Patent just the tonic for Hong Kong academics: Three academics at Baptist University – assistant professor Dr Han Quanbin, associate professor Dr Chen Hubiao and Dr Xu Jun, senior research assistant at the university’s school of Chinese medicine – have invented a convenient and low-cost method to efficiently authenticate the body-strengthening Chinese herbal medicine tiepi shihu. The novel authentication method has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is being used by a Chinese medicine company in Hong Kong.
Tiepi shihu (Latin name Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo) nourishes the stomach, supplements bodily fluids, helps tonify yin, clears heat and strengthens the immune system. Due to its scarcity, the tiepi shihu found in the market may be mixed with other species of shihu or may even be counterfeit.
Source: South China Morning Post