| Rheum officinale | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Polygonaceae |
| Genus: | Rheum |
| Species: | R. officinale |
| Binomial name | |
|
Rheum officinale L. |
|
Rheum officinale, the Chinese rhubarb or Tibetan rhubarb, is a rhubarb from the family Polygonaceae native to China.
Rheum officinale is used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is called yào yòng dà huáng (Chinese: 药用大黄), and is also a component in the North American herbal remedy called Essiac tea.
In modern medicine, R. officinale has been studied for the treatment of hepatitis B. However, a meta-analysis of published clinical trials concluded that the quality of existing studies was "poor", but further study of R. officinale in combination with interferon is "justified".