Market and R&D Trends of Matrine: Wide Application Prospects in Multiple Fields
08/27/2025 09:08:07
Recently, matrine, as an important alkaloid extracted from traditional Chinese medicine Sophora flavescens, has shown strong development trends in multiple fields, attracting widespread attention from the industry.
In the market, the demand for matrine is showing a steady upward trend. It is widely used in industries such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and cosmetics, and has become a key raw material for many enterprises to improve product quality due to its broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, low toxicity, and other characteristics. According to relevant data predictions, the global market size of matrine is expected to reach 20 billion yuan by 2030, with green matrine products accounting for over 70%. From the price trend, the market price of matrine in 2024 is expected to be 1 million yuan per ton. Due to the supply-demand gap, it is expected that the price will climb to 1.2 million yuan per ton by 2026 and further increase to 1.5 million yuan per ton by 2030. This upward trend in prices may stimulate enterprises to expand their production scale, but it may also have a certain inhibitory effect on the demand of some downstream industries.
Good news is coming from the agricultural sector. Academician Bai Lianyang's team successfully synthesized a 3-nitrosalicylic acid matrine organic ion salt (MNS) and established a research and development model for a natural product based herbicide safety agent for rice fields. The relevant research paper was published in the internationally renowned journal Advanced Functional Material (IF5year=19.6). Compared with monomeric form and commercial safety agent Jiecao Ding, MNS significantly improves solubility and cell penetration, and can accurately activate the glutathione detoxification pathway in rice, with excellent detoxification effect. Researchers further encapsulated MNS in the supramolecular carrier hydroxypropyl - β - cyclodextrin (HBPCD) to construct a nano formulation MNS@HBPCD Field experiments have shown that, MNS@HBPCD It has shown excellent performance in protecting rice from herbicide glyphosate damage, not only significantly increasing the number of seedlings, plant height, root length, fresh weight, and final yield, but also ensuring that the weed control effect of glyphosate is not affected. Moreover, its toxicity to zebrafish embryos, HepG2 cells, and HaCaT cells is significantly lower than that of glyphosate, demonstrating its green and environmentally friendly characteristics.
From the progress of industrial projects, the Sophora flavescens full industry chain project of Gansu Canmei Youxian Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in Liangdang County has attracted much attention. The total planned investment for this project is 500 million yuan, and it will be completed in two phases to build the entire industry chain of 20000 acres of Sophora flavescens. The first phase investment is 280 million yuan, and within two years, a 10000 acre Sophora flavescens traditional Chinese medicine base will be built. In the same year, three production lines for Sophora flavescens straw fiber, organic fertilizer, and Sophora flavescens decoction pieces will be built, as well as more than 8000 square meters of facilities such as sewage recycling treatment plants, office buildings, and finished product warehouses. The second phase plans to invest 220 million yuan to continue developing a 10000 acre traditional Chinese medicine planting base mainly focused on Sophora flavescens, and to build a traditional Chinese medicine extraction production workshop, a standardized processing workshop for traditional Chinese medicine, and a Sophora flavescens alkaloid extraction production line. After the completion of the project, it is expected to create more than 100 job opportunities and drive more than 1200 households to participate in the cultivation of Sophora flavescens.
With the continuous advancement of technological innovation, the potential application of matrine in more emerging fields is gradually being explored, such as the research and development of new functional coatings, efficient catalysts, and intelligent packaging systems. In the future, the matrine industry will pay more attention to technological innovation and multifunctional improvement, and improve product purity, stability, and environmental performance by improving extraction and purification processes. At the same time, combining the concepts of green environmental protection and sustainable development, further optimizing production processes, reducing resource consumption and environmental pollution, and promoting the healthy development of the industry.
