Scutellaria baicalensis

Scutellaria baicalensis, with the common name Baikal skullcap or Chinese skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae.

Scutellaria baicalensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Scutellaria
Species:
S. baicalensis
Binomial name
Scutellaria baicalensis
Synonyms

Scutellaria macrantha Fisch.[1]

Distribution

The plant is native to China, Korea, Mongolia, and Russia in the Russian Far East and Siberia.[1]

Medicinal plant

Traditional Chinese medicine

It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name huángqín (Chinese: 黄芩).[2] As a Chinese traditional medicine, huang qin usually refers to the dried root of S. baicalensis Georgi, S. viscidula Bge., S. amoena C.H. Wright, and S. ikoninkovii Ju.

Pharmacology
Main article: Scutellaria § Constituents and pharmacology

Several chemical compounds have been isolated from the root; baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, norwogonin, oroxylin A[3] and β-sitosterol are the major ones.[4]

Names

It is important to use the Latin name, as the term 'skullcap' is used for over 200 varieties. Sometimes, Scutellaria lateriflora (North American skullcap) is mistaken for S. baicalensis. This confusion can result in the intake of the S. lateriflora variety which can be processed and contaminated with other plants at high enough levels to be of concern.

See also
  • Piper methysticum (kava), another anxiolytic GABAergic plant
  • Valeriana officinalis (valerian), a sedative GABAergic plant

References
  1. "Scutellaria baicalensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  2. Zhang XW; Li WF; Li WW; Ren KH; Fan CM; Chen YY; Shen YL (2011). "Protective effects of the aqueous extract of Scutellaria baicalensis against acrolein-induced oxidative stress in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells". Pharm Biol. 49 (3): 256–261. doi:10.3109/13880209.2010.501803. PMID 20979538.
  3. Isolation and purification of baicalein, wogonin and oroxylin A from the medicinal plant Scutellaria baicalensis by high-speed counter-current chromatography. Hua-Bin Li and Feng Chen, Journal of Chromatography A, 13 May 2005, Volume 1074, Issues 1–2, pages 107–110, doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2005.03.088
  4. Yang LX, Liu D, Feng XF, Cui SL, Yang JY, Tang XJ, He XR, Liu JF, Hu SL (2002). "[Determination of flavone for Scutellaria baicalensis from different areas by HPLC]". Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (in Chinese). 27 (3): 166–70. PMID 12774393.

Data related to Scutellaria baicalensis at Wikispecies

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