Schisandra chinensis is a vine native to eastern Asia. It produces clusters of red fruits, which have become its most recognizable raw material. In the Chinese tradition, there is a name referring to the "five tastes", emphasizing the complex sensations accompanying tasting different parts of the fruit.
A berry with a complex profile
Schisandra chinensis is a climbing plant associated with small fruits. Traditional descriptions have emphasized their complex flavor, but this is cultural information, not a method of determining the capsule's composition. Characteristic lignans can be determined in the extraction raw materials. The full name of the species and part of the plant makes it easier to distinguish schisandra from lemon and other materials with a similar sounding name.
Meaning and application
Schisandra has a history of use in drinks, preserves and herbal medicine. Nowadays, fruits are also a material for obtaining extracts. A characteristic group of compounds are lignans, including schizandrins. Their content may be an element of standardization. The name of the plant should not be confused with lemon: the similarity of Polish names does not mean relatedness or the same composition. It is worth reading the species, part of the plant and parameters of the extract used in the recipe.
In practice
In the sales description, it is worth keeping the full name Schisandra chinensis, because the colloquial terms themselves can be imprecise. The traditional name "five flavors" reflects the complex experience of the fruit, rather than the five mandatory ingredients of each extract. Different parts and preparation methods may produce materials with different profiles. If schizandrins or other lignans are given, their content must be distinguished from the weight of the total extract. It is also not the same as the taste of a drink prepared from fruit. The history of use in culture helps to understand the recognition of the plant, but the most important for comparing preparations are the form of the raw material, the exact specification and the recommended portion.