Plant
Gotu kola
Centella asiatica
Also known as: Centella asiatica, Indian pennywort, Asiatic pennywort
A small creeping perennial herb in the family Apiaceae (the carrot family — though the species' kidney-shaped leaves don't superficially resemble the family). Native to tropical and subtropical wetlands across South and Southeast Asia, southern Africa, and parts of the western Pacific. One of the most heavily-used herbs in Ayurvedic and traditional Sri Lankan medicine — extensively prescribed for cognitive function, wound healing, and general longevity tonic use. Also a daily-vegetable in Sri Lankan and Vietnamese cuisine (*gotukola sambol* in Sri Lanka; *rau má* salad and juice in Vietnam). Unrelated to [[kola-nut]] despite the partial name overlap — different family, different plant entirely.
Scientific
Centella asiatica (family Apiaceae — same family as [[carrot]], [[parsley]], [[fennel]]) is one of the morphologically distinctive members of the carrot family — small creeping wetland-edge plant with kidney-shaped (reniform) leaves on long petioles, completely different from the umbel-flowered upright family-typical species. The plant grows in shallow water and damp soil, spreading by runners across wet ground.
The principal active compounds are triterpenoid saponins — particularly asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid. These compounds are extensively studied for wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, and (more controversially) cognitive-enhancement effects.
Traditional medicinal use
Gotu kola is one of the most-prescribed herbs in Ayurvedic medicine (brahmi — though the same name is also applied to Bacopa monnieri, a different plant in a different family, and the two are sometimes conflated). Traditional Ayurvedic uses include:
- Memory and cognitive function — medhya rasayana (cognitive-enhancement herb classification)
- Wound healing and skin conditions
- Longevity tonic
- Anti-aging preparations
Sri Lankan and southern Indian Tamil traditions:
- Vallarai (Tamil) / gotukola (Sinhala) — foundational kitchen-medicine herb
- Daily consumption as a vegetable in gotukola sambol (Sri Lankan grated [[coconut|coconut]] and herb relish)
- Tea preparations for cognitive and digestive support
Modern clinical research has examined gotu kola for:
- Wound healing — strong evidence; centellosides are used in commercial scar-treatment products
- Skin care — significant cosmetic-industry use; particularly in Korean and broader Asian skincare
- Cognitive function — some evidence for modest effects; less robust than the traditional claims suggest
- Venous insufficiency — moderate evidence for benefit in chronic venous problems
Culinary uses
Outside its medicinal role, gotu kola is a daily food across:
- Sri Lanka — gotukola sambol (kola leaves, grated [[coconut|coconut]], lime, chili, onion); foundational salad-side dish
- Vietnam — rau má juice (sweetened gotu kola juice); rau má salads
- Bangladesh — thankuni in similar preparations
- Thailand — bua bok in some traditional dishes
- Indonesia, Malaysia — pegaga / daun pegaga in salads and traditional preparations
The plant’s flavor is mildly bitter, slightly grassy, with a distinct herbaceous-green note. It’s an acquired taste for Western palates but foundational across its native culinary range.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[carrot]] · [[parsley]] · [[fennel]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Centella asiatica
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
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General
shares approach with
- Lemongrass auto-linked via shared tag: south-asia
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