Phytochemicals, pharmacology, clinical application, patents, and products of Amomi fructus

Amomi fructus (A. fructus) (Sharen) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine widely used to treat gastrointestinal diseases. It has high medical and economic values, which have been confirmed both in vitro and in vivo studies. This review highlights the phytochemicals, pharmacology, clinical application, patents, and products of A. fructus. More than 100 phytochemicals have been isolated and identified from A. fructus, mainly including volatile oils, saponins, flavonoids, organic acids, inorganic ingredients, and polysaccharides. The main pharmacology of gastrointestinal protection, anti-inflammatory activity, analgesic activity, antidiarrheal activity, antibacterial activity, anti-microbial activity and hypoglycemic activity have been confirmed. The main clinical applications include functional digestion disorder, gastritis, helicobacter pylori infection in children and treatment of mastitis. There are 23 patents and 405 different drug products of A. fructus.