Mandukaparni: The Frog-Leaf Plant the West Calls Gotu Kola

If you own a cica cream, you already touched mandukaparni. It’s famously called Centella asiatica and gotu kola. Herbs for the mind. Sold for memory and calm.

Ayurveda’s classic medical text names mandukaparni as a fresh juice. Europe’s medicines regulator acknowledges one traditional use for it, and you don’t swallow it.

Two strains grown side by side differed 35-fold in one of their main compounds.

Start with the name, because the wrong one can put a different plant in your bottle.

What is mandukaparni? (And why it’s called gotu kola in the West)

Mandukaparni is the Sanskrit name for Centella asiatica, the creeping herb sold in English as gotu kola, Indian pennywort, or Asiatic pennywort. Indian markets also call it Jalbrahmi, and sometimes plain Brahmi. Labels change from country to country. The Latin name doesn’t, so look for Centella asiatica on anything you buy.

The name means “frog leaf.” A 2015 pharmacognosy paper offers two guesses: the leaf looks like a frog, or the runners spread like jumping frogs. I found no classical text that settles it.

The mandukaparni plant is a low creeper that roots at its nodes in wet ground across South Asia. India’s pharmacopoeia uses the whole plant. Europe’s uses the parts above ground. The leaves carry the most triterpenes, the compounds supplement labels advertise (DOI). So the plant part on a label matters.

Ayurveda files mandukaparni under medhya rasayana, the rejuvenating herbs for the mind. The Charaka Samhita (Chikitsa Sthana 1, verses 30 and 31) names four preparations:

1. Mandukaparni juice
2. Licorice powder with milk
3. Guduchi juice, with its root and flower
4. Shankhapushpi paste

So Charaka gave mandukaparni a place among four mind tonics, and then gave it no dose and no duration. Verse 31 praises all four but singles out shankhapushpi. Mandukaparni wasn’t even his top pick.

Ayurveda also uses it for skin and nerves. That tradition explains why people take the herb, but it can’t tell you whether it works. (For another Ayurvedic classic, read the haritaki guide.)

Mandukaparni vs. Brahmi: they’re not the same herb

No. Mandukaparni and Brahmi are different herbs. Mandukaparni is Centella asiatica, or gotu kola. True Brahmi is Bacopa monnieri, also called water hyssop, with different chemistry and a different dose. The confusion comes from a shared nickname, because in many parts of India mandukaparni is sold as Brahmi.

Two herbs, one nickname, and the mix-up is old. The Bhavaprakasha Nighantu (Guduchyadi varga, verses 279 to 281) files both under a single entry. Charaka kept mandukaparni and an herb called Brahmi in separate groups (Sutra Sthana 4).

If a bottle says only “Brahmi,” you don’t know which plant is inside.

Mandukaparni benefits

No benefit of mandukaparni has strong evidence yet. Memory and anxiety benefits are preliminary, resting on small human trials. Europe’s medicines regulator recognizes its use on minor wounds as traditional use only. Claims for blood sugar, heart health, arthritis, and immunity are untested in people or showed no effect when tested.

Strong means repeated, well-run human trials. Preliminary means small trials, single doses, or animal work. Traditional use only means a long record and no trials to prove it. Nothing here earns strong, so be wary of any seller who says otherwise.

Cognitive and memory support

The memory evidence for mandukaparni is preliminary. One small trial found a benefit. Pool the trials and it goes flat.

The best-known trial was randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled. Twenty-eight healthy older adults took 250, 500, or 750 mg of extract a day for two months. The top dose improved working memory and a brain-wave response called the N100. Mood improved too (PubMed, DOI).

Those 28 people were split across three doses and a placebo, so each group was tiny. They took a standardized extract, and nobody ate a spoonful of churna. That makes the trial a lead for bigger studies.

According to a 2017 meta-analysis of 11 trials, gotu kola showed no clear difference from placebo in any area of thinking (DOI). In 2022, 60 older adults with mild cognitive impairment took 500 mg twice a day for 12 weeks. The herb added nothing to what exercise already did (DOI).

Even the active compound is an open question. Four older adults took a hot-water extract rich in asiaticoside and madecassoside. Neither reached their blood intact. Only the breakdown products did (DOI). In aged mice, the triterpenes improved learning, and so did a second family called caffeoylquinic acids (DOI). A 48-person human trial is registered (NCT05591027). When I checked in October 2026, it had posted no results.

Centella asiatica for skin and wound healing

For skin, the plain herb rates traditional use only. Still, it’s the one claim with a formal European opinion behind it. In March 2022, the EMA’s herbal committee adopted a traditional-use monograph for minor wounds only. Adults apply 0.6 g as a warm-infusion dressing or as powder, three times a day, for up to a week. It isn’t recommended under 18. Allergy to the celery family (celery, carrot, parsley) rules it out (EMA monograph).

“Traditional use” means a plausible use with a long track record, without trials to prove it.

The EMA found no European medicine that uses the plain herb as its only ingredient. The authorized ones use a purified extract called TECA, built from asiaticoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid. France has authorized Madecassol dressings since 1976 (EMA assessment report). Whatever those products do comes from that refined fraction. A bag of leaf powder can’t borrow their record.

The cica cream on your shelf, like any Centella asiatica creme, rests on thinner evidence. In a 2013 stretch-mark trial, treatment made no overall difference. Marks appeared in 33.3% of the control group and 37.6% of treated women (DOI). A 2026 meta-analysis on wound healing pooled 16 studies, all in animals (DOI).

Anxiety and stress

The anxiety evidence for mandukaparni is preliminary and rests mostly on one trial. It gave 40 healthy volunteers one 12 g dose or a placebo. The herb dulled their startle reflex to a sudden loud noise at 30 and 60 minutes. Mood and heart rate didn’t budge (DOI). A reflex test after one huge dose says little about treating anxiety.

Milder signals show up in the 2017 meta-analysis. Alertness rose and anger fell an hour after a dose. In aged mice, though, neither compound family changed anxiety-like behavior (DOI).

How to take mandukaparni

There’s no single verified dose of mandukaparni. Official guides disagree several-fold, and a gram of powder isn’t a gram of extract. Studied and listed doses run from 250 to 750 mg of extract a day up to 3 to 6 g of churna per dose. So pick the form first, then the dose, and take it with food.

To try it:

1. Pick one form from the table.
2. Start at or below the label’s lowest dose, with food.
3. Watch for yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, or unusual fatigue.
4. Stop if anything feels off. Nobody has established a safe long-term duration.

How long until you notice anything? The trials measured reflexes and alertness within an hour of one dose, and memory after two months of daily use.

Mandukaparni tablets and capsules

Tablets press powder or extract with binders. One retailer lists 1,410 mg of Centella asiatica per daily dose of three tablets, taken after meals. Treat it as a model of clear labeling. The serving size is that brand’s choice.

Capsules trip people up because they hold either raw powder or a concentrated extract. Two capsules can both say “500 mg” and deliver very different amounts of triterpenoids. The trial doses above came from extracts. If the label won’t name the form and ratio, you’re guessing.

Mandukaparni powder

Plain dried gotu kola powder is the simplest form. Western references dose it low. NIH LiverTox lists 600 to 1,800 mg of dried leaf a day. WHO’s 1999 monograph lists 0.33 to 0.68 g three times a day.

You can’t see what’s in a spoonful, though. Fifty plant lines grown under identical conditions ranged from 0.15% to 5.27% madecassoside. Only six cleared the 4% industry benchmark (DOI). Season moves it too. In one Sydney study, the main triterpenes fell by more than half from January to June (DOI). A label number means something only if a lab measured that batch.

Mandukaparni churna (the traditional form)

Churna is Ayurveda’s word for a fine herbal powder. You stir it into warm water or take it with honey. It’s the whole herb with nothing added. India’s pharmacopoeia lists 3 to 6 g per dose for adults. That’s several times the Western numbers, and it doesn’t say how often.

Lab work on churna is thin. A 2026 study of one batch checked identity and purity through extractive values (Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry). It didn’t measure asiaticoside or madecassoside. The batch passed as real churna, with no word on strength.

Charaka’s fresh juice keeps far worse. Classical pharmacy texts give it about three hours of potency. A 2022 Thai study found pasteurized gotu kola juice lasted under five days at room temperature. No source I checked gives a juice dose for mandukaparni, so ask a qualified practitioner.

Side effects and who should avoid it

The main safety concern with mandukaparni is the liver. Case reports describe hepatitis and jaundice in people taking Centella asiatica, including one woman whose liver damage came back when she restarted it. If you develop yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, or unusual fatigue, stop. Get tested, and don’t restart.

A 2005 case series described three women, aged 61, 52, and 49. They developed jaundice after 30, 20, and 60 days on the herb. Their ALT, a liver enzyme, hit 1,193, 1,694, and 324 U/L. Biopsies showed hepatitis in all three, with cirrhotic change in one. All improved after stopping. Then one woman started taking it again, and the damage came back (DOI).

A separate letter describes a 15-year-old girl whose ALT peaked at 3,222 IU/L. For six weeks she’d taken a web-bought gotu kola product plus the antibiotic lymecycline. She recovered after stopping both (DOI).

How worried should you be? Case reports can’t show how common this is. The EMA found no conclusive causal link, yet it still left oral use out of its monograph over “potential anti-fertility and hepatotoxic effects.” And a relapse on restarting is the kind of evidence that makes doctors suspect the herb itself.

Rat data in the EMA’s review point the same way. Dried herb at 250 mg/kg for 30 days raised liver and kidney markers. That’s roughly 2 g for a 50 kg adult. Double that dose damaged the liver. It’s one rat study, so it isn’t proof about people.

Skip mandukaparni, or ask your doctor first, if:

• You have liver disease, drink heavily, or take medicines with known liver effects.
• You’re pregnant or breastfeeding. The EMA doesn’t recommend Centella asiatica in pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Rat studies of ethanol extracts showed lower fertility at doses below traditional ones.
• You’re under 18. The EMA monograph excludes you.
• You take sedatives. No interactions are documented in people, but the EMA advises caution.
• You’re allergic to the celery family (celery, carrot, parsley).

Where to buy mandukaparni

Buy mandukaparni as a single-herb product that names Centella asiatica on the label, states powder or extract, gives milligrams per serving, and comes with a batch lab report for heavy metals and pesticides. The label alone isn’t enough, because market tests have found the wrong plant, lookalike species, and lead.

A 2023 Indian study tested market products sold as “Brahmi.” Depending on the test method, only 22.2% to 55.6% contained actual Brahmi (DOI). In a 2025 Thai test of eight online products, one “Centella” turned out to be a lookalike called Hydrocotyle umbellata. Another was contaminated with Bacopa (DOI).

Centella also soaks up whatever is in its soil (DOI). Even researchers struggle to find clean herb. An Oregon team tested six trade samples. The certified-organic ones still had pesticides, and most carried heavy metals. A 4 g dose of their final extract held 10.15 µg of lead, above the 5 µg/day guideline (DOI).

I found no independent public testing of finished mandukaparni capsules or churna. That makes the batch certificate your only window into the bag. The official standards ask for this:

If a brand can’t show you numbers like these, you’re buying on faith.

Himalaya sells mandukaparni inside blends. I couldn’t find an official page for a standalone tablet. Its Mentat lists 70 mg of mandukaparni extract per tablet, next to Bacopa monnieri, ashwagandha, and about two dozen other herbs. No independent study of the blend turned up either.

For Patanjali mandukaparni, I couldn’t find a Divya product page at all. Check the official store and the printed label before you buy.

The bottle worth buying shows:

1. Centella asiatica by name, not just “Brahmi”
2. Powder or extract, with the ratio or triterpenoid percentage
3. The plant part and milligrams per serving
4. One herb only, because a blend can’t tell you what mandukaparni does alone
5. A batch certificate for heavy metals and pesticides, plus printed cautions for pregnancy and the liver

Ayurveda gave this plant its reputation. A lab report tells you whether your bottle has earned it.

Next step: pick up the bottle you’re considering and find the words Centella asiatica on the label. If they aren’t there, put it back.

Mandukaparni FAQ

This article is for information only and isn’t medical advice.

Sources

• Aparna 2015, J Phytopharmacol, Brahmi and Mandukaparni pharmacognosy. PDF
• Charaka Samhita Rasayana Adhyaya and Sutra 4, critical digital edition
• Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, Part I, Vol. IV (Mandukaparni) and Vol. II (Brahmi)
• WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants, Vol. 1, 1999
• NIH LiverTox, gotu kola entry
• EMA/HMPC monograph and assessment report, 2022
• NC State Extension, Centella asiatica plant profile
• Puttarak 2012, Pharm Biol. DOI
• Wattanathorn 2008, J Ethnopharmacol. DOI
• Puttarak 2017 meta-analysis, Sci Rep. DOI
• Phoemsapthawee 2022, J Exerc Rehabil. DOI
• Wright 2022, Antioxidants. DOI
• Hack 2025, Nutrients. DOI
• Stretch-mark RCT 2013, Int J Cosmet Sci. DOI
• Wound-healing meta-analysis 2026, J Ethnopharmacol. DOI
• Bradwejn 2000, J Clin Psychopharmacol. DOI
• De Sanctis 2001, Angiology. PubMed
• Cochrane 2020, phlebotonics. DOI
• Tawanwongsri 2025, Front Pharmacol. DOI
• Kunjumon 2022, Sci Rep. DOI
• Alqahtani 2015, Phytochem Anal. DOI
• Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, churna study, 2026
• Jorge 2005, Rev Esp Enferm Dig. DOI
• Dantuluri 2011, Dig Liver Dis. DOI
• Shah 2023, Mol Biol Rep. DOI
• Suksawat 2025, Sci Rep. DOI
• Ong 2016, Environ Monit Assess. DOI
• Wright 2022, Front Nutr. DOI