Xiaoying Li¹ , Jianhua Wang²

1 Songyang Xiaoying Family Farm, Songyang, 323400, Zhejiang, China
2 Songyang Shuimoshicang Agricultural Products Co. Ltd., Songyang, 323499, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Medicinal Plant Research, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 1   
Received: 29 Jan., 2026    Accepted: 13 Mar., 2026    Published: 28 Mar., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicinal herb and a representative geo-authentic medicinal material of Zhejiang Province. Its underground bulb is the main medicinal part, and steroidal alkaloids such as peimine and peiminine are important indicators for evaluating its medicinal quality. With the transition of F. thunbergii production from traditional experience-based cultivation to standardized, large-scale, and high-quality cultivation, improving bulb yield while maintaining stable peimine accumulation has become a key issue in industrial development and quality control. This study focuses on the effects of cultivation environment on the yield of F. thunbergii and peimine accumulation, and analyzes the regulatory effects of light, temperature, water, soil, regional ecological conditions, and different cultivation patterns on plant growth, bulb enlargement, dry matter accumulation, and secondary metabolism. The results indicate that suitable light and temperature conditions, stable water supply, favorable soil structure, rational nutrient management, and a healthy rhizosphere microecology are important foundations for promoting high-quality and high-yield cultivation of F. thunbergii. In contrast, unfavorable environmental factors, such as excessive shading, high temperature, drought, waterlogging, soil compaction, and continuous cropping obstacles, may affect photosynthesis, root absorption, and bulb development, thereby causing yield reduction or quality fluctuation. Meanwhile, moderate environmental regulation can promote peimine accumulation by influencing carbon assimilation, hormone signaling, rhizosphere microecology, and pathways related to steroidal alkaloid biosynthesis. Future cultivation of F. thunbergii should aim to achieve the coordinated improvement of yield and quality by integrating ecological suitability zoning, comprehensive light-temperature-water-fertilizer management, soil environment optimization, and the construction of a quality evaluation system, thereby promoting the standardized, green, and sustainable development of the F. thunbergii industry.

Fritillaria thunbergii; Cultivation environment; Bulb yield; Peimine; Quality formation