Taraxacum platycarpum
StarTaraxacum platycarpum
Safety at a glance
No rule in our tables for this herb: pregnancy, breastfeeding, incompatible pairs (十八反 / 十九畏), herb–drug, dose ceiling. This is not a safety clearance.
Not graded — No toxicity grade is recorded. Most herbs in the catalogue carry none.
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
Cautions & contraindications
- Allergy risk
Western Herbalism Properties
Botanical Description
Taraxacum platycarpum is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae, the East-Asian counterpart of the common dandelion. It forms a basal rosette of oblanceolate leaves that are pinnately lobed or toothed, often with backward-pointing lobes, arising directly from a stout taproot; the plant lacks an above-ground stem. The flower heads are solitary, bright yellow, and composed entirely of ligulate (ray) florets, borne on hollow, leafless scapes that exude a milky white latex when broken. After flowering, the heads develop into globular clusters of achenes, each bearing a parachute-like pappus of fine white hairs for wind dispersal; the species epithet platycarpum refers to its broad achenes. Native to East Asia, including Korea, Japan, and China, it grows in fields, grassy slopes, roadsides, and disturbed open ground. It is closely related to the cosmopolitan Taraxacum officinale complex and shares its rosette habit and ruderal ecology.
Active Constituents
Desacetylmatricarin
Guaianolide sesquiterpene lactoneConcentration: Not quantified in the source study; isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation
The compound responsible for the anti-allergic activity of the extract. It inhibits beta-hexosaminidase release from RBL-2H3 mast cells with an IC50 of 7.5 microM, more than ten times more potently than the related guaianolides achillin (IC50 100 microM) and leucodin (IC50 80 microM), both of which also occur in the plant. Being a sesquiterpene lactone it is also a plausible contact sensitiser.
Achillin
Guaianolide sesquiterpene lactoneConcentration: Not quantified
A structural relative of desacetylmatricarin present in the same extract, inhibiting mast cell degranulation only weakly, with an IC50 around 100 microM. Its practical significance is as one of the sesquiterpene lactones that make Asteraceae material a recognised cause of allergic contact dermatitis.
Root triterpenes
TriterpenoidsConcentration: Twenty-six compounds isolated from a methanol root extract, eight of them previously undescribed triterpenes
Warashina and colleagues isolated 26 constituents from the root, including eight new triterpenes and one new sesquiterpene glycoside, and found that several of the triterpenes significantly affect the proliferation of normal human skin fibroblasts. This is root chemistry; the drug as dispensed in Korea is the whole plant including the root.
Root polysaccharides (TPP fractions)
PolysaccharidesConcentration: Three DEAE-Sepharose fractions of 56.7, 108.2 and 132.3 kDa, containing 48 to 76 per cent carbohydrate and 8 to 28 per cent sulfate
Hot-water polysaccharides from the root activate RAW264.7 macrophages, driving nitric oxide production and cytokine gene expression through TLR4, TLR2 and CR3 with downstream MAPK and NF-kappaB signalling. Deproteination of the most active fraction reduced the effect, indicating the bound protein carries much of the activity. Immunostimulant, not immunosuppressant, which matters for who should avoid the herb.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Taraxacum officinale, Taraxacum mongolicum or Taraxacum coreanum dispensed as Taraxaci Herba
The Korean Herbal Pharmacopoeia recognises the whole plants of Taraxacum platycarpum, T. officinale, T. mongolicum and T. coreanum as Taraxaci Herba, and the Chinese Pharmacopoeia specifies T. mongolicum, T. borealisinense or other congeneric species for the same drug Pu Gong Ying. Any of these may therefore be supplied against a prescription naming the drug. Published pharmacology is dominated by T. officinale, and the widely cited rodent work on Taraxaci Herba routinely does not say which species was bought.
Clinical note: Read the species off the certificate of analysis, not the drug name. Evidence generated on T. officinale should not be quoted as evidence for this plant without saying so.
Asteraceae-family allergens (ragweed, chrysanthemum, feverfew, arnica)
This plant is a composite and contains at least three guaianolide sesquiterpene lactones, desacetylmatricarin, achillin and leucodin. Sesquiterpene lactones are the established sensitisers behind Compositae allergic contact dermatitis, cross-react extensively across the family, and can provoke systemic reactions in already-sensitised people when the plant is eaten rather than handled. In an Australian patch-test series, 1.2 per cent of 3679 patients reacted to Compositae, with the face disproportionately involved.
Clinical note: Ask directly about ragweed, chrysanthemum, feverfew and arnica sensitivity, and about occupational plant handling, before prescribing. In a patient with known Compositae allergy, avoid rather than trial.
Immunosuppressants and biologic immunomodulators
Root polysaccharides from this species are immunostimulant, activating macrophages through TLR4, TLR2 and CR3 with MAPK and NF-kappaB signalling and increasing nitric oxide and cytokine expression. That direction of effect is the opposite of what a transplant or autoimmune regimen is trying to achieve. The work is in a murine macrophage line only, and no human immune endpoint has been measured.
Clinical note: Avoid in transplant recipients and in patients on biologics for autoimmune disease unless a specialist has agreed. Do not present this herb as anti-inflammatory in that setting; the polysaccharide data point the other way.
5-alpha-reductase inhibitors and testosterone replacement
In castrated rats given testosterone propionate, oral Taraxaci Herba extract at 100 and 300 mg/kg/day lowered prostate weight, serum testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, and androgen receptor expression in the gland. That is the axis finasteride and dutasteride act on and the axis testosterone replacement is trying to raise. The study bought commercial Taraxaci Herba and did not state which of the four permitted species it was, so the result cannot be pinned to this plant with certainty.
Clinical note: Worth knowing if a man on androgen replacement or a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor takes this herb long term, but there is no human hormone data. Do not use it as an androgen-lowering agent.
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Taraxacum platycarpum. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
1 RCT · 5 studies on recordRecorded 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
0 verified · 1 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
4
4 verified · 0 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Effects of Taraxaci Herba (Dandelion) on Testosterone Propionate-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats
- Pharmacopuncture of Taraxacum platycarpum extract reduces localized fat by regulating the lipolytic pathway
- Polysaccharide extracted from Taraxacum platycarpum root exerts immunomodulatory activity via MAPK and NF-κB pathways in RAW264.7 cells
- Desacetylmatricarin, an Anti-Allergic Component from Taraxacum platycarpum
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
Efficacy and safety of modified Gwakjeongtang (herbal medicine) for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Pilot double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 60 adults with Rome IV diarrhoea-predominant IBS, given 10 g of modified Gwakjeongtang granules or placebo three times daily for four weeks. The response rate was 55.2 per cent against 26.7 per cent on placebo, odds ratio 3.4 (95% CI 1.1 to 10.1), with no intervention-related adverse events. Registered KCT0008523. This is the only randomised human trial containing this herb, and it is a multi-herb granule in which Taraxacum platycarpum sits alongside Geranium thunbergii, Lablab purpureus and Plantago asiatica among others, so no part of the result can be assigned to this plant.
Effects of Taraxaci Herba (Dandelion) on Testosterone Propionate-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats
Castrated Sprague Dawley rats given testosterone propionate 3 mg/kg/day for 28 days received Taraxaci Herba ethanol extract at 100 or 300 mg/kg/day. Prostate weight, histopathological change, serum testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, and prostatic androgen receptor expression all fell, with shifts in Bax and Bcl-2. The plant material was commercial Taraxaci Herba authenticated as the drug but not reported to species, so this is evidence for the drug rather than specifically for this plant.
Pharmacopuncture of Taraxacum platycarpum extract reduces localized fat by regulating the lipolytic pathway
Extract injected locally into high-fat-diet obese mice reduced inguinal fat pad weight and adipocyte diameter, and suppressed lipid accumulation in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes, with changes in perilipin, CGI-58, ATGL, HSL and MGL expression. Note the route: this is injection lipolysis, not an oral decoction, and nothing here supports oral use for weight loss.
Polysaccharide extracted from Taraxacum platycarpum root exerts immunomodulatory activity via MAPK and NF-κB pathways in RAW264.7 cells
Hot-water root polysaccharides were fractionated into three preparations of 56.7 to 132.3 kDa and shown to activate murine macrophages through TLR4, TLR2 and CR3, raising nitric oxide output and cytokine transcription via MAPK and NF-kappaB. Removing bound protein reduced the activity, locating much of it in the protein fraction. Cell-line work; its clinical relevance is as a reason for caution in immunosuppressed patients rather than as a treatment claim.
Desacetylmatricarin, an Anti-Allergic Component from Taraxacum platycarpum
Bioassay-guided fractionation identified desacetylmatricarin as the constituent responsible for the extract's anti-allergic effect, inhibiting beta-hexosaminidase release from RBL-2H3 mast cells dose-dependently with an IC50 of 7.5 microM against 100 microM for achillin and 80 microM for leucodin. A cell assay, and the oldest species-specific pharmacology available for this plant.
Historical Texts
Xin Xiu Ben Cao (Tang Materia Medica)
Tang dynasty China, 659 CEBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty China, 1596Dongui Bogam
Joseon Korea, 1613References
- Warashina T, Umehara K, Miyase T. Constituents from the Roots of Taraxacum platycarpum and Their Effect on Proliferation of Human Skin Fibroblasts . Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (2012) [DOI]
- Fan M, Zhang X, Song H, Zhang Y. Dandelion (Taraxacum Genus): A Review of Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Effects . Molecules (2023) [DOI]
- Ključevšek T, Kreft S. Allergic Potential of Medicinal Plants From the Asteraceae Family . Health Science Reports (2025) [DOI]
- Punchihewa N, Palmer A, Nixon R. Allergic contact dermatitis to Compositae: An Australian case series . Contact Dermatitis (2022) [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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