IngredientsLimonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze is a perennial halophytic flowering plant belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae and the genus Limonium Mill., commonly called the sea lavenders. It is native to coastal China, Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, and Vietnam. It is a perennial reaching 60 cm (24 in), found on sandy, salty shales next to the ocean. More specifically, it has been collected from the coastal wetlands of the Yellow River Delta.
Accepted synonyms include Statice fortunei Lindl. and Statice sinensis Girard, reflecting earlier classification within the genus Statice. Its recorded synonyms are Statice fortunei Lindl. and Statice sinensis Girard. The valid accepted name under current taxonomy is Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze, with the species epithet first described by Girard and recombined by Kuntze in his 1891 Revisio Generum Plantarum.
The plant is also sometimes encountered under the folk synonym Bu xue cao (补血草) in Chinese ethnobotanical literature, a name reflecting its traditional use for blood replenishment. The Chinese folk name recorded in botanical sources is Bu xue cao. It is also described in Chinese medicine literature under the names Latouchea Fokiensis and Limonium spp.
There are a large number of cultivars, with a wide variety of flower colors, created for the cut flower industry. Wild individuals have flowers with white sepals and yellow petals. In the context of the cut flower industry, the plant has significant commercial horticultural value in addition to its medicinal importance in Chinese tradition.
Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant belonging to the Plumbaginaceae family and is mainly distributed along seashores and marshes in eastern and southern China, western Taiwan, and Ryukyus Islands (Japan). It has also been used traditionally for treating bleeding, piles, fever, hepatitis, diarrhea, bronchitis, and other disorders. Its preference for saline and halophytic habitats — coastal marshes, tidal mudflats, and salt meadows — influences the secondary metabolite composition of the plant, as salt stress is known to modulate biosynthetic pathways of biologically active compounds.
Limonium sinense used in traditional Chinese medicine is often extracted with boiling water to make an aqueous extract for oral uptake. In modern phytochemical and pharmacological research, the plant has been studied primarily as:
One published extraction procedure describes a water reflux method: LSE was prepared as follows — dried cut roots of L. sinense (100 g) were extracted with water (800 ml) by reflux for 2 h three times, and the extracts combined and subjected to evaporation to obtain 32.89 g (yield: 32.89% w/w) of crude LSE.
For polysaccharide extraction, one study reported optimized conditions: the optimum extraction conditions for polysaccharides (LSEP) were as follows: extraction temperature, 95°C; ultrasonic time 50 minutes; and dosage liquor ratio, 1:12. Under these conditions, the experimental yield of crude LSEP was 12.80 ± 0.19%.
Limonium sinense has a documented history of use in Chinese folk medicine, spanning communities along the coastal regions of mainland China and Taiwan. In Chinese folk medicine, L. sinense is commonly used for the treatment of bleeding, fever, hepatitis, haemostasis, anaemia, menorrhagia, irregular menstruation, and other disorders.
Traditionally, the whole plant of Limonium sinense is used for the treatment of fever, hepatitis, hemorrhage, menorrhagia, irregular menstruation, cancer, and other disorders. Historically, both the roots and the whole plants have been used as a folk medicine for the treatment of fever, hemorrhage, and menstrual disorders.
The plant also carries a secondary traditional reputation for blood-replenishing properties, as implied by its folk name Bu xue cao. Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, showing blood replenishment, anti-tumour, anti-hepatitis, and immunomodulation activities amongst others.
The herb has been used in traditional medicine to treat hemorrhage and improve blood circulation. The classical Chinese materia medica entry for this plant appears in the Encyclopedia of Chinese Materia Medica (中药大辞典, Jiangsu New Medicine College, 1977) and the Chinese Materia Medica Dictionary. Phytochemical studies from the year 2000 onward have begun to map the constituent chemistry onto these traditional indications.
The use of the plant's different parts has also been recorded. The whole plant, the roots specifically, and the aerial portions have each been employed in different traditional preparations. In terms of the form of administration, decoctions (aqueous preparations made by boiling) represent the dominant traditional delivery method, consistent with Chinese medical practice for this category of herb.
Multiple bioactive ingredients have been identified from Limonium sinense, including polysaccharides, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, aliphatic compounds, amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. It is reported that the major active constituents found in Limonium sinense are flavonoids, including flavanones, flavonols, flavonol glycosides, flavonol glycoside gallates, and flavones, while polysaccharides are among the most abundant constituents in the roots. More than 40 chemical compounds have been identified from L. sinense, most of which are flavonoids.
Flavonoids represent the dominant and most extensively studied class of compounds in L. sinense. The phytochemical profile of L. sinense consists of a mixture of flavonols, flavonol glycosides, flavonol glycoside gallates, flavones, flavanones, and flavan-3-ols.
Key flavonoids identified from the roots and aerial parts include:
Gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is one of the most pharmacologically significant phenolic acids in L. sinense. Gallic acid (GA) has been identified as a constituent of L. sinense water extract (LS-UW) that also exhibits anti-HCV effect, and the efficacy of LS-UW and GA in suppressing HCV infection is demonstrated in primary human hepatocytes. Additional phenolic acids include vanillic acid and its derivatives, and N-trans-caffeoyltyramine and N-trans-feruloyltyramine (hydroxycinnamic acid amides).
Polysaccharides are among the most abundant constituents in the roots of L. sinense. The crude polysaccharide, named LSP, was obtained from the root of L. sinense by 95% ethanol precipitation, lyophilization, and then deproteinization by adding trichloroacetic acid. The total yield rate of the polysaccharides was 13.0% by this isolation procedure.
The most characterized purified fraction is LSP21: LSP21 is a heteropolysaccharide with an average molecular weight of 1.31 × 106 Da and consists of glucose, galactose, and mannose in the ratio of 1.77:1:2.38.
A 2025 study published in RSC Advances substantially expanded the known terpenoid chemistry of L. sinense. Ten drimane-type sesquiterpenoids and four triterpenoids, including six new ones (sinenseines A–F), were isolated from a whole plant of L. sinense for the first time. Their structures, including the absolute configurations, were determined by analyzing the comprehensive spectroscopic data. In addition, twelve terpenoids, including nine sesquiterpenoids, were identified using UPLC-MS/MS and GNPS methods. The six new molecules — sinenseines A through F — are named after the species and represent the first report of this drimane-type scaffold in L. sinense.
Minor alkaloids and amide-type compounds, including N-trans-caffeoyltyramine and N-trans-feruloyltyramine, have been identified in the root extracts. These hydroxycinnamic acid amides have been associated with biological activity in related Plumbaginaceae species.
Global transcriptomic profiling and further connectivity map (CMap) analysis identified several similarly acting therapeutic candidates, including tubulin inhibitors and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) modulators. The effect of water extracts of L. sinense (LSW) on the cell cycle was verified with flow cytometry showing a G2/M phase arrest. Integrated analysis suggested a role for gallic acid in mediating HIF activation.
LSW treatment leads to a strong inhibition of growth, potentially by arresting the cell cycle at the G2/M phase. CMap analysis identified tubulin inhibitors as similarly acting therapeutic candidates in LSW. Tubulin inhibitors are chemotherapy drugs that interfere directly with the tubulin system that enables a cell to undergo mitosis. Among the various mechanisms of action of natural compounds or herbal extracts, their ability to interact with tubulin is one of the most important.
For polysaccharide-mediated antitumour effects, the mechanism appears to involve immune modulation: the LSP improved macrophage phagocytosis functions in immune-suppressed mice, suggesting that the anticancer activity of this compound can be related to the regulation of immune functions in mice.
For LSP21 specifically, the cell-biological mechanism has been partially elucidated: LSP21 exhibited the most significant inhibitory effect on the growth of HepG2 cells in vitro. Further research showed that LSP21 inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner and could induce cell body shrinkage, chromatin condensation, and reduction in the number of tumor cells with normal morphology, which suggested that its cytotoxicity on tumor cells might be related to both inhibition of cell proliferation and inducement of cell death.
Mechanisms underlying the mitochondrial protection of Limonium sinense extracts (LSE) were studied in lipopolysaccharide and D-galactosamine (LPS/D-GalN) intoxicated mice. It was found that increased activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase induced by LPS/D-GalN were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with LSE. The obvious disruption of membrane potential, intramitochondrial Ca2+ overload, and suppression of mitochondrial Ca2+-ATPase activity induced by LPS/D-GalN were significantly blocked by pretreatment with LSE. It was concluded that mechanisms underlying protection of LSE against liver mitochondria damage might be related to the preservation of mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis through the preservation of mitochondrial Ca2+-ATPase activity.
A parallel line of mechanistic work identified voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) regulation as a related pathway: the flavonoids-enriched fraction of L. sinense roots protected the injured rat liver through mitochondrial modulation related to increased expression of voltage-dependent anion channels (VDAC).
For hepatitis C virus (HCV), the mechanism of inhibition has been localized to early viral entry. Data indicated that the water extract from the underground part of L. sinense (LS-UW) exhibited potent inhibitory activity against HCV at non-cytotoxic concentrations. LS-UW targeted early HCV infection without affecting viral replication, translation, and cell-to-cell transmission, and blocked viral attachment and post-attachment entry/fusion steps. Bioactivity analysis of major constituents from LS-UW through viral infectivity/entry assays revealed that gallic acid (GA) also inhibits HCV entry.
For herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1), samarangenin B acts at the level of viral macromolecular synthesis: the neutralization efficacy of samarangenin B (Sam B) did not differ between pre- and co-treatment conditions, indicating that Sam B does not interfere with the viral adsorption or penetration process. This finding supports the perception that Sam B expresses its activity at the level of viral replication. Furthermore, a decreased ICP0 and ICP4 gene expression was reported. These genes play important roles regulating β and γ gene expression, which is needed for HSV-1 replication. Sam B disturbs DNA-polymerase transcripts, synthesis, and consequently blocks the production of gB, gC, gD, gG, and ICP5.
Evidence type: Preclinical only (in vitro and in vivo animal studies). No human clinical trials have been conducted.
A 2012 study published in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules examined the antitumour and immunomodulatory activities of crude root polysaccharides (LSP) in a mouse model: Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze is a traditional Chinese folk medicine used for the treatment of fever, hemorrhage, hepatitis and other disorders. The study focused on the antitumour and immunomodulatory activities of L. sinense polysaccharides (LSP) obtained from the root of the plant. The antitumour effects of LSP alone and LSP in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were both evaluated with Heps-bearing tumor mice models. The macrophage phagocytosis assay, splenocyte proliferation, and cytokines production tests were used to assess immunomodulatory activities of LSP. The results revealed that LSP (at the dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg) had an obvious inhibition on the growth of transplanted mouse tumor. It also exhibited a significant synergistic effect of antitumour activity when combined with 5-FU (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the LSP (at the dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg) remarkably improved macrophage phagocytosis function in immune-suppressed mice.
A subsequent 2014 study (also in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules) isolated and characterized the most active sub-fraction, LSP21: three polysaccharides, LSP11, LSP21, and LSP31, were isolated and purified from LSP by using DEAE-52 cellulose column and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. It was found that LSP21 exhibited the most significant inhibitory effect on the growth of HepG2 cells in vitro.
A 2022 paper in Frontiers in Plant Science used an integrative transcriptomics and connectivity-mapping approach: water extracts from Limonium sinense (LSW) showed a strong growth inhibitory effect on multiple cells in both 2D and 3D cultures.
A 2023 study in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies employed network pharmacology integrated with cellular assays to investigate the plant's mechanisms against breast cancer. Cellular experiments demonstrated that the L. sinense ethanol extract (LSE) exhibited a significant growth inhibitory effect on multiple breast cancer cell lines in both 2D and 3D cultures. RNA-seq analysis revealed a potential impact of LSE on breast cancer. Additionally, analysis of GEO datasets verified the significant enrichment of breast cancer and several cancer-related pathways upon treatment with apigenin in human breast cancer cells. This study did not involve human subjects; all results derive from cell cultures and computational analyses.
A 2025 study in RSC Advances evaluated 14 terpenoid isolates (sesquiterpenoids and triterpenoids) for antiproliferative activity: all isolates were evaluated for their antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activities. Compounds 2–4, 6, 13, and 14 showed moderate anti-tumour effects on A549 (lung), H1299 (lung), HepG2 (liver) and A2780 (ovarian) cells with IC50 values ranging from 35.2 ± 2.0 to 90.5 ± 3.1 μM. These IC50 values reflect moderate, not strong, potency at the cellular level, and all work is in vitro.
Evidence assessment: The anticancer evidence for L. sinense is entirely preclinical. Studies are restricted to cell lines and rodent tumour models. No pharmacokinetic, toxicity-in-human, or clinical outcome data exist. The results are preliminary and exploratory.
Evidence type: Preclinical (animal studies). No human clinical trials reported.
The hepatoprotective activity of L. sinense has been examined across multiple independent rodent studies. The original hepatoprotective study (Chaung et al., 2003, Phytotherapy Research) tested both root water extract (WRE) and a leaf methanol/chloroform fraction (CLE) in a rat model of chemical liver injury:
The hepatoprotective action of Limonium sinense (Plumbaginaceae) was evident after CCl4 and β-D-galactosamine (D-GalN) challenge in rats. The plant materials were divided into two parts: (1) the roots extracted with water (WRE) and (2) the leaves extracted with methanol and fractionated with chloroform (CLE). Both WRE and CLE were extremely flavonoid-enriched extracts. In a CCl4-induced acute liver damage study, pretreatment with WRE at 300 mg/kg i.p. and CLE at 100 mg/kg i.p. significantly reduced the aminotransferase levels of SGOT (p < 0.01) and SGPT (p < 0.01) previously increased by CCl4 intoxication. In a D-GalN-induced acute liver damage study, administration of WRE (300 and 500 mg/kg) or CLE (100 mg/kg) p.o. also significantly reduced SGOT (p < 0.01) and SGPT (p < 0.01) levels previously increased by D-GalN intoxication.
In an acute toxicity test on ICR mice, the LD50 of WRE was 777.6 mg/kg i.p. An in vitro study showed that CLE possessed a more potent cytotoxicity to human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Hep3B) (EC50 = 43.1 μg/mL) than the other organic fractions, which were fractionated from methanol extracts of the leaves of L. sinense. The present results conclude that L. sinense possesses a hepatoprotective efficacy, and is relatively safe in rats.
Follow-up mechanistic studies from the same research group (Tang et al., 2008, Journal of Ethnopharmacology; Tang et al., 2010, Pharmacognosy Magazine) found the hepatoprotective effect to be related to mitochondrial protection, including preservation of mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis.
Evidence assessment: Hepatoprotective evidence is limited to rodent studies using chemical models of liver injury. These models (CCl4, D-GalN) are standard preclinical screens. No human data are available.
Evidence type: Preclinical (in vitro cell culture). No human clinical trials reported.
A landmark study by Lin et al. (2000) in Planta Medica first characterised the anti-HSV-1 constituents from the root of L. sinense. All isolated compounds were examined for their inhibitory effects on herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) replication in Vero cells. Both (−)-epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate (compound 1) and samarangenin B (compound 2) exhibited potent inhibitory activities in HSV-1 replication. Comparison of the IC50 values indicated that compounds 1 and 2 had higher inhibitory activities than the positive control acyclovir (38.6 ± 2.6 vs. 55.4 ± 5.3 μM, P < 0.001).
A subsequent mechanistic study (Kuo et al., 2002, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy) characterized samarangenin B's activity in greater detail: samarangenin B (Sam B) is a catechin purified from Limonium sinense. Sam B (IC50 HSV-1: 11.4 ± 0.9 μM) showed higher antiviral activity than acyclovir (IC50 HSV-1: 55.4 ± 5.3 μM) in vitro, whereby cytotoxic effects could be excluded (CC50: >100 µM).
Hsu et al. (2015) published in Antiviral Research the first report of anti-HCV activity in L. sinense: the water extract of L. sinense (LS-UW) was identified as a potent anti-HCV agent. Gallic acid (GA) is a component of LS-UW that also exhibits anti-HCV activity. Both LS-UW and GA suppress HCV infection by blocking early viral entry. LS-UW and GA treatments inhibit HCV infection of primary human hepatocytes.
Evidence assessment: All antiviral evidence is in vitro. The demonstration of activity in primary human hepatocytes (as opposed to cell lines alone) is a methodological strength, but human clinical efficacy studies have not been conducted.
Evidence type: Preclinical animal studies. No human data.
Studies have reported that polysaccharides derived from the root of L. sinense exhibit potent anti-tumour and immunomodulatory activities with low toxicity, effectively inhibiting the growth of tumours in mice. Notably, LSP21, a polysaccharide separated from crude L. sinense polysaccharides, has demonstrated remarkable anti-tumour effects by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing cell death. The immunomodulatory dimension was assessed in vivo: at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg, LSP remarkably improved macrophage phagocytosis function in immune-suppressed mice. These immunomodulatory effects may underlie or contribute to the antitumour activity.
Evidence type: In vitro assays only.
Polysaccharides from the root of L. sinense have been evaluated for antioxidant capacity in vitro using DPPH free radical, hydroxyl radical, and ABTS assays. One study aimed to optimize the extraction technology for polysaccharides from the root of Limonium sinense and evaluate the antioxidant capacity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, hydroxyl radical (.OH), and 2,2′-Azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) free radical assays to measure the antioxidant capacity of the LSEP in vitro. The flavonoid complement — including myricetin, quercetin, and EGCG — is well established as contributing to free-radical scavenging in in vitro systems, though no human antioxidant intervention studies using L. sinense have been published.
All dosage information below derives from preclinical (animal) studies. No standardized human dosages have been established, and no clinical trial dosing protocols have been published for L. sinense.
Formal safety studies on L. sinense specifically are limited. The following summarizes the available evidence-based safety information sourced from the peer-reviewed literature.
In an acute toxicity test on ICR mice, the LD50 of the water root extract (WRE) was 777.6 mg/kg i.p. An in vitro study showed that the chloroform leaf extract possessed a more potent cytotoxicity to human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Hep3B) (EC50 = 43.1 μg/mL) than other organic fractions. The published results conclude that L. sinense possesses a hepatoprotective efficacy, and is relatively safe in rats — at the doses studied.
An important finding of the 2015 HCV study is the demonstration that the plant's water extract inhibited HCV at concentrations that were not cytotoxic to the host cells: LS-UW exhibited potent inhibitory activity against HCV at non-cytotoxic concentrations. Separately, for the compound samarangenin B: Sam B (IC50 HSV-1: 11.4 ± 0.9 μM) showed higher antiviral activity than ACV in vitro, whereby cytotoxic effects could be excluded (CC50: >100 µM).
Studies have reported that polysaccharides derived from the root of L. sinense exhibit potent anti-tumour and immunomodulatory activities with low toxicity, effectively inhibiting the growth of tumours in mice. This characterization as "low toxicity" comes from the referenced rodent immunomodulatory and antitumour studies, and should not be extrapolated uncritically to human use.
A study of a related species, Limonium globuliferum, noted that: unmonitored use of plant extractions alone or in combination with drugs may cause important health problems and toxic effects. Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) plants are known as antibacterial, anticancer, and antivirus agents, but it is possible that this genus may have toxic effects. This genus-level caution applies broadly across species and underscores the need for species-specific safety evaluation. There is no published mutagenicity, genotoxicity, or reproductive toxicity study specifically for L. sinense.
No published clinical trial, case series, or pharmacovigilance report has characterized the safety profile, adverse event rate, herb-drug interactions, or contraindications of L. sinense preparations in humans. The plant has not been evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the German Commission E, ESCOP, or the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). It does not appear in major international pharmacopeias. The potential for interaction with chemotherapeutic agents is biologically plausible given the demonstrated synergistic effect of crude polysaccharides with 5-fluorouracil in mice: the LSP exhibited a significant synergistic effect of antitumour activity when combined with 5-FU (p < 0.05), but the clinical significance of this, including whether it could alter drug toxicity or efficacy in humans, is unknown.
The overall body of evidence for Limonium sinense as a dietary supplement or therapeutic agent is preliminary. The scientific literature, while growing — particularly in the areas of anticancer, antiviral, and hepatoprotective activity — is based entirely on in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (rodent) studies as of the most recent publications available (through early 2025). Possible cellular mechanisms involved in the anticancer activity of some Limonium species include the inhibition of enzymatic activities and expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), suggesting anti-metastatic effects, anti-melanogenic activity, cell proliferation inhibition pathways, and antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. The results reinforce the potential of Limonium species as a source for the discovery and development of new potential cytotoxic and anticancer agents. The leap from preclinical activity to demonstrated human efficacy has not been bridged for this plant.
Health conditions that Limonium sinense may help support.
Body systems that Limonium sinense may help support.
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