Gynostemma Pentaphyllum - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Gynostemma pentaphyllum is known as Jiaogulan (Chinese: 绞股蓝 "twisting-vine-orchid") in China. The plant was first described in 1406 CE by Zhu Xiao, who presented a description and sketch in the book Materia Medica for Famine as a survival food rather than a medicinal herb. The earliest record of jiaogulan's use as a drug comes from herbalist Li Shi-Zhen's book Compendium of Meteria Medica published in 1578, identifying jiaogulan for treating various ailments such as hematuria, edema in the pharynx and neck, tumors, and trauma. While Li Shi-Zhen had confused jiaogulan with an analogous herb Wulianmei, in 1848 Wu Qi-Jun rectified this confusion in Textual Investigation of Herbal Plants, which also added more information on medicinal usage.

Modern recognition of the plant outside of China originated from research in sugar substitutes. In the 1970s, while analyzing the sweet component of the jiaogulan plant (known as amachazuru in Japan), Dr. Masahiro Nagai discovered chemical compounds identical to some of those found in Panax ginseng, an unrelated plant. Afterward, Dr. Tsunematsu Takemoto discovered that jiaogulan contains four saponins identical to those in Panax ginseng as well as seventeen other similar saponins. Over the next decade 82 saponins (gypenosides) were identified in jiaogulan, compared to the 28 (ginsenosides) found in Panax ginseng.