Medicinal substances (food and drug substances) are traditionally used as food, and they can be found in the "Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China". The National Health and Wellness Commission, in conjunction with the General Administration of Market Regulation, develops and publishes a catalog of food and drug substances, adopting dynamic management of the catalog. Medicinal and food substances are of great significance in the prevention of chronic diseases and health management.
FoodTCM is the first and most comprehensive database in China that presents basic information about medicinal sources and uses of medicinal food substances, as well as their chemical and nutritional composition together. According to personal preference, users can browse or search the database by the medicinal substance’s name (we will reference it as "herb"), or compound’s name. Later versions will include a search by source name of the herb, and its description or function.
The current version of FoodTCM (v1.0) data sources are FooDB, FooDisNET, TASLY-TCM, PubChem, PubMed, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 edition), and the Chinese Food Composition Table (Standard Edition, 6th Edition). This database can be used as a reference and guide for those who study medicinal and food substances related to Traditional Chinese Medicine or to develop corresponding health products.