Sophora Flavescens Extract 

Product Name: Sophora Flavescens Extract   
Botanical Source: Sophora flavescens Ait
Plant Part Used: Root
CAS No.: 519-02-8
Active Ingredient: Matrine
Specification:4%-98% Matrine.
Appearance:Fine Brownish Yellow to Off-white Powder.
 
 
 
Brief Introduction of Sophora Flavescens
Though literally translated as bitter ginseng in English, Ku Shen has nothing to do with ginseng at all. Actually it is another completely different Chinese herb, which is better known as sophora flavescens or sophora root in common name and Radix Sophorae Flavescentis in Latin name. Likewise, it has different medicinal properties and health benefits. This herb was first mentioned in "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic" and viewed as one of the medium-grade drugs. That means it may be poisonous but can heal sickness and tonify deficiency when used appropriately. As a matter of fact, it is a good medicine for clearing heat, removing dampness, hair growth, and killing insects, which makes it a really popular option in the treatment of skin diseases and gynecological diseases.
Medicinally it mainly refers to the dried root of Sophora flavescens Ait., which is a plant in the family Leguminosae. And it has a few other names, including sophora flavescens radix, light yellow sophora root, Flavescent Sophora Root, Root of Light Yellow Sophora, Sophora Flavescens Root, and more. It is produced all over China and harvested during spring and autumn. After the digging, for better medicinal quality it should remove the head and small fibrous root, wash clean, and dry immediately or dry after slicing when it is still fresh. And it is usually used raw. And now it is consumed in various forms, like sophora flavescens supplement, extract, tea, capsules, powder, etc.
This plant is a dwarf-shrub, 50 to 120cm high. Root is cylindrical and yellow in appearance. Stems are herbaceous, green, and with yellow hair when young and irregular longitudinal groove. Pinnately compound leaves are odd, alternate, and with linear stipules underneath; blade is from 20 to 25cm long and with pubescent axis; leaflets are 5 to 21, with a short handle, ovate-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, rounded or blunt-tipped apex, rounded or wedge-shaped base, and entire margin. Racemes are acrogenous, short-haired, 10 to 20cm long; bracts are linear; Flowers are yellowish white; calyx is bell-shaped and slightly oblique; corolla looks like butterfly. Pods are linear; apex is with a long beak. Seeds usually are 3 to 7, black, nearly spherical, and with constriction between seeds. It flowers from May to July and fruits from July to September. Habitats are places exposed to the sun, including grassy hillside, plains, roadsides, sandy soil and red soil.
Sophora root mainly contains alkaloids, flavonoids, quinones, and triterpenoid saponins. Alkaloids contain matrine, oxymatrine, sophoridine, sophoranol, sophoramine, etc. Flavonoids contain kushenol, kuraridin, kuraridinol, kurarinol, neokurarinol, norkurarinol, isokurarinone, kurarinone, and more. Triterpenoid saponins include sophoraflavoside , , , , soya saponin I, and so on. Quinones are kushequinone A and others.
 
Sophora Root Extract to treat Hair Loss
Androgenetic alopecia is characterized by the gradual miniaturization of hair follicles (vellus hair) resulting from the decrease in the duration of anagen phase. 
Thus, the anagen elongation is thought to be the most effective for the improvement of androgenetic alopecia. In the course of screening plant extracts for anagen elongation activity, the extract of dried roots of Sophora Flavescens Aiton (SRE), which is well-known as a Chinese traditional medicine, was found to possess potent anagen elongation activity using human hair follicle organ culture. 
When anagen hair follicles were cultured in Williams E medium in the presence of SRE, hair shaft elongation was significantly accelerated compared with those cultured in the absence of SRE. In anagen hair follicles, the proliferating cells are distributed in epithelial cells, such as hair matrix cells and outer root sheath cells (ORSC). The elongation of anagen phase was estimated by growth stimulation of hair follicle epithelial cells. 
We used a serum-free culture system of human ORSC to estimate the effect of anagen elongation. When human ORSC was cultured in the presence of SRE, one ppb of dry residue was sufficient for the growth stimulation of ORSC. These results suggest that SRE is effective for anagen elongation because of the stimulation of the proliferation of hair follicle epithelial cells. In order to isolate active compound for anagen elongation, SRE was fractionated by solvent extraction and subsequent silica gel chromatography. 
The hydrophobic fraction showed activity for ORSC growth stimulation. Further purification showed two independent active compounds. When their structures were elucidated using NMR and FAB-MS method, these were two pterocarpan derivatives, medicarpin and maakiain, and exhibited significant acceleration of ORSC proliferation.
 
 
 
Function
1. It has obvious inhibition on heart, which can slow the heart rate, weaken the myocardial contractility, and reduce cardiac output;
2. Having anti-arrhythmia effects;
3. It has rapid and long-lasting effect on aconitine-induced arrhythmias. And it also has anti-hypertensive effect;
4. Inhibiting on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and a variety of skin fungus;
5. Inducing diuresis, reducing inflammation, preventing allergies, making people calm down, relieving asthma, eliminating phlegm, elevating white blood cell count, and fighting cancer.