Technical term used in pharmacognosy and traditional medicine to refer to the raw material or constituent of a crude drug.
The ingredient of this crude drug is licorice.
Identification of the source plant is important.
Standard kanji form for this technical term.
Variant kanji form; 源 emphasizes 'source/origin'.
Compound of 基 (base, foundation) and 原 (source, origin). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the spelling is conventionally associated with the meaning 'source ingredient' in pharmacological contexts.