The written record of pine pollen medicinal uses starts in China in 659, when a Tang court herbal gave the yellow dust of the pine its first entry. Over the next 1,300 years Chinese physicians listed what they used it for, Korean households turned it into a summer drink and ceremonial tea cakes, and in 1971 a team of chemists found testosterone inside it. Two pilot studies, in 2024 and 2025, then measured what happened to men's blood work.
Pine pollen medicinal uses in the Chinese herbals
The Xinxiu Bencao, compiled for the Tang court in 659, named the pollen songhuang, "pine yellow." It is the earliest herbal entry Hong Kong's Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office cites for it. The pollen also turns up outside the medical books. The Tang poet Bai Juyi wrote in his poem Zhen Shang Xing that on an empty stomach he first drank pine pollen wine (腹空先进松花酒).
Later herbals added detail. The Bencao Congxin of the Qing dynasty recorded dusting the pollen onto wounds and damp skin sores that would not scab over. The Bencao Huiyan listed it for long-standing dysentery and for clearing the effects of too much wine. These are the uses the physicians wrote down, and Chinese writers still quote them when they describe song hua fen.
What Li Shizhen wrote in 1578
The best-known entry comes from Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), finished in 1578. He described pine pollen as sweet, warm and non-toxic, and wrote that it moistens the heart and lungs, strengthens qi, expels wind and stops bleeding. He added that it can be brewed into wine. He also noted that people of his day mixed the pollen with white sugar and pressed it into little cakes to eat as a sweet.
A Ming dynasty household manual, the Zunsheng Bajian (1591), gave a recipe for pine pollen wine. Pollen gathered in the third lunar month went into a silk bag, the bag sat in fresh white wine for three days, and the result was described as clear, fragrant and sweet.
Song hua fen in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia
Pine pollen traditional Chinese medicine still has an official text. The 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the eleventh edition, lists 松花粉 (song hua fen) as the dried pollen of Pinus massoniana, Pinus tabuliformis and related pines. It records the pollen as sweet and warm, entering the liver and spleen channels. Its listed functions are to astringe and stop bleeding and to dry dampness and close sores. The text names external use, dusted on, for bleeding from injuries, eczema and weeping skin sores.
Songhwa-milsu and songhwa dasik in Korea
Korea took the pollen into the kitchen. Songhwa-milsu (松花蜜水) is pine pollen stirred into honey water. Koreana magazine wrote about it in summer 2005 as a drink for hot weather, and Korean sources record it as a folk remedy for respiratory complaints, neuralgia and headaches.
Songhwa dasik are tea cakes of pine pollen bound with honey and pressed into carved wooden molds called dasikpan. Dasik came to Korea from China during the Song dynasty and became a wedding food in the Joseon period. The patterns on a pine pollen cake could spell out long life or mark a 60th birthday.
Total testosterone rose from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL in 8 weeks.
1971, when a lab found testosterone in the pollen
M. Šaden-Krehula, M. Tajić and D. Kolbah analysed pollen from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and published their results in the journal Experientia in 1971. They isolated testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione. It was the first plant in which those three androgens had been found. Androstenedione is the hormone a man's body converts into testosterone.
For men, that paper put a name on what the old herbals had recorded as warming and strengthening.
Pine pollen benefits men report, and what two studies measured
Men who take pine pollen every day talk about the same things. More drive. Stronger morning wood. Researchers have now measured what happens in their blood work.
In 2024 Neil Wolkodoff and colleagues published a pilot study in the Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports. Ten men aged 47 to 78 took a pine pollen tincture under the tongue, morning and evening, for 8 weeks. Their average total testosterone rose from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL. Their qADAM scores, a questionnaire on sex drive, energy and mood in ageing men, went from 23.9 to 31.7.
A 2025 follow-up in the same journal, by Gerald Haase, Wolkodoff and colleagues, recruited 11 younger men aged 25 to 50 on the same 8 week schedule. Free testosterone went from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL, and SHBG (the protein that binds testosterone in the blood) fell. For the full study breakdown, read our pine pollen review of the evidence and what men report.
How men take pine pollen now
The Tang and Ming households had wine and cakes. Both studies above used a tincture under the tongue, and that is the form Mara makes.
Pine pollen grains have a tough outer wall, built to survive the wind. Mara's Pine Pollen starts with wild-harvested, cracked-cell pollen of Pinus radiata, so that wall has been broken open before extraction. It is then made the spagyric way. The pollen is extracted, and the minerals left behind are returned to the liquid, so the whole plant ends up in the bottle. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract.
Using it takes about 30 seconds:
- Put 1 to 2 droppers under your tongue.
- Hold it there 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow.
- Or stir it into water, coffee, juice or a protein shake.
The taste is soft and lightly earthy, with a faint sweetness. A powder has to be measured, mixed and cleaned up after, and it sits in a bag that lets in air every time you open it. The tincture is a 50 ml bottle in your gym bag or on the bathroom shelf. When you buy any tincture, dark amber glass is a step in the right direction. The gold standard is dark Miron glass, which keeps light off the extract, and it is what Mara uses. At 1 to 2 droppers a day a bottle lasts 30 to 50 days.
Pine Pollen – Spagyric Pine Pollen Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen.
Add to bagThe Chinese Pharmacopoeia lists pines such as Pinus massoniana. Mara's is Pinus radiata, and the plant, the cones and the harvest are covered in our complete guide to pine pollen.
Pine Pollen considerations
Contains alcohol. If you're pregnant, nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask about pine pollen
What is song hua fen?
Song hua fen (松花粉) is the Chinese name for pine pollen. It has been in Chinese herbals since the Tang dynasty and is listed in the 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
What is pine pollen used for in traditional Chinese medicine?
Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu (1578) recorded it as moistening the heart and lungs, strengthening qi, expelling wind and stopping bleeding. The 2020 Pharmacopoeia lists it for external use on bleeding wounds, eczema and weeping sores.
When was testosterone found in pine pollen?
In 1971, when Šaden-Krehula and colleagues isolated testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione from Scots pine pollen and reported it in Experientia.
How do men take pine pollen tincture?
Most men take 1 to 2 droppers a day, held under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and swallowed, or stirred into a drink.