Jin Long Dan Cao
StarConyza blinii H.Lév.
Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Teeth & mouth
- Cough & breathing
- Digestion
- Urinary & fluids
- Menstrual & women's health
- Skin
- Liver & jaundice
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat, resolves Phlegm, relieves cough and dyspnea, removes toxicity, promotes diuresis, cools the Blood and stops bleeding.
Traditional Chinese Uses
Jin Long Dan Cao is the herb of Conyza blinii (Herba Conyzae), a bitter, cold medicinal entering the Lung and Liver channels and classed among Heat-clearing herbs. Its core actions are to clear Heat and resolve Phlegm and to relieve cough and dyspnea, so it is used for Lung-Heat patterns with cough, copious phlegm, and wheezing, and for sore, swollen throat. It also relieves toxicity and promotes urination for damp-heat jaundice.
A further function is to cool the Blood and stop bleeding, applied to nosebleed, coughing or vomiting of blood, bloody stool, and uterine bleeding, as well as mouth ulcers. It is typically decocted (about 6-9 g), while fresh herb may be pounded for topical use on sores or expressed as juice. Use within a formula and under professional guidance.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Jin Long Dan Cao (金龍膽草) is a Pinyin entry that translates as 'golden gentian herb' or 'golden dragon-gall grass.' While 'Long Dan Cao' alone refers to the well-known TCM herb Gentiana scabra (and related Gentiana species), the addition of the 'Jin' prefix produces a name not standardized in Bensky & Gamble, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, or other mainstream materia medica. The name may refer regionally to a yellow-flowered Gentiana, to Tripterospermum, or to an unrelated bitter herb used as a folk substitute. Because the identity cannot be established with confidence, no morphological description or slug assignments can be responsibly provided, and substantive fields are left null pending verified identification.
Active Constituents
Blinin
Neoclerodane diterpene lactoneThe signature diterpene of the species, isolated from the whole plant and named for it. It is used as the chemical marker of the drug. Its pharmacology has not been separately characterised in any published animal or human work, so it should not be assumed to be the active principle.
Total triterpenoid saponins of Conyza blinii
Oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinsThe saponin fraction, not any single compound, is what the modern pharmacology of this herb rests on. The isolated fraction inhibits NF-kappa-B signalling in cell culture, which is the proposed basis for the anti-inflammatory action underlying its traditional use in cough and phlegm conditions. Being surfactant glycosides, saponins are also the constituents most likely to cause gastric irritation on an empty stomach.
beta-Amyrin
Oleanane triterpeneThe pentacyclic triterpene scaffold from which the oleanane saponins of this plant are built; the beta-amyrin synthase responsible has been cloned from Conyza blinii and functionally expressed in yeast. It is a biosynthetic precursor rather than a therapeutic constituent.
19-Deacetylconyzalactone
trans-Clerodane diterpene lactoneA clerodane lactone described from the aerial parts, structurally distinct from blinin. It is reported as a phytochemical finding only; no biological activity has been assigned to it.
Flavonoids
Flavonoid mixtureThe plant carries a flavonoid fraction that accounts for much of its measured antioxidant activity. Notably, flavonoid-producing endophytic fungi have been isolated from the plant itself, so part of the flavonoid content of harvested material may be of fungal rather than plant origin.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6–9 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】6～9g。 【性味与归经】苦，寒。归肺、肝经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Limited evidence · 2 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
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
2
0 verified · 2 unverified
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Saponin fraction isolated from Conyza blinii H.Lév. demonstrates strong anti-cancer activity that is due to its NF-κB inhibition
The total triterpenoid saponin fraction of Conyza blinii showed antiproliferative activity in cancer cell lines, which the authors attribute to inhibition of NF-kappa-B signalling. This is the best-characterised mechanistic finding for the herb, but it is cell-culture work on a crude fraction with no animal or clinical follow-up, and it is not evidence for using the herb as an anticancer agent.
Evaluation of the anti-cancer activity of the triterpenoidal saponin fraction isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Conyza blinii H. Lév.
A companion evaluation of the same triterpenoid saponin fraction in cancer cell lines. Together with the NF-kappa-B paper it constitutes essentially the whole modern pharmacological literature on this herb, which remains thin and entirely preclinical.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
Contraindications
Its use is cautious in patients with deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 278–279.
References
- Yang CR, He ZT, Li XC, Zheng QT, He CH, Yang J, Morita T. Blinin, a neoclerodane diterpene from Conyza blinii . Phytochemistry (1989) [DOI]
- Nikaido T, Xu L, Guo D, Liu J, Zheng J, Koike K, Jia Z. A New trans-Clerodane Diterpene Lactone from Conyza blinii . Heterocycles (1999) [DOI]
- Sun R, Liu S, Tang ZZ, Zheng TR, Wang T, Chen H, Li CL, Wu Q. β‐Amyrin synthase from Conyza blinii expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . FEBS Open Bio (2017) [DOI]
- Tang Z, Wang Y, Yang J, Xiao Y, Cai Y, Wan Y, Chen H, Yao H, Shan Z, Li C, Wang G. Isolation and identification of flavonoid-producing endophytic fungi from medicinal plant Conyza blinii H.Lév that exhibit higher antioxidant and antibacterial activities . PeerJ (2020) [DOI]
- Jia Y, Zhang G, Xie Q, Tao J, Bu T, Zhang X, Xiao Y, Chen Z, Li Q, Tang Z. Isolation and identification of endophytic fungi from Conyza blinii that exhibit antioxidant and antibacterial activities . PeerJ (2025) [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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