# Centella (Centella asiatica) *Gotu kola, Indian or Asian pennywort, tiger grass, marsh penny, white rot, thick-leaved pennywort; Sanskrit *brahmi* and *mandukaparni*; *Hydrocotyle asiatica* L.; *Centella asiatica* (L.) Urb.; in pharmacy *Centellae asiaticae herba** **Known today as.** *Centella asiatica*, a creeping herb of the family Apiaceae, native by LiverTox’s account to tropical swampy places in Southeast Asia and Australia and eaten as a vegetable and in salads. Grieve gives its leaves as kidney-shaped, scalloped, seven-nerved, and nearly smooth. The European Medicines Agency’s assessment report finds it rich in pentacyclic triterpenoids, chiefly the saponins asiaticoside and madecassoside and their aglycones, which make up to 8 per cent of the dry plant. Kind: Plant > **Caution.** Not for those allergic to plants of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family, nor under eighteen, nor in pregnancy or breast-feeding. LiverTox, revised in 2024, rates it a probable rare cause of clinically apparent liver injury with jaundice, while finding it otherwise well tolerated; allergic reactions have been reported, particularly when it is applied to skin diseases and wounds. ## What was it used for? A remedy for the skin and, in India, for the mind. Dymock, Warden, and Hooper record that in the Sanskrit Nighantas it is called cold, moist, sweet, and alterative, “said to improve the memory and understanding,” and to cure leprosy, jaundice, gonorrhoea, and fever, and that the Pharmacopoeia of India made it official as an alterative, tonic, and local stimulant for syphilitic skin diseases, taken inwardly and applied. Grieve calls it a valuable diuretic and “a noted remedy for leprosy, rheumatism and ichthyosis.” ## What does modern science say? The European Medicines Agency’s herbal committee accepts the herb, applied to the skin only, as an infusion soaked into dressings or as a powder, as a traditional herbal medicine, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” to aid the healing of minor wounds (monograph of 2022). Its assessment report judged the few clinical studies of wound healing so deficient in design and in describing their preparations that their outcomes were “not clinically relevant.” A 2022 review of four trials concluded that it might enhance wound healing but that more studies were needed before a meta-analysis could be done. On its old reputation for memory, a 2017 meta-analysis of randomised trials found no significant effect on any domain of cognitive function, though it may raise alertness and lessen anger. ## Pharmacognosy and toxicology - **asiaticoside**: a pentacyclic triterpenoid saponin; with madecassoside and their aglycones up to 8 per cent of the dry plant - **madecassoside**: **Mechanism.** Not established in the sources read for this entry. **Standing.** European Union herbal monograph (2022): traditional use on the skin, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” to aid the healing of minor wounds. ## What lore surrounds it? Grieve warns that “In small doses it acts as a stimulant, in large doses as a narcotic, causing stupor and headache and with some people vertigo and coma.” Its European cousin, the common pennywort of bogs, had fallen into disfavour, she adds, because it was said to cause footrot in sheep. ## What did the older authorities say? **Dymock, Warden, and Hooper, *Pharmacographia Indica* (1891).** Chakradatta directs the fresh juice to be given with milk and liquorice. Ainslie reports an infusion of the toasted leaves with fenugreek for children’s bowel complaints and fever, and the leaves laid on bruises on the Coromandel Coast. As a remedy for leprosy it was brought to notice by Boileau in 1859, but Dr A. Hunter, who tried it in the Madras Leper Hospital, concluded that “it had no claim to consideration as a specific in leprosy,” though it improved the symptoms and the general health. ## Sources - Grieve, M. *A Modern Herbal*, “Hydrocotyle.” As published on botanical.com. - Dymock, W., Warden, C. J. H., & Hooper, D. (1891). *Pharmacographia Indica*, vol. 2, “Hydrocotyle asiatica.” Internet Archive, b2129737x_0002. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *European Union herbal monograph on Centellae asiaticae herba (Centella)*. EMA/HMPC/489142/2020, 30 March 2022. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *Assessment report on Centellae asiaticae herba*. EMA/HMPC/489140/2020, 30 March 2022. - Arribas-López E, et al. (2022). A Systematic Review of the Effect of Centella asiatica on Wound Healing. *International journal of environmental research and public health*. PMID 35328954. - Puttarak P, et al. (2017). Effects of Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. on cognitive function and mood related outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. *Scientific reports*. PMID 28878245. - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, “Centella.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, updated 2024. NCBI Bookshelf. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *European Union herbal monograph on Centellae asiaticae herba (Centella)*. EMA/HMPC/489142/2020, 30 March 2022. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *Assessment report on Centellae asiaticae herba*. EMA/HMPC/489140/2020, 30 March 2022. - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, “Centella.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, updated 2024. NCBI Bookshelf. --- *Centella.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-16. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/centella Historical description, not medical advice.