Basic Introduction to Longhuai Honeysuckle
Longhuai honeysuckle, a specialty of Longhui County, Hunan Province, is a Chinese national geographical indication product. Longhui County is known as the “Honeysuckle Capital of China,” with a suitable climate for the plant and an excellent ecological environment. It has a long history of cultivation, with superior varieties and high-quality products.
Longhui County is a demonstration county for ecological environmental construction in China. Located in the transition zone from the drought-prone area of Hengyang-Shaoyang to the Xuefeng Mountains, its topography is semi-hilly and semi-mountainous, with terrain rising step-like from southeast to northwest. The southern part consists mainly of low hills, with soil primarily red developed from limestone. The northern part is more mountainous, with soil mainly yellow, yellow-brown, and red developed from granite. This soil is loose, deep, and highly permeable, making it ideal for growing honeysuckle and other medicinal plants.
Nutritional Value
The Longhuai honeysuckle is a treasure trove of valuable components, including volatile oils, flavonoids, organic acids, and others. Flavonoids include oleanolic acid-type glycosides and hedera-type glycosides. Organic acids are mainly chlorogenic acid and isochlorogenic acid. They have the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, antiviral properties, promoting bile secretion, liver protection, antioxidation, and scavenging free radicals.
Product Characteristics
(1) High content of chlorogenic acid and other medicinal effective components. Random samples tested by Hunan University of Traditional Chinese medicine in 2006 showed that the chlorogenic acid content was greater than 4.24%, with the highest reaching 12.6%. These values are significantly higher than those from other production areas (1.5-3.0%). Testing conducted by the Nanjing Pharmaceutical Inspection Institute in 2004 revealed chlorogenic acid content ranging from 4.31% to 6.91%, far exceeding the standard of 1.5% set by the 2005 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. These data indicate that Longhuai honeysuckle has significant medicinal value.
(2) Rich in unique anticancer medicinal components. Recent research by the Jiangsu Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that Longhuai honeysuckle is rich in saponins, a unique medicinal component with unique effects on treating malignant tumors like lung cancer. Saponins have great market potential for developing anticancer drugs.
(3) Rich in Selenium. In 2003, the national authority confirmed that Longhui County is rich in selenium, ranking alongside Enshi, Hubei and Ziyang, Shaanxi as one of the “Three Major Selenium Capitals of China.” Longhui has the largest area of selenium-rich soil among the three. Tests conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Botany show that the selenium content in Longhuai honeysuckle is 0.98 mg/kg, higher than the standard for selenium-enriched food labels set by the state.
Historical Folklore
The main production areas of Longhuai honeysuckle are concentrated in Xiaoshajiang Town, Matangshan Township, Huxingshan Yao Nationality Township, and Dashuitian Township. This region is the largest original ecological planting area in China. Historically, large quantities of wild honeysuckle were widely distributed across the forests and mountains of Longhui County. During the flowering season of honeysuckle, the scent would spread far and wide. In particular, the honeysuckle in the mid-mountainous and mid-highland regions in the northwest of the county had the widest distribution, most beautiful flowers, strongest fragrance, and best medicinal properties. Doctors of the Yao and Han ethnic groups in this area often competed to climb the mountains and gather the flowers to make medicines for treating various difficult-to-cure diseases. During the Southern Song Dynasty, when wars were frequent, there were widespread epidemics in central Hunan. At that time, people widely used honeysuckle vines and leaves boiled into a decoction, which proved very effective. According to the “Xinhua County Annals,” after the Ming Dynasty, local doctors in Longhui discovered that using the flowers as medicine was even more effective, making a significant contribution to the brilliant civilization of traditional Chinese medicine.
Before the 1960s, wild honeysuckle resources were widespread in the mountains and villages of Longhui County. In the cold mountainous areas such as Xiaoshajiang, not only was the yield of wild honeysuckle relatively high, but the quality was also superior. However, the amount collected was limited, and much of the resource went to waste in the wild.
After 1971, as market demand increased, some households began to experiment with cultivating wild honeysuckle at home, but development was slow. By 1980, the total planted area in the county was only 365 acres, with a yield of 125 dan. Over the following years, although the planted area increased annually due to regional conditions and other factors, the increase in yield was minimal, and the benefits were not obvious.
In the early 1990s, the county party committee and government carefully analyzed the climate characterized by cold, foggy winters with a long freezing period and the reality of poor agricultural yields every three years. They decided to promote large-scale planting of honeysuckle and develop it into a leading industry of traditional Chinese medicine. Recognizing the broad market prospects for the industrialization of honeysuckle, the industry began to develop rapidly.
By 2001, the planted area of honeysuckle in Longhui County reached over 137,000 mu, with an annual output of nearly 7,300 tons of dried flowers, generating a revenue of approximately 81 million yuan. The production scale became the largest in China, and the State Forestry Administration awarded Longhui County the title of “Honeysuckle Capital of China” in 2001. However, from the second half of 2001, due to oversupply, the honeysuckle industry in Longhui suffered a severe blow. Production dropped to 5,000 tons in 2002. Due to the impact of the SARS epidemic, prices Rose, and production increased to 6,500 tons. In 2004, production reached 8,500 tons. By 2006, the area had grown to over 160,000 mu, with an output of more than 10,000 tons of dried flowers, generating a revenue of around 750 million yuan. Products were sold well in major cities such as Guilin, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Nanjing, as well as major pharmaceutical factories. In 2009, honeysuckle farmers saw an income increase of 1 billion yuan. In 2010, the planted area of honeysuckle in Longhui County reached 210,000 mu, with an annual output of 12,000 tons of dried flowers, accounting for 53% of the total output in China. In 2011, due to severe ice storms at the beginning of the year, the honeysuckle production area in Xiaoshajiang, Longhui County, saw a reduction of about 20% in output. However, with the implementation of the “Southern Expansion Strategy” for honeysuckle, the planted area in the county further expanded. In 2011, the productive area of honeysuckle in the county increased by about 20,000 mu compared to 2010, and the total output remained roughly the same as in 2010, stabilizing around 12,000 tons.