我国蓝草的传统植物学知识研究

蓝草在我国历史上曾是重要的经济作物,蓝草制备的植物靛蓝具有抗菌消炎和抗紫外线等保健作用,然而在合成靛蓝商业化的冲击下,蓝草制靛技艺几乎消亡。近年来,伴随着人们对环保和生物多样性的关注,植物靛蓝需求量不断增加,对蓝草的研究也越来越受关注。该文在文献研究的基础上,简要介绍了我国民间利用的蓝草种类及分布,对我国蓝草制靛工艺的发展进行了梳理,重点阐述了制靛工艺原理和工艺传承现状,并对存在的问题进行了讨论。结果表明:文献记载的我国蓝草共10种及变种,分属于6科6属,现利用的蓝草仅5种;我国蓝草制靛工艺从浸揉染色法发展为固态发酵制蓝法和液态发酵制靛法,只有液态发酵制靛法沿用至今;制靛工艺是将蓝草中的前体物质转化为靛蓝并伴有靛玉红等副产物生成的过程,影响靛蓝纯度的因素包括蓝草的材料选择、温度、浸泡时间、pH值、溶氧量等。目前我国蓝草的研究已取得了一些成果,但在蓝草种类的古籍考证、蓝草种质资源的挖掘以及蓝草传统制靛工艺的还原和再现等方面仍有待于进一步研究。

Traditional botanical knowledge of Chinese indigo yielding plant species

Indigo yielding plant species were important economic crops historically in China. Natural indigo extracted from indigo yielding plant species is benefits to health because of its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. However, natural indigo extraction methods are struggling to disappear with the constant input of chemically synthesized indigo. Recent years, with the global awareness for environment protection and bio-diversity, the demand of sustainable natural indigo is increasing and thus the researches of the indigo yielding plant species are getting more and more attention. Based on literature research, we briefly introduce the species and distribution areas of indigo yielding plant species distributed in China, and comb the development of China''s traditional folk-indigo manufacturing process. We focus on the chemical pigments formation of indigo process and the present situation of process inheritance in China. Finally, we discussed the problems that exist. The results are as following: there are only 5 indigo yielding plant species still in use nowdays while 10 species and varieties indigo yielding plant species were documented in China; China''s traditional folk-indigo manufacturing process has been evolved from direct dip dyeing method into solid and liquid fermentation methods. However, only liquid fermentation method survives nowadays. The pigments of indigo and indirubin are formed when the precursors of indigo yielding plant species undergo a serious of chemical reactions during the indigo process. The selection of indigo yielding plant species, temperature, fermentation duration, pH and dissolved oxygen concentration are directly or indirectly related to indigo yield. Although the research of indigo yielding plant species has made some progress, the botanical provenance of historical indigo plant species, the identification of germplasm resources and the reconstruction of the traditional folk-indigo manufacturing process need further study.