Paeonia moutan.
Tree peony root bark carries paeonol and paeoniflorin, two compounds used in traditional formulas to support a settled inflammatory response and steady circulation.
- Category
- Herb
What Paeonia moutan is, and what it does.
- Does it work
- Suits people already working with traditional Chinese herbal formulas, where this bark rarely appears alone. Less relevant if you want one herb with a clear standalone daily effect.
- How much to take
- No daily amount is on record for this bark, so we won't put a number on it. Traditional use places it inside multi-herb decoctions rather than as a single daily serving.
- Time to feel it
- Nobody has measured a time to effect for this bark on its own. Formulas containing it are traditionally taken across weeks rather than for a single day.
- The first dose
- Day one is quiet for most people. Any change shows up as gradual digestive and circulatory comfort over repeated use rather than as something you sense in an afternoon.
- With regular use
- Weeks of daily use inside a formula is the traditional pattern. Long-run controlled studies of the bark alone haven't been run, so the picture stays a traditional one.
- How well tolerated
- Generally well tolerated in traditional herbal use. Check with your clinician first if you're pregnant or take blood thinners, and space it from iron, since its tannins bind metals.
- How it feels
- Bitter and faintly aromatic in a decoction. Most people report no distinct sensation from it, and what they notice is the formula as a whole rather than this bark.
- The overlooked benefit
- Paeonol sublimes when heated, so a long hard boil drives it off while a gentle low-temperature extract retains more. The same bark can give two very different marker contents.
The proof, claim by claim.
These words describe the research, not the molecule's worth. Research strength is how much work stands behind one claim, and it is never a product score.
- a healthy inflammatory responseAnimal study
- antioxidant activity of paeonolIn vitro study
- circulatory support in traditional formulasNarrative review
- gut bacterial conversion of paeoniflorin before absorptionIn vitro study
Why these belong in the same formula. Each row says what the basis is, from settled biochemistry through to a trial that measured the pair.
Moutan cortex appears with gan cao across classical multi-herb formulas, where licorice is used as a harmonising and taste-modifying constituent. The pairing is documented in formulary practice rather than in controlled comparison against moutan alone. Licorice also carries its own effect on potassium and blood pressure at sustained intakes, which is the more consequential half of this combination.
Moutan cortex and dang gui co-occur in several long-standing gynaecological formulas. What is documented is the formula, not the pair, so no separate contribution can be assigned to either herb. Both have been described as affecting platelet function in laboratory work, so the pairing also carries an additive bleeding consideration.
Paeonol, the marker phenolic of moutan cortex, reduces platelet aggregation in cell-free and animal systems. High-dose EPA and DHA shift platelet function in the same direction in people. No human study has looked at the combination, so this is a mechanistic flag on direction rather than a measured interaction.
Both moutan cortex constituents and gingerols have shown antiplatelet activity in laboratory preparations. Neither result has been established as a clinical effect at culinary or supplement intakes. The pairing is listed for the direction it points, not for a benefit.
Paeoniflorin is a monoterpene glycoside, and gut bacterial glycosidases release the aglycone before meaningful absorption occurs. Interindividual differences in that microbial step are one reason exposure varies between people given the same amount. Whether a defined probiotic raises that conversion in humans has not been demonstrated.
Moutan cortex carries tannins including paeonolide-associated polyphenols and gallotannins, which bind non-haem iron in the gut lumen and form poorly absorbed complexes. Taking the bark preparation at the same time as an iron supplement lowers the iron that gets through. Separating them by two hours removes most of the overlap.
Nothing specific on file for Paeonia moutan. Match the label to the daily amount above, and tell your doctor what you take.
Not medical advice. Show the label to your pharmacist.What Paeonia moutan actually does.
It is the root bark of tree peony. Two chemicals define it: paeonol, which gives the smell, and paeoniflorin, a sugar-bound compound.
Paeonol evaporates with heat, so how the bark is dried and boiled changes how much of it is left.
Tree peony root bark contains tannins and related polyphenols that bind proteins and grab onto minerals like iron in the gut.
The sugar has to come off before the body can use it, and gut bacteria do that job.
Where Paeonia moutan comes from.
It is the bark from tree peony roots. It gets dried, the woody centre pulled out, then either sliced for boiling or extracted into a powder.
Made from a plant. What ends up in the capsule tracks the harvest, so batch testing and a stated marker matter more here than with a made molecule.
Roots of Paeonia suffruticosa or Paeonia ostii, lifted after several years of growth. Cultivation practice, including trace element application to the foliage, measurably changes constituent levels in the harvested root.
The woody core is pulled out and the bark sleeve retained. Some grades are sun-dried with the outer cork left on, others are scraped.
Ethanol content decides how much paeonol is captured versus lost, since paeonol is poorly water soluble and volatile.
Batches are assayed for paeonol, paeoniflorin or both, and blended to a target figure.
Sold as sliced crude drug for decoction or as a dried extract powder.
The forms it comes in.
The essence, in one line each.
- Combining vernalization with etiolation pretreatment produced a workable tissue culture and propagation system for Paeonia ostii, one of the botanical sources of moutan cortex.In vitro study. Li M et al., 2025 (Plant Methods). PMID 41013595 ↗
- Foliar selenite application raised the accumulation of measured medicinal constituents in Paeonia ostii, with the authors attributing this to improved photosynthetic performance.In vitro study. Zhang LX et al., 2024 (Photosynthetica). PMID 39651417 ↗
- An Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation system using embryo-derived seedlings gave a functional gene assay platform for peony.In vitro study. Zhai Y et al., 2025 (Plants). PMID 40872121 ↗
- The review discusses Chinese herbal formulas used in long-term postoperative gynaecological management and names moutan-containing formulas among them, without isolating any single herb's contribution.Narrative review. Ding D et al., 2024 (Frontiers in Pharmacology). PMID 38910886 ↗
These are the studies our verdict leans on, chosen from the 4 we read for Paeonia moutan. The full linked list is below.
FDA Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before starting any supplement regimen.