Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica): Traditional Uses & Safety

At a glance

Botanical name: Centella asiatica
Family: Apiaceae
Part used: Aerial Parts
Taste: Bitter, Sweet
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Moist

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Limited data; caution

While breastfeeding

Insufficient data; avoid during breastfeeding as precaution.

For children

Generally safe; used in Ayurvedic pediatric practice

Cautions

High doses may cause drowsiness; caution with liver disease

General contraindications

Limited safety data; traditionally used; caution

Stewardship

Gotu Kola is cultivated in wet tropical environments (Sri Lanka, India, Madagascar). Wild-harvest from clean waterways only (aquatic contamination risk). Stewardship: water-plants absorb their terrain — test source water.

In the traditional record

Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) — known in Ayurveda as Mandukaparni and classified as a sattvic rasayana for clarity of mind and longevity; classical Ayurvedic texts including the Charaka Samhita prescribe it for skin afflictions (kushtha), memory, and connective tissue repair.

Which herbs suit your body?

The same herb can calm one person and wire another. Our free assessment reads your pattern across temperature, moisture and tone, then matches herbs to it.

Take the free assessment Open Gotu Kola in the Apothecary

Teaching children at home? Eden's Table builds a full herbalism curriculum around plants like this one.

Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.