Scutellaria Baicalensis

Also called

Chinese Skullcap, Baikal Skullcap

Traditional names

Huang Qin, Huangqin, Scutellariae Radix

Traditional use

These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.

• Chinese people have used the dried root, called huang qin, for more than 2,000 years. It was first recorded around 200–250 AD in the Shennong Bencaojing (The Classic of Herbal Medicine) for lung and liver problems. The 1593 Compendium of Materia Medica lists it for:

  • Diarrhoea and dysentery
  • High blood pressure
  • Bleeding
  • Sleeplessness
  • Inflammation
  • Lung and airway infections

  It's now listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.[1]

• In Chinese medicine, huang qin is used to "clear heat", "dry dampness", remove toxins, stop bleeding and calm the unborn baby to prevent miscarriage. It's an ingredient in many formulas, such as Huangqin decoction, used for dysentery and pain.[2]

Laboratory & animal research

Lab and animal results show what might be worth studying in people. They don't show that the herb has these effects in humans.

• In lab studies, extracts and the root's main compounds (baicalin, baicalein, wogonin and wogonoside) killed or slowed many types of cancer cells, including brain, prostate, head and neck, lung, lymphoma, myeloma and leukaemia cells. In animal studies, it helped protect the liver from scarring.[1]

Research in people

• Clinical reports suggest huang qin alone may help colds and bacterial pneumonia. It's also a main ingredient in Chinese herbal formulas that, in clinical studies, improved liver test results in hepatitis and, alongside chemotherapy, improved quality of life or survival in lung cancer. These were mostly formulas with several herbs, so the effect of huang qin itself is unclear.[1]