Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi: In Vitro Culture and the Production of Flavonoids. In: Bajaj YPS, editor. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants III. Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 1991. pp. 398-418. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-84071-5_24]

Scutellaria baicalensis in stroke management: nature's blessing in traditional Eastern medicine

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is the most widely used medicinal plant in traditional Eastern medicine, especially in Chinese medicine. The major phytochemicals isolated from S. baicalensis are flavonoids, glycosides and their glucoronides such as baicalin, baicalein, wogonin etc. More than 30 different kinds of flavonoids are isolated from this plant. S. baicalensis and its flavonoids are reported to have several pharmacological activities, which includes anti-allergic, antioxidant, anti apoptic, anti-inflammatory effects and many more. Recently, S. baicalensis and its isolated flavonoids have been studied for their neuroprotective effects, through a variety of in vitro and in vivo models of neurodegenerative diseases, plausibly suggesting that S. baicalensis has salutary effect as a nature's blessing for neuroprotection. In this review, we are focousing on the neuroprotective effects of S. baicalensis and its flavonoids in ischemia or stroke-induced neuronal cell death. We aimed at compiling all the information regarding the neuroprotective effect of S. baicalensis in various experimental models of cerebral ischemia or stroke.

Assessment of genetic stability of the germplasm lines of medicinal plant Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Huang-qin) in long-term, in vitro maintained cultures

An approach of combining flow cytometry (FCM) analysis with morphological and chemical profiling was used to assess the genetic stability and bioactive compound diversity in a Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Huang-qin) germplasm collection that was clonally maintained in in vitro for a period of over 6 years. Based on the FCM analysis of nuclei samples from young shoots, the nuclear DNA content of S. baicalensis was calculated as 0.84 pg/2C. FCM analysis showed no significant variation in the nuclear DNA contents and ploidy levels in the long-term in vitro maintained germplasm lines. Germplasm lines, acclimatized to ex vitro conditions, exhibited distinctive plant growth and bioactive compound production capacities. The high level of genetic stability observed in in vitro maintained S. baicalensis lines opens up a variety of opportunities such as allowing long-term aseptic preservation and easy distribution of well-characterized germplasm lines of this medicinal plant species. This study represents a novel approach for continuous maintenance, monitoring, and production of medicinal plant tissues with specific chemistry.

Anthocyanin production of Glehnia littoralis callus cultures

A stable callus line that produces anthocyanins was established from callus derived from a petiole of a Glehnia littoralis seedling and subcultured in the dark. The major anthocyanin which made up about 60% of the total anthocyanins was determined as cyanidin 3-O-(6-O-(6-O-(E)-feruloyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyl) -2-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside) by chemical and spectroscopic analyses. Anthocyanin contents in the cells cultured on B5 basal medium containing NAA (1 mg l-1), kinetin (0.01 mg l-1) and 3% sucrose reached 14% (dry wt basis) and the productivity has been sustained for 5 years.