Our Sophora flavescens Root Extract has as its active ingredients quinolizidine alkaloids – matrine, oxymatrine, sophocarpine and sophoridine, as well as the prenylated flavonoid kurarinone. The specifications available cover ratio extracts 5:1, 10:1 and 20:1 and standardized specifications (total alkaloids ≥5%, matrine ≥10%, oxymatrine ≥98%; all of them can be customized to the content specified by different types of customers).

Product Description

For formulators in personal care, skincare, and functional foods, Sophora flavescens extract centers on standardized matrine and oxidized matrine to provide quantifiable antibacterial and soothing support, making it a stable choice among naturally derived active ingredients.

Sophora Flavescens Extract (Ku Shen Extract) is made from the dried root of Sophora flavescens, a leguminous plant. Through acid water extraction, ion exchange purification, and spray drying and purification, it is standardized concentrated powder characterized by matrine and matrine oxide as active ingredients. It meets the 98% HPLC quality standard and has multiple effects including antibacterial, skin care, and anti-inflammatory properties. It is widely used in health foods, functional foods, and personal care. This product is carefully prepared from authentic Hebei Sophora flavescens, with stable content of matrine and matrine oxide, making it a high-quality ingredient for antibacterial soothing and skincare products.

Sophora flavescens is a classic Chinese medicine in China that clears heat and dries dampness. Hebei and Liaoning are the main production areas, and it is widely used in traditional applications such as antibacterial and skin care.

Why Source from Nutralighting

Direct access to certified botanical growing bases in China – Our Sophora flavescens root is purchased directly from standardised cultivation bases and cooperatives in the northern main production areas of China (Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Gansu, Liaoning, Shaanxi), with per-batch sampling, origin and pesticide-residue screening, and batch numbers that link the raw material to the finished extract.

Stable supply chain with consistent lot-to-lot quality – Every batch of Sophora flavescens Root Extract is assayed by HPLC for total alkaloids, matrine and oxymatrine (regular range: total alkaloids ≥5%, matrine ≥10%, oxymatrine ≥98%), and the results are recorded in the batch COA, so the alkaloid profile stays consistent from lot to lot.

Flexible pack sizes from 1 kg to bulk container quantities – 1 kg aluminium foil bags and 25 kg fibre drums as standard, with sub-packaging available on request.

Support for private labeling and OEM formulation requirements – Content, particle size, heavy metal and microbiological limits can be adjusted to your formula or in-house standard; the assay can be re-checked by your USP, EP or in-house method with the original chromatogram attached; private-label packing and document sets can be arranged.

Fast sample dispatch and professional technical documentation – Samples are taken from the same production standard as bulk orders and dispatched quickly; COA, TDS, MSDS and, on request, non-GMO, allergen-free, BSE/TSE-free statements and solvent residue reports accompany the goods.

Basic Information

Standard Specifications (COA Reference Values)

The above are routine reference values, and the actual indexes are subject to the independent COA of each batch; heavy metal and microbiological limits can be tightened to the customer’s standard (for example, according to USP, EP or the customer’s in-house standard). For food uses such as dietary supplement raw material, the microbiological and solvent residue standards need to be agreed separately in the contract.

Introduction to Plant Material

Sophora flavescens is a perennial herb to subshrub of the genus Sophora in the family Fabaceae, with the scientific name Sophora flavescens Aiton; the pharmacopoeia includes its dried root, which is dug in spring and autumn, washed after the root head and small branch roots are removed, and then dried or sliced while fresh. Under the Ku Shen item in Volume I of the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (2020 edition), the test requirements are: water content not more than 11.0% and total ash not more than 8.0%; under the assay item, the total amount of matrine and oxymatrine is required to be not less than 1.2% (calculated on the dried basis). The Ku Shen item in the Veterinary Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (2020 edition) adopts the same content criterion.

Sophora flavescens has strong adaptability and is distributed in many places in China except the high-cold and extremely arid regions; the main production areas are concentrated in northern China (North China, Northwest China, Northeast China and elsewhere, such as Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang). At present wild resources and artificial cultivation coexist in China, the cultivated area is expanding year by year, and the raw material supply is mainly domestic harvesting and domestic cultivation in China. The medicinal material contains two characteristic types of ingredients, quinolizidine alkaloids and prenylated flavonoids, which are the main basis for the quantitative determination of Sophora flavescens extract.

Core Efficacy

The following efficacy overview is based on published scientific research and traditional applications. Specific efficacy should be evaluated in combination with the product formulation and usage dosage.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic direction (study object: oxymatrine). Existing studies suggest that oxymatrine can reduce the process of tissue fibrosis in experimental models by inhibiting the activation and proliferation of hepatic stellate cells, reducing the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and type I collagen, and down-regulating TGF-β1 and NF-κB related signalling; in a small-sample clinical study of people with chronic hepatitis B related liver fibrosis, improvements in serum fibrosis markers and liver stiffness values were observed. The above conclusions come from experimental models and clinical studies and cannot be stated as being able to treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory direction (study object: Sophora flavescens extract and total alkaloids). In vitro studies show that Sophora flavescens extract has a certain inhibitory effect on a variety of bacteria, fungi and parasites, and its anti-inflammatory activity is related to the inhibition of the release of pro-inflammatory factors (such as TNF-α and IL-6). The relevant conclusions come mostly from in vitro and animal experiments, and human evidence is limited.

Neuroprotective direction (study object: the alkaloid-free ethyl acetate fraction). A study published in Phytomedicine (2009) using a rat model of focal cerebral ischaemia showed that an alkaloid-free ethyl acetate extract of Sophora flavescens root (mainly containing 45.5% kurarinone and 14.7% sophoraflavone G) can reduce infarct volume and improve neurological deficit scores, with the mechanism involving inhibition of caspase-3 activation and cell apoptosis.

Agricultural bioactivity direction. Matrine has already obtained pesticide registration in China as a plant-derived active ingredient (such as soluble liquid and wettable powder formulations) and is used for the control of pests and diseases in some crops; the registration information can be verified in the official pesticide registration database.

Regulatory and Regional Access Status

The following information is compiled based on publicly available regulatory data. For actual market access, please refer to the latest regulations of the target country.

Regulations change as supervision is updated; the above status is a framework description at the time of writing, and before export it is essential to confirm item by item with the competent authority or a compliance adviser in the target market.

Application Directions and Recommended Dosage

Daily dosage reference

In the literature, the usual decoction dose of the Ku Shen medicinal material is 4.5 to 9 g per day (the criterion of clinically usual dosage in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia), but this is a usage of the crude drug decoction pieces and does not apply to extract raw material. In some clinical studies the dose of oxymatrine is 300 to 600 mg per day (in divided doses), and the usual dose in matrine-related studies is 100 to 300 mg per day; the above doses are only research doses in the literature, not recommended intakes, and the actual formula design must be determined by the customer in light of the target market regulations and its own compliance assessment.

Other Precautions

• Sophora flavescens and its alkaloid ingredients have a certain toxicity; dust protection should be provided in the production and compounding of high-purity powder, and direct contact with skin and eye mucosa should be avoided.
• In the traditional use of Chinese medicine, Ku Shen should not be used together with Li Lu (Veratrum) (the criterion of the “eighteen incompatible ingredients” incompatibility); customers involving compound products should assess this themselves.
• The use restrictions relating to pregnant and breastfeeding people and people with abnormal liver and kidney function are matters of end-product labelling and regulation and must be labelled according to the requirements of the target market.
• This product is an industrial raw material, cannot replace prescription drugs, and no statement of disease diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention may be made on the label or in publicity.
• It is only for B2B enterprises with the corresponding qualifications to use in compliant formula development, and is not sold directly to individual consumers.

Appendix: References

[1] Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, 2020 edition, Volume I, Ku Shen item: water content not more than 11.0%, total ash not more than 8.0%; total amount of matrine and oxymatrine not less than 1.2%.

[2] Veterinary Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, 2020 edition, Ku Shen item: total amount of matrine and oxymatrine not less than 1.2%.

[3] China pesticide registration data (China Pesticide Information Network, ICAMA): matrine formulation registration numbers PD20101681, PD20130430, PD20132710 and PD20184106 (soluble liquids, wettable powders).

[4] Oh Ki et al. Neuroprotective effects of an alkaloid-free ethyl acetate extract from the root of Sophora flavescens Ait. against focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Phytomedicine, 2009. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2009.03.017

[5] Public reports on the main production areas of Sophora flavescens (production areas such as Qinyuan in Shanxi and Jianping in Liaoning): public reports such as the China Agricultural and Rural Information Network.

[6] Research progress on the pharmacological effects of oxymatrine against liver fibrosis (a Chinese review): complete volume, issue and pages to be supplemented.

[7] Kong S, Liao Q, Liu Y, et al. Prenylated Flavonoids in Sophora flavescens: A Systematic Review of Their Phytochemistry and Pharmacology[J]. American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2024, 52(4): 1087. DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X24500447.‌

[8] Kong S, Liao Q, et al. Efficient and Selective Extraction of Prenylated Flavonoids from Sophora flavescens Using Ultrasound-Assisted Hydrophobic Ionic Liquid and Characterization of Extraction Mechanism[J]. Molecules, 2025, 30(3): 500. DOI: 10.3390/molecules30030500.‌

[8] Park H, Kim E J, Kim E Y, et al. Sophora flavescens Aiton alleviates particulate matter-exacerbated asthma through modulation of ROS/MAPK/autophagy responses[J]. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2025: 120440. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2025.120440.‌