Schisandra is native to eastern Asian forests, sharing its home with animals facing population threats. Josef Brinckmann shares insight on the harvest and trade of schisandra species and initiatives that protect endangered forest inhabitants across China and Russia.
Background
Species of the genus Schisandra Michx. (Fam. Schisandraceae) are scandent (climbing) and twining woody vines occurring, generally attached to host trees, mainly in forests of eastern Asia (1). While the conservation status of wild populations of most Schisandra species is not of immediate concern, in and of itself, the biodiversity conservation status of their forest habitat, that is shared with several threatened animal species, brings schisandra to the forefront of biodiversity conservation initiatives in Asia.
Several Schisandra species, that are harvested for use in foods and medicines, share habitat with one or more threatened and protected animal species, such as the endangered Amur (Siberian) tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) (2), the endangered golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) (3), the vulnerable Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) (4), and the vulnerable giant panda bear (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) (5). These four iconic mammals are protected under Appendix I (species threatened with extinction) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) (6).
For these reasons, since the early 2000s, several projects for the sustainable harvesting and trade of wild schisandra berries have occurred under the umbrella of broader biodiversity conservation initiatives, that took a whole ecosystem approach in consideration of the people, plants, and animals in the habitat project areas.
The author of this article participated in schisandra-focused projects, discussed in this article, that involved support and participation from agencies of the United Nations, national governmental agencies, forest departments, local associations and cooperatives, biodiversity conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as TRAFFIC, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and herbal product companies that utilize schisandra in Europe and North America.
Five tastes, twenty-six schisandra species
There are 26 known Schisandra species, 21 of which occur in China, most all of them used in traditional foods and medicines (7,8). All 21 species also carry the same common name wu wei zi, which means ‘five taste fruit’. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, they possess all five tastes; bitter, pungent, salty, sour, and sweet. To differentiate, each species of wu wei zi has a qualifying prefix in its common name.
The 21 wu wei zi that occur in China
The table below shows the Chinese names, pinyin transliterations, and the currently accepted scientific names for the 21 species of wu wei zi that are harvested and used in China (9,10). Awareness of their names and habitat areas can also help to explain occasional mix-ups as many are used interchangeably for similar purposes.
| Chinese name | Pinyin transliteration | Currently accepted scientific name |
|---|---|---|
| 阿里山五味子 | a li shan wu wei zi | Schisandra arisanensis Hayata |
| 二色五味子 | er se wu wei zi | Schisandra bicolor W.C.Cheng |
| 北五味子 | bei wu wei zi | Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. |
| 金山五味子 | jin shan wu wei zi | Schisandra glaucescens Diels |
| 大花五味子 | da hua wu wei zi | Schisandra grandiflora (Wall.) Hook.f. & Thomson |
| 翼梗五味子 西五味子 | yi geng wu wei zi (or) xi wu wei zi | Schisandra henryi C.B.Clarke |
| 兴山五味子 | xing shan wu wei zi | Schisandra incarnata Stapf |
| 狭叶五味子 | xia ye wu wei zi | Schisandra lancifolia (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) A.C.Sm. |
| 长柄五味子 | chang bing wu wei zi | Schisandra longipes (Merr. & Chun) R.M.K.Saunders |
| 大果五味子 | da guo wu wei zi | Schisandra macrocarpa Q.Lin & Y.M.Shui |
| 小花五味子 | xiao hua wu wei zi | Schisandra micrantha A.C.Sm. |
| 滇藏五味子 | dian zang wu wei zi | Schisandra neglecta A.C.Sm. |
| 贵州五味子 | gui zhou wu wei zi | Schisandra parapropinqua Z.R.Yang & Q.Lin |
| 重瓣五味子 | chong ban wu wei zi | Schisandra plena A.C.Sm. |
| 合蕊五味子 | he rui wu wei zi | Schisandra propinqua (Wall.) Baill. |
| 毛叶五味子 西五味子 | mao ye wu wei zi (or) xi wu wei zi | Schisandra pubescens Hemsl. & E.H.Wilson |
| 毛脉五味子 | mao mai wu wei zi | Schisandra pubinervis (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) |
| 红花五味子 西五味子 | hong hua wu wei zi (or) xi wu wei zi | Schisandra rubriflora Rehder & E.H.Wilson |
| 球蕊五味子 | qiu rui wu wei zi | Schisandra sphaerandra Stapf |
| 华中五味子 南五味子 | hua zhong wu wei zi (or) nan wu wei zi | Schisandra sphenanthera Rehder & E.H.Wilson |
| 柔毛五味子 | rou mao wu wei zi | Schisandra tomentella A.C.Sm. |
Most widely used schisandra species
Bei wu wei zi (Schisandra chinensis)
Bei wu wei zi (Schisandra chinensis), which means “northern five taste fruit,” is the most widely used species globally, and has the northernmost occurrence (Russian Far East, N Korea, N Japan, and NE China). In China, it is harvested mainly in the three northeastern provinces, Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, to satisfy an average annual market demand ranging from 4.5 to 5.5 million kg (11,12), up considerably from a 2013 Jilin government estimate of 3.0 to 3.5 million kg (13). China’s annual export of schisandra berries (all species) has been estimated at about 1.0 million kg (14).
In Russia, it occurs in parts of the Far Eastern Federal District (e.g., Amur Region, Jewish Autonomous Region, Khabarovsk Territory, Primorye Territory, and Sakhalin Region) (15), where it shares habitat with the endangered Amur tiger. A Russian Far East Forest Management Plan estimated that about 343,000 kg of northern schisandra berries can be harvested annually from the area (16). Important for wild resource management is the fact that in Russian medicine, not only is the wild-harvested fruit used but also the seeds (freed from pericarp) for manufacture of the official herbal drug preparation Schizandrae chinensidis seminum tinctura PhRus.
Nan wu wei zi (Schisandra sphenanthera)
Nan wu wei zi (Schisandra sphenanthera), which means “southern five taste fruit,” is the second most widely used species, and occurs in mountain forests of southern China, where is it mainly harvested for commercial trade in the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. It has been estimated that, on average, about 1.0 million kg (dry weight) of southern schisandra berries are harvested and traded annually (17).
The Upper Yangtze Ecoregion is where populations of S. sphenanthera occur within the protected giant panda bear habitat areas, particularly in forests of the Minshan Mountains of Sichuan province and Qinling Mountains of southern Shaanxi province. In the Qinling Mountain range, it also shares habitat with the endangered Asiatic black bear. Schisandra sphenanthera berries are a preferred food of the golden snub-nosed monkey in Shaanxi and is a common food in Sichuan (18). While S. sphenanthera fruit is an official drug of the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, the Taiwan Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards, other species are official drugs in provincial compendia (19,20,21).
Xi wu wei zi (S. henryi, S. pubescens, and/or S. rubriflora)
Xi wu wei zi, the mature dried fruit of S. henryi, S. pubescens, and/or S. rubriflora is an official drug in the provincial TCM standards monographs of both Chongqing and Sichuan, respectively (22,23). Therapeutically, they are accepted and used interchangeably, and for the same indications as S. chinensis and S. sphenanthera. Furthermore, xue teng, the dried stem and root of S. henryi and/or S. sphenanthera is monographed in the Chongqing TCM standards, as well as xiang ba ji, the dried root of S. propinqua. This is also important for conservation because there is medical use and therefore market demand for subterranean plant parts that require uprooting the entire vine.
Conservation status
Schisandra chinensis is classified as Category 2a in the Red Book of the Amur Region, meaning the species is vulnerable with a steadily decreasing population due to land use change and loss of habitat (24). It is classified as Category 2b in the Red Data Book of the Jewish Autonomous Region, meaning vulnerable with decreasing populations due to excessive human use (25).
In China, S. chinensis, S. sphenanthera, and most other Schisandra species are classified as Least Concern (LC) with the exception of S. macrocarpa and two subspecies of S. propinqua (subsp. intermedia and subsp. propinqua), classified as Near Threatened (NT), and a few species classified as Data Deficient (DD) (26).
In 2021, S. macrocarpa was also added to China’s national list of key protected wild plants under state priority conservation (27). Schisandra repanda, native to South Korea and Japan, is classified as Critically Endangered (CE) in Korea (28).
Traditional medicine uses
Despite discernible differences in composition and content of berries of different Schisandra species, in TCM theory and clinical practice, both bei wu wei zi (S. chinensis) and nan wu wei zi (S. sphenanthera) are assigned the same actions and indications for use at the same dosage.
- Actions: To astringe and secure, tonify qi, engender fluid, tonify the kidney and calm the heart.
- Indications: Chronic cough, dyspnea (shortness of breath) of deficiency type, nocturnal emission and spermatorrhoea (involuntary discharge of semen without orgasm), enuresis (urinary incontinence) and frequent urination, chronic sweating, night sweating, thirst caused by fluid consumption, interior heat wasting-thirst palpitations and insomnia.
- Dosage: 2–6 g (29)
In Russian medicine, both the dried ripe fruit of wild or cultivated S. chinensis and the dried seed (freed from the pericarp) of wild S. chinensis, and preparations made from them, e.g. tincture of the seeds, are official drugs of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation (30,31). Schisandra chinensis seed tincture is indicated for asthenic syndrome, overfatigue, complex therapy of weakened sexual function due to neurasthenia, mental and physical overstrain, convalescence after somatic and infectious diseases, neurocirculatory dystonia of the hypotonic type, and for improving the body’s performance (32).
Selected sustainable schisandra initiatives
Amur Tiger Friendly
In 2004, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS Russia) began a project with traditional hunting associations in the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories to develop resource management tools and an antipoaching incentive strategy in the endangered Amur tiger forest habitat area (33). The objective of the project, Linking Economic Development and Biodiversity Conservation in the Russian Far East through Tiger Friendly Certification, was to provide economic incentives for local communities to conserve tigers and their habitats by earning a price premium for marketing sustainably wild harvested forest products with Tiger Friendly Certified branding, including northern schisandra berries, Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) roots, Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) nuts, and rugose rosehips (Rosa rugosa), among others.
Herbal companies that participated in the initial project included OOO Amur Bio Pharm (Khabarovsk), Herb Trade (Nevada), and Traditional Medicinals (California). The operation achieved organic wild certification in 2006 (for the aforementioned wild forest products) followed by Tiger Friendly certification in 2007.
Requirements for Tiger Friendly certified forest products included (34):
- Stable tiger population with a density of at least 2.5 tigers/500 km2 must exist on the land, with a potential to increase
- Local people are members of the wildlife management organization, and are directly involved in implementing management activities
- Ungulate densities must be sufficient to support existing tiger numbers
- All resources are sustainably and responsibly harvested without harm to forest ecosystems
- Active outreach to local communities about the importance of tiger conservation is conducted
- Effective antipoaching activities are conducted
- Fair distribution of profits from the sales of Tiger Friendly® products within the local communities.
Subsequently, in 2008, WWF Russia also began a three-year project in the Amur tiger habitat, which aimed to develop market links for sustainably harvested forest products. WWF and its local partners leased the largest remaining massifs of Korean pine-broadleaf-coniferous forests and collaborated with the indigenous Udege and Nanai communities for sustainable wild collection of prioritised forest products, including chaga (Inonotus obliquus) mushrooms, eleuthero roots, Korean pine nuts, and northern schisandra berries, among others.
FairWild
“The FairWild Standard has seven Principles and 24 Criteria addressing three themes: the ecological, socio-cultural, and business requirements for sustainable wild collection” (35).
A five-year (2007–2011) field project of the EU-China Biodiversity Programme (ECBP) “Sustainable Management of Traditional Medicinal Plants in the High-Biodiversity Landscapes of Upper Yangtze Eco-region” featured a southern schisandra (S. sphenanthera) sustainable harvest and trade initiative. Resource assessments were carried out in the project area based, in part, on the criteria and indicators of the FairWild Standard.
It was theorised that value addition through implementation of international sustainability standards, the FairWild Standard and the Organic Wild-crop Harvesting Practice Standard would attract buyers who would make “long-term equitable trade agreements leading to increased community income associated with sustainable resource management” (36). The Pingwu County Shuijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Planting Professional Cooperative, which was established during the project, achieved organic wild certification in 2011 and FairWild certification in 2021 (37).
During 2016–2018, the NGO TRAFFIC International continued to support the development and use of the FairWild Standard in China in the project Sustainable Trade in Wild Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in the Sino-Vietnamese Limestone Corridor, and identified a French biomedical company to also commit to supporting the FairWild initiative at the Pingwu TCM Cooperative (38). Laboratoires Expanscience became a FairWild registered brand and trader in 2022 (39).
In 2020, the California TCM products company Nuherbs Co. sponsored a FairWild audit with their northern schisandra berry producer group in Jilin province, which was followed-up with a risk analysis completed in 2021 (40). A certification decision and US market launch of FairWild northern schisandra is expected for 2025 (41).
Giant Panda Friendly
The aforementioned ECBP (2007–2011) was also where the Giant Panda Friendly Product Certification Standard was developed, initially test-implemented for feasibility with three wild resources in the panda habitat, bamboo leaves and shoots, honey of native bees, and southern schisandra berries. The Pingwu TCM Cooperative was the first enterprise to achieve panda-friendly certification for its wild southern schisandra berries, with the support of WWF-China, one Chinese herbal extract manufacturer, Shanghai Tianyuan Plant Product Co., Ltd., and two California companies, Traditional Medicinals, Inc., and Draco Natural Products, Inc.
The highest concentration of giant panda bears live in Pingwu County, Sichuan. After the five-year project ended, the central government took up the new standard, elevating it to become an official Chinese national standard, with two parts, Part I for wild plants and Part II for plants cultivated within the panda habitat area (42). Requirements outlined in the standard include, among many others:
- The geographical scope of native wild plant harvesting is located in counties within the giant panda habitat area, but post-harvest production facilities should not be on land occupied by giant pandas.
- Seeds of invasive species must not be introduced into the habitat area.
- Harvesting activities must not cause any loss or degradation of biodiversity in the giant panda habitats.
- Production sites and production activities avoid interference of human activities on giant pandas and their habitats.
- It is forbidden to pollute the surrounding forest environment. Use only environmentally friendly and non-toxic materials, limit the use and disposal of non-degradable plastic products, recycle.
- Must have a nature conservation management plan that includes prohibition of employees illegally hunting and collecting wild animals and plants and destroying giant panda habitat.
- Must implement reward policies for employees who make contributions to ecological protection, etc.
- The harvesting period should be formulated based on scientific data, and determined based, in part, on product quality requirements. The harvesting methods should be carried out according to the maximum sustainable harvesting volume based on the regeneration rate of the target plant part.
- If the wild plant is to be used in TCM, it should meet the quality requirements specified in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China. If the wild plant is a food, it should meet the basic requirements of food.
The market for sustainable schisandra
Most of the several millions of kilograms of schisandra berries that are harvested each year are processed for use in medicines that are dispensed in China, Japan, North and South Korea, Russian Federation, and Taiwan. The portion that is produced according to voluntary sustainability standards (e.g., FairWild, Organic, Panda Friendly), with independent third-party audits and certifications, is export-oriented and still a relatively small niche market.
A 2007 study estimated that only about 181,000 kg of wild schisandra berries were certified organic in one year (43). A subsequent study, carried out by this author, estimated only 234,590 kg of schisandra berries wild collected in China were certified organic in 2013 (44). The quantity of Panda Friendly certified southern schisandra berries has ranged between 20,000 to 30,000 kg (dry weight).
Even though verifiably sustainably-managed schisandra comprises a tiny amount of the total annual harvest quantity (China and Russia combined), manufacturers of herbal medicinal products who are motivated to voluntarily pay price premiums, associated with the (not insignificant) costs incurred by producers to implement sustainability certification standards, can find sources of certified organic (wild and cultivated) schisandra berries at a minimum.
For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Organic Integrity Database lists contact details for producers and handlers of certified organic schisandra situated in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Shaanxi, and Sichuan (45). With long-term buyer–seller trade commitments, companies can also manage to secure and procure quantities of FairWild certified and/or Panda Friendly certified berries (46).
Sustainable natural resource management that takes care of the whole ecosystem, people, plants, and animals, requires long-term planning, advance firm commitments from buyers, trusting relationships, and supply chain transparency and visibility from geographic origin to the destination market.
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