Sophorais a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The species are native to southeast Europe, southern Asia, Australasia, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and western South America. The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree.

Matrine and oxymatrine are the two major alkaloid components found in sophora roots. They are obtained primarily fromSophora japonica (kushen), but also from Sophora subprostrata (shandougen), and from the above ground portion ofSophora alopecuroides. The matrines were first isolated and identified in 1958; they are unique tetracyclo-quinolizindine alkaloids found only in Sophora species thus far. An intensive investigation into the pharmacology and clinical applications of these alkaloids has gone on for the past decade and remains one of the focal points of Chinese medical research. The main clinical applications are treatment of people with cancer, viral hepatitis, cardiac diseases (such as viral myocarditis), and skin diseases (such as psoriasis and eczema).

Benefits

• Treat chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C,
• Anti-cancer
• Treat Cardiac Diseases
•Treat Skin Diseases
•Anti-bacterial
•Anti-arrhythmic effect,
•Anti-asthmatic effects,
•Anti-neoplastic effects,
•Anti-allergic effects.