempferol-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. The content of the
remaining, such as chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, 7-hydroxycou-
marin, ferulic acid, kaempferol, shionon, and epifriedelinol,
reduced dramatically in honey-fried Zi Wan. Other compounds
with negligible changes in content included scopoletin, querce-
tin, luteolin, and isorhamnetin.
46
For the total content, a report by Liu et al
47
showed that the
honey-roasted Zi Wan had a higher content of total flavonoids
and total triterpenoids than the sliced Zi Wan.
Pharmacological Activities. The pharmacological activities of
Radix et Rhizoma Asteris have also been studied quite a lot
with the proposed outstanding effects such as anti-
inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidant,
antidepressant, and others.
44
The honey-roasting process of
Zi Wan influenced the anti-inflammatory effect of this plant,
mainly due to the change in the composition of volatile com-
pounds. Although there was a reduction in the content of 16
chemical constituents, the content of 12 other phytochemical
compounds rose significantly, especially methyleugenol,
β-elemene, and furfural. Furthermore, there was the formation
of methyleugenol, β-elemene và furfural in honey-fried Zi Wan,
which had a potential anti-inflammatory effect. In addition, the
better anti-inflammatory activity of honey-fried Zi Wan was
thought to affect 2 other inflammatory targets, EIF6, and
PKIA.
48
Protocatechuic acid, shionon, ferulic acid, chlorogenic
acid, and scopoletin were studied before and after processing.
The group of mice that received honey-roasted Zi Wan had a
decrease in time to maximum concentration, half-life, and
area under the curve values of protocatechuic acid. For
shionon and ferulic acid, the parameters of maximum con-
centration and area under the curve statistically decreased
compared with the group of mice using Zi Wan. Finally, the
pharmacokinetics of chlorogenic acid and scopoletin were
less affected by processing. The results showed that the
honey-roasting reduced the bioavailability of these herb
ingredients.
49
Truong et al. 7

Discussion
Honey is one of the common excipients used in medicinal
material processing. The chemical compositions of honey
include water, sugar, amino acids, vitamins, and enzymes, cre-
ating the nutritional value of honey. In addition, honey also
contains a large number of polyphenols, phenolic acids, and
flavonoids, the components exhibiting the biological effects
of honey such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and others
(Table 2).
50
In Traditional Medicine, honey has a sweet taste, enters the
Heart, Lung, Spleen, Stomach, and Large intestine meridians, and has
Table 2. The Changes of Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Activities of 10 Traditional Ingredients After Processing.
Name of
ingredient Scientific name Chemical compositions Changes of chemical constituents
Changes of
pharma-cological activities
Bai Bu Stemona tuberosa
Lour.
Alkaloids, stilbenoids,
phenanthren
derivatives,
tocopherols, and
phenolic acids
3
-Increase: Content of alkaloid (tuberostemonine)
4,5
-Increase: Antitussive effect
4
Bai He Lilium brownie
F.E.Brown
Saponins, sterols,
alkaloids,
polysaccharides,
flavonoids, organic
acids, and volatile
aroma compounds
6
-Decrease: Content of volatile aroma compounds
((E)-hex-3-enal, oct-1-en-3-one, and eucalyptol)
7
NY
Licorice (Gan
Cao)
Glycyrrhiza
uralensis
Fisch.
Flavonoids, saponins,
phenolic compounds,
carbohydrates, and
alkaloids
8
-Increase: Content of flavonoid
(6′’-O-acetylisoliquiritin apioside and
6′’-O-acetylisoliquiritin)
10
-Increase: Immunological,
anti-inflammatory,
hepatoprotective, and
glioma cell inhibitory
effect
16,17
- Glycyrrhizic acid was broken down to
glycyrrhetinic 3-O-glucuronide acid and
glycyrrhetic acid
9,12
- Liquiritin apioside, isoliquiritin apioside, and
glucoisoliquiritin apiosid were broken down to
liquiritin, isoliquirtin, and glucoisoliquiritin
9,12
-Decrease: Antitussive,
expectorant, and
detoxifying activities
15
- Glucoisoliquiritin was decomposed into
isoliquiritin and reversibly converted into
liquiritin
9
- Liquiritin and isoliquiritin were deglycosylated into
isoliquiritigenin and liquiritigenin
9
Platycodon
(Jie Geng)
Platycodon
grandiflorum
(Jacq.)
A.DC.
Saponins, flavonoids,
phenolic compounds,
amino acids,
polyacetylenes, and
sterols
19
-Increase: Content of amino acid (phenylalanine and
glutamic acid), total phenolic compounds
20
-Increase: Anti-oxidant
activity
20
-Decrease: Content of amino acid (arginine)
20
- The content of threonine and cysteine rose at the
beginning before dropping. The content of
aspartic acid changed reversely
20
Huang Qi Astragalus
membranaceus
(Fisch.) Bge.
Saponins, flavonoids,
polysaccharides, amino
acids, and phenolic
acids
21
-Increase: Content of total phenolic, amino acid,
carotenoid, and flavonoid (calycosin and
formononetin)
22
-Increase: Antioxidant,
anti-tumor, and Qi tonic
effects (demonstrated by
12 chemical
biomarkers)
24–26
-Decrease: Content of flavonoid
(calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and
formononetin-7-O-β-D-glucoside)
22
Kuan Dong
Hua
Tussilago farfara
L.
Sesquiterpens,
triterpenoids,
flavonoids, phenolic
compounds, and
alkaloids
27
-Increase: Content of phenolic compounds
(quercetin and caffeic acid)
29
-Increase: Biological activities
through pharmacokinetic
parameters
31
-Decrease: Content of phenolic compounds
(caffeoylquinic acid, chlorogenic acid,
isochlorogenic acid B, rutin, and isoquercitrin)
28
Ma Huang Ephedra sinica
Staff.
Alkaloids, flavonoids,
organic acids,
polysaccharides, and
essential oils
32
-Increase: Content of flavonoid (vitexin,
isovitexin-2′’-O-L-rhamnoside,
kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside, and ferulic acid)
35
-Increase: Sedative effect
36
-Decrease: Content of alkaloids and essential oils
33
-Decrease: Activities of the
automatic nervous
system
37
(Continued)
8Natural Product Communications

the effect of Qi tonic, laxatives, and detoxifying. According to
Five Elements theory in Traditional Medicine, sweetness and
yellow color, and Spleen organ all belong to the Earth Element,
therefore all sweet and yellow drugs tend to enter the Spleen
organ. The process of honey-frying helps to yellow and increase
the sweetness of the traditional ingredients, thereby increasing
the yang, increasing the delivery of the medicine to the Spleen
organ, and enhancing the effect of Qi.
1
Most medicinal materials changed in composition and
content of active ingredients after honey-frying. Most of the
groups of active ingredients were decomposed when exposed
to high temperatures and long-term such as saponins, polyphe-
nols, flavonoids, and volatile compounds. Under the effect of
temperature, saponins and flavonoid glycoside compounds
were deglycosylated to form aglycon products, leading to an
increase in the content of these substances.
9–11,22
Some pheno-
lic acids such as chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid B, and
caffeoylquinic acid had been removed from the quinic radical
during processing to form caffeic acid.
20,28,29,46
In addition to
being decomposed into other products, volatile compounds
had low boiling points and were easily lost under the influence
of high temperatures.
34,35,39
Changes in other groups of com-
pounds such as lignans, and alkaloids were not fully understood
and required further researches.
In addition to the roasting temperature, the ratio of honey to
medicinal materials and roasting time also affected the chemical
composition and pharmacological effects of the medicine.
Among the 10 medicinal materials processed with honey, 3,
which were Bai Bu, Gan Cao, and Ma Huang, had been
studied for optimizing the processing method, in which the
ratio of honey to medicinal materials and roasting time were
two dependent variables of the process.
4,5,12,34
Moreover, the
effect of frying time had been investigated in the preparation
process of Jie Geng and Huang Qi.
Some medicinal herbs had a change in pharmacological
effects after honey-frying, which is correlated with the
change in their chemical compositions. For instance, the anti-
tussive effect of Bai Bu increased proportionally to the
increase in the content of alkaloids, especially tuberstemonin.
4
The expectorant, antitussive, and detoxifying effects of
Licorice decreased related to the decrease in active ingredients
such as glycyrrhizic acid, liquiritin apioside, and liquiritin.
15
The alkaloid compounds in Ma Huang have been shown to
stimulate the adrenergic nervous system, thereby affecting
the central nervous system.
32
The reduction in the content
and degradation of these alkaloid compounds was one of
the many reasons leading to a decrease in pharmacological
effects on the central nervous system. The dibenzocycloocta-
diene lignans found in Schisandra sinensis, such as schisandrin
and gomisin A, have been shown to possess antioxidant, hep-
atoprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects in previous
studies.
38
Therefore, the increase in the content of these bio-
active compounds observed in the study by Park et al
39
after
processing with honey may be associated with the pharmaco-
logical effects. Several herbs such as Gan Cao, Huang Qi,
Kuan Dong Hua, Ma Huang, and Zi Wan were also studied
for the change in the pharmacokinetics of biologically active
compounds before and after honey frying.
14,25,31,36,49
In par-
ticular, Huang Qi had also been researched to confirm
increasing in Qi tonifying effect (which is vital
energy-enhancing effect in terms of modern medicine) after
processing.
26
Tab le 2. Continued.
Name of
ingredient Scientific name Chemical compositions Changes of chemical constituents
Changes of
pharma-cological activities
Wu Wei Zi Schisandra
chinensis
(Turcz.) Baill
Lignans, triterpenoids,
sesquiterpens, phenolic
compounds,
flavonoids,
polysaccharides, and
organic acids
38
-Increase: Content of total phenolic - Increase: Antioxidant,
anti-inflammatory, and
hepatoprotective effects
40
- The content of lignans (Schizandrin and gomisin
A) and total flavonoids increased but then
decreased when increasing temperature
39
Zi Hua Qian
Hu
Peucedanum
decursivum
Maxim
Coumarins, flavonoids,
saponins,
polysaccharides,
steroids, and volatile
oils
41
NY - Increase: Antitussive and
expectorant effects
43
Tatarinow’s
aster (Zi
Wan)
Aster tataricus
L.f.
Terpenoids, flavonoids,
peptides, coumarins,
anthraquinones, and
organic acids
44
-Increase: Content of total flavonoid and
triterpenoid (protocatechuic acid, isoquercitrin,
and kaempferol-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside)
47
- Increase: Anti-inflammatory
effect
48
-Decrease: Content of phenolic aicds (chlorogenic
acid, caffeic acid, 7-hydroxycoumarin, ferulic
acid, kaempferol, shionon, and epifriedelinol)
46
-Decrease: bioavailability
49
- There was a difference in chemical composition of
22 nonvolatile compounds and 12 volatile
compounds
45
NY: Not yet.
Truong et al. 9

Conclusion
Medicinal material processing is an indispensable part of the
foundation of traditional medicine, greatly influencing the
effectiveness of tradtional ingredients in theurapetic. This
review provides a general overview of the differences in
chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of 10
honey-roasted traditional ingredients in Vietnam. The phar-
macological effects of a medicinal herb can be influenced
by one or more groups of compounds. Currently, studies
on the changes in chemical compositions and pharmacologi-
cal effects of medicine before and after processing are being
conducted independently by many research groups. There
have been fewer researches on which changes in the
content of chemical components lead to changes in the phar-
macological effects of the medicinal herb. Moreover, 2 herbs
(Bai He and Zi Hua Qian Wu) have not found comparative
studies before and after processing, so further studies are
needed to clarify these differences.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iDs
Minh-Nhut Truong https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6483-4362
Nguyen-Duc D. Phan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8143-3451
Lan-Phuong L. Thi https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3761-140X
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