中药类保健食品的研发:从食品科学角度的思考与建议

Research on health food of Chinese herbal medicine: appraisal and suggestions from viewpoint of food science

中药类保健食品是在中医药理论指导下研制的具有特定保健功能的食品。我国丰富的中药资源和源远流长的"药食同源"文化为中药类保健食品的研发提供了基础。但传统中医理论的科学性和建立在中医基础之上的中药功效受到一定质疑,围绕着中医药的争论从未停止。本文从中医理论的科学性和中药功效的真实性以及围绕着中医药的争论展开论述,从食品科学的角度对中医保健食品开发的科学性进行了探讨,提出虽然中医药得不到普遍认同,但中药的功效在长期使用中得到了验证,所以,中药类保健食品的研发是有实证根据的,但关键是在以传统的中医药理论作为指导时,还要以现代科学特别是食品科学的研究为依据来进行开发的观点,以期为中药类保健食品的研发提供参考和借鉴。

Health food from Chinese herbal medicine, which is considered to exert specific medical healthy function, is developed according to the guidance of Chinese medicine theory. Abundant Chinese herbal medicines and the long-standing culture of 'homology of medicine and food' have provided the foundation for the development of this kind of health food. However, the traditional Chinese medicine theory and the medicines based on this theory have always been under debate. By discussing and analyzing all aspects of these debates from the viewpoint of modern food science, a perspective has been put forward in this paper that although traditional Chinese medicine has not been accepted worldwide, but the function of its medicines has been proved by thousands years of practical use in China. Therefore, exploring health food from Chinese herbal medicine is reasonable and has solid foundation. Nevertheless, it has been emphasized that exploring this kind of health food cannot be based only on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, but also on the research of modern sciences especially modern food science. Perspective put forward in this paper is of significance for the research and development of health food from traditional Chinese herbal medicine.