Mountain Pepper

Mountain Pepper

　　A specialty of Heilongjiang — Mountain Pepper, is a well-known medicinal plant naturally distributed in mountainous areas such as the Lesser Khingan Mountains, Wandashan, Zhangguangcai Mountains, and Laoye Mountains in Heilongjiang Province. Fresh Mountain Pepper fruits are bright red berries, juicy, with a sour and slightly astringent taste and a peppercorn aroma. The fresh juice is used as an ingredient in processing natural health drinks; the dried fruit is dark purplish-red, wrinkled, and a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. It stimulates the central nervous system and respiratory system, regulates the heart, liver, and blood pressure, enhances vision and hearing, promotes bile secretion, and boosts antibacterial capacity.

　　 Current status of the specialty: In China, Mountain Pepper has remained in the wild. As an interlayer plant of the northern temperate forest, it is highly dependent on the forest environment. Due to excessive deforestation and large-scale artificial afforestation, the ecological environment of Schisandra has undergone significant changes. In addition, extensive and exploitative harvesting by humans has accelerated resource depletion. The situation is more severe in older forest areas that were developed earlier. For example, in Liaoning Province, the total annual purchase (dried product) in 1959 was 150,000 kilograms, dropping to 55,000 kilograms in 1972. In Huinan County, Heilongjiang Province, the purchase was 50,000 kilograms in 1963 but only 5,000 kilograms in 1981 — a tenfold difference.

　　 According to a survey conducted by Northeast Forestry University in the late 1980s, the annual storage of Mountain Pepper in the Yichun area was 14,537 tons. Among these, the Nancha Forestry Bureau had the highest at 4,187 tons per year, Jiayin County at 3,102 tons per year, Youhao Forestry Bureau at 1,036 tons per year, and Wuyiling Forestry Bureau at 1,535 tons per year, accounting for 46.7% of the total storage. Originally abundant and concentrated production areas have seen significant declines after a decade of harvesting. All natural resources are finite, so shifting from wild harvesting to cultivation is the developing trend for protecting, expanding, and utilizing the resource.

　　 In the 1950s, the Soviet Union conducted artificial cultivation in central regions. Later, Japan, Korea, and many research institutions in China also strengthened research on the artificial domestication and cultivation of Schisandra, but the scale was small and did not lead to commercial production.

　　 Specialty benefits: Mountain Pepper has effects such as consolidating the lungs, nourishing the kidneys, promoting body fluids, and regulating sweating. Modern medical research shows that Mountain Pepper has tonic and strengthening effects, can improve mental work efficiency, increase the flexibility of neural processes, enhance the regulatory function of the cerebral cortex, regulate abnormal blood pressure, strengthen adrenal cortex function, and improve the vision and widen the field of vision in both normal individuals and those with eye diseases. Similar to ginseng and eleuthero, it enhances the body’s defense against nonspecific stimuli and can inhibit Aspergillus flavus, thus helping prevent liver cancer. It also improves blood circulation, is highly effective in treating non-icteric infectious hepatitis and persistent hepatitis, and provides good therapeutic effects for depression in psychiatric conditions. Additionally, it is an excellent ingredient for making cold beverages.