earticle

영어

Korean Herbal Medicine (KHM) has clinical advantages that can overcome the limitations of Western Medicine. However, the strength of KHM cannot be fully exercised without standardization. In fact, many aspects of KHM including the processing of the herbal medicines are being standardized these days. Twenty-eight methods of herbal medicine processing that were previously described in the Korean Pharmacopoeia have since been deleted. The herbal medicines processing methods significantly affect their pharmacological properties, and hence this forms an essential part of KHM. In this research, therefore, the history of processing KHM and the steps involved have been summarized and analyzed. Furthermore, the changes in the efficacy of 165 herbal medicines in the Korean Pharmacopoeia after processing were summarized. In addition, the traditional processing methods in various textbooks and the processing methods in Korean Pharmacopoeia were compared to enhance the current level of standardization. This study, therefore, suggests a new “3K formula” as the first step for standardization of herbal medicines processing. With this formula, it is possible to name the processed herbal medicines in a unified way. With the ever-increasing global demand for herbal medicines, there is a clear necessity for further future studies on the standardization of the herbal medicines processing methods.