Herb library · Herb · Scutellaria baicalensis
Baikal skullcap (huangqin)
The bitter yellow root of a blue-flowered skullcap of northern China and Siberia, one of the most used herbs in Chinese and Japanese Kampo formulas. It is the herb most often linked to liver injury from Kampo medicines, and it has not been tested alone for benefit.
Serious warning
Liver injury: in a 2025 review of 37 cases of liver injury from Japanese Kampo medicines, about two in three involved formulas containing this root, usually within the first two months; one case needed steroid therapy. A 2025 report describes liver injury in a woman taking a decoction of the root, with an earlier similar episode (PubMed 39756858, 41431018).
Traditional use
Stuart's 1911 English guide to the Chinese materia medica, following Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu, records that the sliced yellow root was prescribed in fevers, jaundice, diarrheas, colic, boils and fluxes, was said to be quieting to the pregnant womb, and went into the famous three-yellow pill with rhubarb and coptis. Huangqin is still in many classic formulas, such as the Minor Bupleurum Decoction (Japanese Sho-saiko-to), and its compounds baicalin and baicalein are sold as supplements.
What studies show
- Insufficient
Fevers, digestion and the other traditional uses: no trial of Baikal skullcap root on its own in people was found. The trials that include it test formulas or supplement blends.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteWatch for signs of liver trouble: yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, unusual tiredness or pain in the upper right belly. Stop and see a clinician if they appear. The review recommends liver tests in the first two months of use.
- NoteBaikal skullcap is a different plant from American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), the Western herb sold for nerves. Check the Latin name on the label.
- NoteSome Chinese herbal products have been contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides or other herbs, according to NCCIH.
- PregnancyNo modern safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found; avoid it then.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this, or a formula containing it, if you take prescription medicines, have liver disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“A famous prescription is known as the (San-huang-wan), “three-yellow-pill,” and is composed of this root, rhubarb, and Coptis teeta.”
Sources
- Kampo medicine inducing drug-induced liver injury: A case report and systematic review (Drug Discov Ther, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- ABCB1 rs2032582 variant is potentially linked with Scutellariae Radix-induced liver injury: A case report (Medicine, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Traditional Chinese Medicine: What You Need To Know (opens in a new tab) · NCCIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.