Schisandra chinensis

Schisandra chinensis (五味子 in Chinese, pinyin: wǔ wèi zi, literally "five flavor berry" which is its common name ) is a deciduous woody vine native to forests of Northern China and the Russian Far East. It is hardy in USDA Zone 4. The plant likes some shade with moist, well-drained soil. The species itself is dioecious, thus flowers on a female plant will only produce fruit when fertilized with pollen from a male plant. However, there is a hybrid selection titled "Eastern Prince" which has perfect flowers and is self-fertile. Seedlings of "Eastern Prince" are sometimes sold under the same name but are typically single-sex plants.

Growing information
Schizandra is native to northern and northeastern China (Manchuria). Cultivation requirements are thought to be similar to those of grapes. Plants require conditions of moderate humidity and light, together with a wet, humus-rich soil. Tens of tons of berries are used annually in Russia in the Primorsky and Khabarovsky regions for the commercial manufacture of juices, wines, extracts and sweets.

Etymology
Its Chinese name comes from the fact that its berries possess all five basic flavors: salty, sweet, sour, pungent (spicy), and bitter. Sometimes it is more specifically called běi wǔ wèi zi (literally "northern five flavor berry") to distinguish it from another traditionally medicinal schisandraceous plant Kadsura japonica that grows only in subtropical areas. Another variant of schizandra berry is that of Schisandra sphenanthera which has a similar but different biochemical profile; the Chinese pharmacopia distinguishes between Schisandra chinensis (běi wǔ wèi zi) and  Schisandra sphenanthera (nan wǔ wèi zi).

Medicinal uses
Its berries are used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. They are most often used in dried form, and boiled to make a tea. Chemical constituents include the lignans schizandrin, deoxyschizandrin, gomisins, and pregomisin, which are found in the seeds of the fruit. It should not be used by pregnant women.

In China, a wine is made from the berries.

In Korean the berries are known as omija (hangul: 오미자). The cordial drink made from the berries is called omija cha (hangul: 오미자 차), meaning "omija tea"; see Korean tea.

In Japanese, they are called gomishi (ゴミシ). The Ainu people used this plant, called repnihat, as a remedy for colds and sea-sickness.

In traditional Chinese medicine, Schisandra chinensis (known as wu wei zi ) is believed to: act as an astringent for the Qi of the lungs and kidneys, restrain the essence to treat diarrhea, arrest excessive sweating from deficiency of Yin or Yang, calm the spirit by refreshing the heart and kidneys, and generate body fluid and reduce thirst.

The great interest in Limonnik (Schisandra chinensis) in Russia arises from results of ethnopharmacological investigations of Russian scientists in the Far East regions where the berries and seeds were used by Nanai (Goldes or Samagir) hunters to improve night vision, as a tonic and to reduce hunger, thirst and exhaustion since “it gives forces to follow a sable all the day without food”. "Pharmacological studies on animals have shown that Schizandra increases physical working capacity and affords a stress-protective effect against a broad spectrum of harmful factors including heat shock, skin burn, cooling, frostbite, immobilisation, swimming under load in an atmosphere with decreased air pressure, aseptic inflammation, irradiation, and heavy metal intoxication. The phytoadaptogen exerts an effect on the central nervous, sympathetic, endocrine, immune, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal systems, on the development of experimental atherosclerosis, on blood sugar and acid-base balance, and on uterus myotonic activity."

Chemistry
Two major lignans, schizandrin and gomisin A, have been shown to induce interleukin (IL)-8, macrophage inflammatory protein-1β, and granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) release by THP-1 cells. Therefore, S. Chinensis may be therapeutically beneficial in promoting the body's humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.

Schizandrin is one of the main dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans present in the fruit of Schisandra chinensis. In vitro biological activities including hepatoprotective, antiviral and neuroprotective effects of schizandrin and other dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans have been reported.

Recent studies have demonstrated that schizandrin exhibits anti-oxidative effects in mice.

Other chemical constituents include schisandrin B, γ-terpinene, bisabolene (+)-gomisin K2, gomisin S, pregomisin, schisantherin A, schicantherin B, angeloylgomisin Q, and rubrildilactione.

Culture
In 1998, Russia released a postage stamp depicting S. chinensis.photo (Лимонник китайский)