Scutellaria baicalensis, the golden herb from the garden of Chinese medicinal plants

• Published in: Science bulletin (Beijing) Vol. 61; no. 18; pp. 1391 - 1398
• Main Authors: Zhao, Qing, Chen, Xiao-Ya, Martin, Cathie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Elsevier B.V 01.09.2016; Science China Press; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aglycones; Anti-cancer; Anticonvulsants; antioxidants; Baicalin; Bioactive compounds; biochemical pathways; Biological activity; Biotechnology; Cancer; Chemistry/Food Science; China; Diarrhea; Dysentery; Earth Sciences; Engineering; Flavones; Flavonoids; gardens; Gardens & gardening; hepatoprotective effect; Herbal medicine; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hypertension; inflammation; Insomnia; Life Sciences; Medicinal plants; Metabolic biology; multidisciplinary; Neuroprotection; neuroprotective effect; Pharmacology; Physics; Plant extracts; respiratory tract diseases; Review; roots; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Scutellaria baicalensis; Sleep disorders; Therapeutic applications; Waterborne diseases; 中国; 临床应用; 生物合成途径; 生物活性化合物; 神经保护作用; 药用植物园; 金色; 黄酮类化合物; China; Medicinal plants; Flavonoids; Scutellaria baicalensis; Anti-cancer; Metabolic biology
• ISSN: 2095-9273; 2095-9281
• DOI: 10.1007/s11434-016-1136-5

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, or Chinese skullcap, has been widely used as a medicinal plant in China for thousands of years, where the preparation from its roots is called Huang-Qin. It has been applied in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, hypertension, hemorrhaging, insomnia, inflammation and respiratory infections. Flavones such as baicalin, wogonoside and their aglycones baicalein wogonin are the major bioactive compounds extracted from the root of S. baicalensis. These flavones have been reported to have various pharmacological functions, including anti-cancer, hepatoprotection, antibacterial and antiviral, antioxidant, anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects. In this review, we focus on clinical applications and the pharmacological properties of the medicinal plant and the flavones extracted from it. We also describe biotechnological and metabolic methods that have been used to elucidate the biosynthetic pathways of the bioactive compounds in Scutellaria.