Gleditsia sinensis, known as zào jiá (皂荚) or Chinese honey locust and black locust in English, is a species of flowering plant native to Asia.
Description
Zao jia grows as a tree up to 30 m tall. Spines are often branching and are robust, terete, conical and up to 16 cm in length. Leaves are pinnate. Flowers are yellowish-white and polygamous with male flowers being 9-10 mm in diameter and bisexual flowers being 10-12 mm in diameter with slightly longer petals and sepals. Flowers have 4 petals and 4 sepals.[2]
It is one of the "50 fundamental herbs" used in traditional Chinese medicine. Gleditsia sinensis has been used in China for at least 2000 years as a detergent.[8] The thorns of Gleditsia sinensis are used as a medicinal herb in China and Korea and may have antitumor properties.[9] The thorns of Gleditsia sinensis LAM. (Leguminosae) have been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including swelling, suppuration, carbuncle and skin diseases.[10]
^Lee S.-J., Park K., Ha S.-D., Kim W.-J., Moon S.-K. (2010). "Gleditsia sinensis thorn extract inhibits human colon cancer cells: The role of ERK1/2, G2/M-phase cell cycle arrest and p53 expression". Phytotherapy Research. 24(12):1870-1876.
^Ha H.H., Park S.Y., Ko W.S., Kim Y. (2008). "Gleditsia sinensis thorns inhibit the production of NO through NF-B suppression in LPS-stimulated macrophages." Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 118(3):429-434.
