Tetradium ruticarpum

Tetradium ruticarpum is a tree that comes from China and Korea. It was previously classified in the genus Euodia as Euodia ruticarpa. The fruit is usually used, denoted sometimes as fructus. It has a strong bitter taste, and is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is a recognized herb in Kampo. Both the former genus name and the species name are often misspelled, and the plant usually appears in sources dealing with traditional Chinese medicine as "Evodia(e) rutaecarpa".

Tetradium ruticarpum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Genus:	Tetradium
Species:	T. ruticarpum
Binomial name
Tetradium ruticarpum (A.Juss.) T.G.Hartley
Synonyms[1]
Euodia ruticarpa (A. Juss.) Benth. Evodia ruticarpa (A.Juss.) Hook.f. & Thomson

Regional names
Chinese name
Chinese	吴茱萸, 吳茱萸
Hanyu Pinyin	wú zhū yú
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin wú zhū yú
Japanese name
Kanji	呉茱萸
Kana	ごしゅゆ
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn goshuyu

Production

Cultivation

Tetradium ruticarpum is grown mainly in China.

Harvesting

The fruit is picked. It may be consumed as food.

Traditional medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine

In traditional Chinese medicine the herb is described as a fruit.

Kampo

Tetradium ruticarpum is called 呉茱萸 (Goshuyu) in Japanese, used in Goshuyu-tou and Unkentou (ja:温経湯). These are Kampo (漢方) preparations of mixed herbs, the former named after this plant.^[2] The mixture is noted for having a high concentration (132.6 to 706.3 mmol/100 g) of antioxidants, where the other constituents of the mixture rank lower.^[3]

Contraindications

Allergic reactions have occasionally been reported in users of medicinal preparations of the plant.^{[citation needed]}

Biochemical analysis

There has been relatively little scientific study of Tetradium ruticarpum except for antioxidant capacity of one of its mixtures.

Notable compounds in T. ruticarpum include:^[4]

alkaloids:

• rutecarpine, an indole alkaloid that is a COX-2 inhibitor
• 0-hydroxyrutaecarpine
• evodiamine, a possible thermogenic agent and stimulant, named after the former name of the genus
• dehydroevodiamine
• synephrine, an adrenergic receptor agonist
• 1-methyl-2-n-nonyl-4(1H)quinolone
• evocarpine
• dihydroevocarpine

flavonoids:

• isorhamnetin-7-O-rutinoside
• diosmetin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside

In rats, the half-lives of most of these compounds was found to be relatively short, between 0.5 - 2 hours.^[4]

Variants

There are a few variants:^[5]

• var. officinalis
• var bodinieri (Dode) Huang

References

1. "Tetradium ruticarpum (A.Juss.) T.G.Hartley". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 November 2014 – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
2. "Kampo virtual class | Japanese Kampo Medicine｜Kampo Igaku Center Keio University Medical School".
3. Carlsen, MH; Halvorsen, BL; Holte, K; Bøhn, SK; Dragland, S; Sampson, L; Willey, C; Senoo, H; Umezono, Y; Sanada, C; Barikmo, I; Berhe, N; Willett, WC; Phillips, KM; Jacobs, DR; Blomhoff, R (2010). "The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide". Nutr J. 9: 3. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-9-3. PMC 2841576. PMID 20096093.
4. Hu, Chuan-Qin; Li, Fei; Yang, Xiu-Wei (April 2012). "Simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic analysis of seven alkaloids and two flavonoids from rat plasma by HPLC–DAD after oral administration of Wuzhuyu decoction". Journal of Asian Natural Products Research. 14 (4): 370–381. doi:10.1080/10286020.2012.656093. PMID 22375876. S2CID 31746179.
5. "Goshuyu".