Niu Bang Zi
StarArctium lappa
Synonyms: Lappa major, Arctium lappa subsp. majus, Lappa bardana var. major, Lappa communis var. major, Arctium majus, Arctium lappa var. majus, Lappa arctium, Lappa officinalis, Lappa communis, Lappa bardana, Lappa lappa
Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Cough & breathing
- Colds & fever
- Bowel health
- Urinary & fluids
- Skin
Cautions & contraindications
- Toxic — professional use only
☯ TCM Properties
Disperses Wind-Heat and benefits the throat; Relieves toxicity and vents rashes; Moistens the Intestines
Traditional Chinese Uses
Niu Bang Zi (burdock fruit, arctium seed) is a cold, pungent-bitter herb that disperses Wind-Heat and clears Heat toxin. It is used for Wind-Heat patterns with fever, sore throat, and cough; for facilitating the expression of measles and rashes that are erupting slowly; and for carbuncles, boils, and mumps from Heat toxin accumulation. Its descending action benefits constipation with heat, and its throat-soothing properties make it an ingredient in many classical sore throat formulas.
Western Herbalism Properties
Used In Formulas (2)
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Arctium lappa is a biennial herb in the daisy family (Asteraceae), growing 1-3 m tall. First-year plants form a large basal rosette of heart-shaped leaves up to 50 cm wide with whitish, woolly undersides. Second-year plants produce tall, branched flowering stems. Flower heads are globe-shaped, bearing purple tubular florets surrounded by hooked bracts that attach to passing animals or clothing (burrs). The taproot is large, fleshy, brown outside and white inside, reaching 1 m or more in depth.
Roadsides, waste places, forest edges, and disturbed habitats; native to temperate Eurasia and widely naturalized in North America and elsewhere.
Arctium lappa is a widespread and common plant throughout Eurasia. It is an agricultural weed and invasive plant in some regions of North America. No conservation concerns.
Active Constituents
Arctiin
Dibenzylbutyrolactone lignan glucosideConcentration: the principal lignan of the dried fruit; reported around 3.5-4.3% of Fructus Arctii in analysed samples
The main marker constituent of the fruit, which is the part dispensed as Niu Bang Zi. Arctiin is essentially a prodrug: gastrointestinal microbiota hydrolyse the glucoside to arctigenin, so the circulating active differs from the compound assayed in the raw drug and patients with disrupted gut flora may convert it poorly.
Arctigenin
Dibenzylbutyrolactone lignan aglyconeConcentration: minor in the raw fruit; β-glucosidase treatment of Arctii Fructus extract raises it more than fivefold
The active aglycone behind most of the fruit's reported anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antiproliferative activity in vitro, and the compound followed in pharmacokinetic work on Fructus Arctii powder. Its low abundance in the raw drug relative to arctiin is why enzymatic bioconversion is used to potentiate extracts.
Lappaol A, lappaol C, lappaol F, isolappaol A, arctignan D, arctignan E, arctignan G, matairesinol and diarctigenin
LignansTogether with arctiin and arctigenin these make up the eleven marker components confirmed in HPLC fingerprints of Fructus Arctii, and they are the basis for identity testing of the fruit drug.
Inulin-type fructans
Fructan polysaccharideConcentration: up to about 50% of the dry weight of the root (Niu Bang Gen and the food vegetable gobo), not of the fruit drug
The defining constituent of burdock root, which is eaten as a vegetable across East Asia. It is the clearest illustration that the food part and the drug part of Arctium lappa are chemically different: the fruit is a lignan drug, the root is a fructan-rich food. A study of burdock root cannot be read as evidence for Niu Bang Zi.
Chlorogenic acid (3-O-caffeoylquinic acid)
Caffeoylquinic acidConcentration: reported up to about 485 micrograms per gram of dried root powder under optimised extraction; a root rather than fruit constituent
A principal phenolic of burdock root and one of the compounds credited with the antioxidant effects seen in the root tea trials in knee osteoarthritis.
Cynarin (1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid)
Dicaffeoylquinic acidThe second major caffeoylquinic acid of burdock root, extracted alongside chlorogenic acid. Again a root constituent, absent from the account of the fruit drug.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Atropine and related tropane alkaloids from belladonna root contaminating commercial burdock root preparations
Arctium lappa itself contains no atropine-like alkaloids. In 1978 a 26-year-old woman developed blurred vision, inability to void, dry mouth and bizarre behaviour after drinking packaged burdock root tea, and the Food and Drug Administration confirmed atropine in the commercial preparation; her symptoms cleared with physostigmine salicylate. A 1984 case series documented further anticholinergic poisonings from commercial burdock root tea. The contaminant is believed to be root of belladonna or a related solanaceous plant harvested or packed with the burdock, a root-for-root substitution error.
Clinical note: Source burdock from a supplier that performs botanical identification, and prefer the dispensed fruit Niu Bang Zi over loose commercial root tea. An anticholinergic presentation after burdock tea is contamination until proved otherwise: treat as tropane poisoning, retain the product, and report it.
Other Asteraceae-containing herbal products (chamomile, feverfew, echinacea, milk thistle)
Arctium lappa is an Asteraceae. Anaphylaxis to burdock and allergic contact dermatitis from burdock have both been reported in the literature, and sensitisation to one composite frequently extends to others in the family.
Clinical note: Ask about ragweed, chrysanthemum and chamomile sensitivity before prescribing Niu Bang Zi, and stack no more than one Asteraceae herb in a formula for a sensitised patient.
Laxatives, stool softeners and osmotic agents
Fructus Arctii is classically a mild laxative, which is the basis of its listed function of moistening the intestines, and it is traditionally withheld in patients with loose stools or spleen qi deficiency. No pharmacological interaction study exists; the concern is additive pharmacodynamics rather than any change in drug handling.
Clinical note: Reduce the dose or omit Niu Bang Zi in patients already loose on a laxative or on magnesium-containing preparations, and warn patients that transient loosening of stool is expected rather than alarming.
Orally administered drugs taken together with high-inulin burdock root preparations
Burdock root can be up to half inulin-type fructans by dry weight. Fermentable fructans at that load alter transit time and colonic fermentation, which can in principle change the absorption of co-administered oral drugs. No human interaction study has been done, and this concerns the root food and root tea rather than the dispensed fruit drug Niu Bang Zi, which is a lignan preparation.
Clinical note: Applies to patients drinking burdock root tea daily rather than to Niu Bang Zi in a decoction. Where a patient does both, keep narrow-therapeutic-index oral drugs at least two hours apart from the tea.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6–12 g | daily | — | adult | 中国药典 2020年版 一部 【牛蒡子】【用法与用量】6～12g。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, Vol. I. Crush before decocting; use with caution in Spleen deficiency with loose stools. |
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Together they disperse wind-heat and benefit the throat, relieving sore swollen throat at the onset of a wind-heat invasion.
Core pair of a classical formula — Yin Qiao San, Wen Bing Tiao Bian (Wu Jutong)
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 3 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
In vitro / animal
0
Other / unclassified
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Show the study
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Effects of Arctium lappa L. (Burdock) root tea on inflammatory status and oxidative stress in patients with knee osteoarthritis
Thirty-six patients aged 50 to 70 with knee osteoarthritis were randomised to three cups daily of burdock root tea (2 g per 150 mL) taken half an hour after meals, or to boiled water. Serum IL-6 (p = 0.002), hs-CRP (p = 0.003) and malondialdehyde (p < 0.001) fell significantly, while total antioxidant capacity (p < 0.001) and superoxide dismutase activity (p = 0.009) rose; glutathione peroxidase rose non-significantly. Note carefully that the intervention was the ROOT, the food part, and not Fructus Arctii, the fruit dispensed as Niu Bang Zi.
Anticholinergic Poisonings Associated with Commercial Burdock Root Tea
Case series of anticholinergic poisonings following ingestion of commercial burdock root tea. Burdock does not itself produce tropane alkaloids, so the events are attributed to contamination of the commercial product with atropine-containing solanaceous root. The practical lesson is about supply-chain identity testing rather than about the herb's own pharmacology.
Burdock Root Tea Poisoning
The index case: a 26-year-old woman presented with blurred vision, urinary retention, dry mouth and bizarre behaviour after drinking a packaged burdock root tea, and responded to physostigmine salicylate. The Food and Drug Administration confirmed atropine in the commercial preparation, and the author states explicitly that burdock root normally contains no atropine-like alkaloids.
Historical Texts
Ming Yi Bie Lu
Late Han to Six Dynasties, around 500 CEXin Xiu Ben Cao
Tang dynasty, 659 CEBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty, 1596References
- Li Y, Wang Q, Wei HC, Liang YY, Niu FJ, Li KW, Zhou SJ, Zhou CZ. Fructus arctii: an overview on its traditional uses, pharmacology and phytochemistry . Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (2022) [DOI]
- Moro TMA, Clerici MTPS. Burdock (Arctium lappa L) roots as a source of inulin-type fructans and other bioactive compounds: Current knowledge and future perspectives for food and non-food applications . Food Research International (2021) [DOI]
- Song Y, Yang Y, Xu L, Bian C, Xing Y, Xue H, Hou W, Men W, Dou D, Kang T. The burdock database: a multi-omic database for Arctium lappa, a food and medicinal plant . BMC Plant Biology (2023) [DOI]
- Maghsoumi-Norouzabad L, Shishehbor F, Abed R, Zare Javid A, Eftekhar-Sadat B, Alipour B. Effect of Arctium lappa linne (Burdock) root tea consumption on lipid profile and blood pressure in patients with knee osteoarthritis . Journal of Herbal Medicine (2019) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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