干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Cistanches Herba, the dried succulent stems of Cistanche species that are mainly distributed in the arid lands and warm deserts, has been widely used as a tonic for the treatments of kidney deficiency, impotence, female sterility, and constipation in traditional Chinese medical practices for centuries. Cistanche species are parasitic plants and their hosts are sand-fixing plants, such as Haloxylon ammodendron and Tamarix spp. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the Cistanche plants, since the wide cultivation of Cistanche plants and their hosts can not only supply the medicinal materials but also contribute greatly to the desert control. After decades of studies, diverse chemical classes, such as phenylethanoid glycosides, iridoids, lignans, and polysaccharides, have been disclosed to be the primary chemical constituents in Cistanche species, and antioxidation, neuroprotection, antiaging, vasorelaxation, hepatoprotection, and so on, act as their primary activities. Here, we made a review on the latest research progress regarding the chemical constituents and bioactivities of Cistanche plants.