Shatavari

Asparagus racemosus Willd. was described by the German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in the fourth edition of Species Plantarum in 1799, and it is the accepted name in Kew’s Plants of the World Online (POWO), which places it in the asparagus family, Asparagaceae; older works, including the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India and the Flora of China, file it under the lily family, Liliaceae, and some botanists have called it Protasparagus racemosus. POWO gives its native range as tropical Africa to northern Australia and describes it as a climber of the seasonally dry tropics. Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants lists it as native across tropical Africa from Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria to Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar; in Yemen and Oman; across the Indian subcontinent from Pakistan, India, Nepal, and the Himalaya to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bangladesh; through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia; and in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. It has been introduced to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, and Rodrigues.

The Flora of Tropical East Africa (Kew, 2006) describes a climbing shrub up to 7 m high whose branches carry small spines, 2 to 8 mm long. Like other asparagus species, its true leaves are reduced to scales and spines, and the green “needles” are cladodes (flattened stems that do the work of leaves), borne in clusters of 2 to 6 and 8 to 35 mm long. Sprays of tiny greenish white to white flowers, the tepals only 2.5 to 3 mm long with orange to red anthers, are followed by round berries 8 to 10 mm across that turn from green to red, usually with a single black seed. The Flora of China records it in broad-leaved forests along streams in southern Tibet, flowering in November, and in East Africa it grows in forests, forest edges, wooded grassland, and bushland. Underground it forms the clusters of fleshy tuberous roots that are the drug: the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia describes them as 10 to 30 cm long, tapering at both ends, wrinkled lengthwise, cream colored, and sweetish. Bopana and Saxena (Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2007) warned that destructive harvesting and deforestation had made the plant endangered in parts of its natural habitat.

The roots are rich in steroidal saponins (soap-like compounds built on a steroid skeleton) called shatavarins. Hayes and colleagues (Phytochemistry 2008) isolated five new ones, shatavarins VI to X, alongside shatavarins I, IV, and V and two related saponins, and branded extracts are now standardized to their shatavarin content, for example more than 10% in one product used in recent trials. LactMed also lists sarsasapogenin, polysaccharides, mucilage, and flavonoids, while the Pharmacopoeia names sugars, glycosides, saponins, and sitosterol. Two compounds often quoted in shatavari profiles are less certain. Wiboonpun and colleagues (Phytotherapy Research 2004) reported an alkaloid, asparagamine A, and a phenolic compound, racemosol, from roots labeled A. racemosus, but Kumeta and colleagues at Japan’s National Institute of Health Sciences (Journal of Natural Medicines 2013) found no asparagamine A in authenticated plants or in shatavari products and concluded that earlier reports probably came from Stemona roots, which look similar and are sometimes mistaken for shatavari; in our reading, that leaves racemosol’s place in true shatavari uncertain too.

In Ayurveda, shatavari is a rasayana, a class of tonics meant to restore vigor and slow aging, and Bopana and Saxena note that it is also used in the Unani and Siddha traditions. A review by Alok and colleagues (Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease 2013) states that the two foundational Ayurvedic texts, the Charaka Samhita and Vagbhata’s Ashtanga Hridaya, include it in formulas for women’s disorders, and it gives two popular readings of the name: “she who possesses a hundred husbands,” a nod to fertility and vitality, and “curer of a hundred diseases,” from shata, a hundred. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India records Sanskrit synonyms including Narayani, Vari, Abhiru, and Atirasa, and attributes to the root a sweet and bitter taste, a cooling nature, and actions as a rasayana, a strengthener, an aphrodisiac, and a promoter of breast milk (stanyakara). Its listed uses include deficient or disordered breast milk, postnatal disorders, acid indigestion, diarrhea, and bleeding disorders, and it appears in classical preparations such as Shatavari Ghrita (a medicated ghee), Shatavari Kalpa (a sweetened granule), and the oil Mahanarayana Taila.

Its use to bring in breast milk runs deep. LactMed describes a long history of shatavari as a galactagogue in India and cites ethnobotanical reports, including one on the Warli people of Maharashtra using local plants to induce lactation. Indian scientists began testing the idea in the 1960s: Joglekar and colleagues (Indian Medical Journal 1967) gave a shatavari tablet to 15 mothers with low supply, 11 of whom reported more milk, in a study that LactMed considers unreliable because it had no blinding, randomization, or placebo. Papers in the following years examined extracts on the mammary glands of rats and as a galactagogue in buffaloes, and Gaitondé and Jetmalani (Archives Internationales de Pharmacodynamie 1969) reported that a saponin from the root had an antioxytocic action on uterine muscle, meaning it opposed the hormone oxytocin. In 1986 a multi-herb capsule, Lactare, combining shatavari with ashwagandha, fenugreek, licorice, and garlic, was tested in 40 mothers, again without a control group. Later animal studies tested it as a feed supplement for dairy buffaloes and goats.

In recent decades shatavari has become a global supplement. Kumeta and colleagues describe it as distributed in health food products all over the world, and in Thailand the dried root, called Rak-Sam-Sip, is a popular herbal medicine. Rising demand has brought adulteration: in a DNA study, Boonsom and colleagues (Fitoterapia 2012) found that 2 of 10 commercial crude drugs sold as A. racemosus in Thailand came from other species. In the 2020s the market has moved toward branded, standardized extracts and food formats, such as a lactation granola bar and government-developed granules, and manufacturers have sponsored or supplied a rapid series of clinical trials in women. In the United States, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) estimates that about 240,000 adults use Ayurvedic medicine and notes that Ayurvedic practice is not significantly regulated, while shatavari products are sold as dietary supplements, which do not need to prove safety or effectiveness before sale.

Shatavari is usually said to act as a phytoestrogen (a plant compound that mimics estrogen), but the evidence comes mostly from animals and test tubes. Pandey and colleagues (Phytotherapy Research 2005) gave pregnant rats an alcohol extract of the root at 30 mg per 100 g of body weight for 15 days and saw enlarged mammary glands and heavier uterine horns, which they interpreted as an estrogenic effect. Sharma and Jaitak (Natural Product Research 2020) found that root extracts slowed the growth of an estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer cell line and modeled shatavari compounds binding to estrogen receptor alpha on a computer, which is not the same as showing an effect in people. Hormone results in human trials are inconsistent: Mahajan and colleagues (International Journal of Women’s Health 2025) reported rises in estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) after 8 weeks of a shatavari extract, a manufacturer-funded trial of another extract reported estradiol rising and FSH falling, and Ademola and colleagues (Frontiers in Reproductive Health 2025) found no significant hormonal changes. What these mixed signals mean for safety in hormone-sensitive conditions is unknown.

For lactation, the leading idea is that shatavari raises prolactin. Gupta and Shaw (Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 2011) reported a 33% rise in prolactin over 30 days with root powder, compared with 10% on placebo, but LactMed points out that the paper does not say when blood was drawn in relation to breastfeeding, and Sharma and colleagues (Indian Pediatrics 1996), testing a shatavari mixture, found no difference in prolactin from placebo, so neither result settles the mechanism. A small crossover study by Dalvi and colleagues (Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 1990) in 8 healthy men found that shatavari shortened the time the stomach took to empty half its contents from about 160 minutes to 101 minutes, similar to the drug metoclopramide (85 minutes); this was studied because of shatavari’s traditional use for indigestion. Metoclopramide is also used as a milk-boosting drug, but whether shatavari shares any of its actions on prolactin is unknown.

Other effects are confined to the laboratory. Hannan and colleagues found that root extracts stimulated insulin release from rat pancreas tissue and cultured cells (Journal of Endocrinology 2007) and, in diabetic rats, improved glucose tolerance and slowed the absorption of sugar from the gut (British Journal of Nutrition 2012). Kumar and colleagues (West Indian Medical Journal 2010) found a diuretic (urine-increasing) effect in rats, but only at the highest dose tested, 3,200 mg/kg of a water extract. In studies of drug-metabolizing enzymes, a water extract prepared to the Pharmacopoeia’s method did not inhibit CYP3A4 in rat liver preparations (Borse and Kamble, Journal of Integrative Medicine 2015), and another showed no significant inhibition of the human enzyme (Patil and colleagues, Integrative Cancer Therapies 2014), which is reassuring but not proof that interactions cannot occur. Animal studies also describe antioxidant, anti-ulcer, immune-modulating, and antidepressant-like effects, none confirmed in human trials, and we found no human studies of how shatavarins are absorbed.

Breastfeeding is shatavari’s best-known use, and the early trials disagree. Sharma and colleagues (Indian Pediatrics 1996) enrolled mothers 14 to 90 days after birth whose babies were gaining too little weight despite breastfeeding advice; according to LactMed’s summary, 64 were randomized to two tablespoons a day of a mixture containing 15% shatavari with dill, licorice, spinach, cumin, and other herbs, or a placebo, for 4 weeks. Eleven did not finish, and there were no differences in prolactin, infant weight gain, or supplementary feeds. Gupta and Shaw randomized 60 mothers with low supply or related complaints to dried root powder, 60 mg per kg of body weight a day in three doses taken with milk for 30 days, or rice powder; prolactin rose 32.9% versus 9.6%, and infant weight rose 16.1% versus 5.7%. LactMed calls this a small, otherwise well-conducted trial, weakened by the mixed reasons women were enrolled and the lack of help with breastfeeding technique beforehand.

More recent trials point the same way but use branded or combination products. Ajgaonkar and colleagues (Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2025) gave 120 women 300 mg capsules of a standardized extract, which LactMed identifies as SRI-81 from Ixoreal Biomed, or placebo for the first 72 hours after birth; among the 113 who finished, breasts felt full sooner and more milk was expressed at 72 hours, about 98 ml versus 85 ml according to LactMed, which questions whether such short-term endpoints matter in the long run. A trial of the Shavari Bar, a granola bar with an unstated amount of shatavari, in 78 women reported 64.7 ml versus 49.7 ml of expressed milk; its first author worked for the bar’s maker. The strongest design is a government-funded trial by Saxena and colleagues (International Breastfeeding Journal 2025): 210 mothers whose babies were gaining weight poorly received breastfeeding counseling plus either granules combining shatavari with dill, cumin, and cardamom or a placebo for 12 weeks, and at 6 months 69.8% versus 44.8% were exclusively breastfeeding. Because that product is a mixture, its results cannot be credited to shatavari alone.

The verdict on lactation is uncertain. The 2020 Cochrane review by Foong and colleagues pooled 41 trials of oral galactagogues in 3,005 mothers, 27 of them testing natural products including shatavari, and found some evidence that natural galactagogues may help milk volume and infant weight but was very uncertain about the size of any effect because of bias, inconsistent results, and poor measurement. Earlier reviews by Mortel and Mehta (Journal of Human Lactation 2013) and Bazzano and colleagues (Ochsner Journal 2016) made no recommendation. LactMed’s summary is a fair one: some small trials are encouraging, the herb has often been tested in mixtures, and galactagogues should never replace an assessment of the factors that most affect supply, such as latch, feeding frequency, and the health of mother and baby.

Menopause is the fastest-growing area of research. In the first trial, Gudise and colleagues (Cureus 2024) randomized 70 women to 250 mg of a shatavari extract twice daily or placebo for 8 weeks and reported fewer hot flashes, night sweats, sleep problems, and vaginal dryness. Mahajan and colleagues randomized 80 women in perimenopause to 300 mg a day of SRI-81 or placebo for 8 weeks; 73 finished, and symptom scores and hot flashes improved more on the extract, which the maker supplied, although the trial had no specific funding. Ademola and colleagues randomized 135 women to shatavari, shatavari with ashwagandha, or placebo for 8 weeks; the Menopause Rating Scale fell by about 13 points in both active groups versus about 3 on placebo, but a menopause quality-of-life questionnaire did not differ between groups. Other 2025 and 2026 trials tested SheVari4 (two trials of 60 women each, funded by its owner, Cepham, one written by Cepham employees), ARova5X (214 postmenopausal women), a fenugreek–shatavari blend (150 women, funded by its maker, OmniActive), and shatavari and ashwagandha extracts over 24 weeks (127 women, funded by the extract maker, Natreon). A 2025 trial of a further extract in 50 perimenopausal women was retracted in 2026. All of these trials are small, short, and from India, some of the effects reported are unusually large for menopause research, where placebo responses are strong, and no independent group or systematic review has yet confirmed them.

Other uses are early. O’Leary and colleagues (Nutrients 2021), funded by Pukka Herbs, gave 20 postmenopausal women 1,000 mg a day or placebo for 6 weeks: grip strength rose by 0.7 kg versus a fall of 0.4 kg, but leg strength and markers of bone turnover did not change. Two 2026 trials of 70 and 135 women reported better scores for sexual function, and two trials in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) gave conflicting results on their main outcome: in Mhatre and colleagues’ trial of 70 women, ovarian volume did not differ from placebo after 12 weeks. For indigestion, the only human data are the 8-volunteer stomach-emptying study. Shatavari’s reputation as an “adaptogen” (a herb that helps the body resist stress) and immune tonic rests on animal research and stress questionnaires collected as secondary outcomes in the trials above. Where evidence-based options exist, such as hormone therapy and non-hormonal medicines for menopause, they have far stronger trial records than shatavari.

Traditional preparations use the dried root. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India sets a dose of 3 to 6 g of the drug, meaning the powdered tuberous root, and includes shatavari in compound preparations such as Shatavari Kalpa (sweetened granules), Shatavari Ghrita (ghee cooked with the herb), Shatavari Guda, and Brahma Rasayana. The Pharmacopoeia also sets identity and purity standards, including limits of 5% total ash and 0.5% acid-insoluble ash, a sign of soil or sand contamination. In the Gupta and Shaw trial, mothers took dried root powder at 60 mg per kg of body weight a day, about 3.6 g for a 60 kg woman, in three doses with milk for 30 days, and a smaller Indian study cited by LactMed used 10 g of root powder daily. The root is bitter, which is one reason for granules, bars, and milk-based preparations; a decoction of the root boiled in milk, called ksheerapaka, is a traditional form.

Modern trials mostly use concentrated extracts, which are not interchangeable. SRI-81, used in the lactation and several menopause trials, is a water-based extract with a herb-to-extract ratio of 13:1, standardized to more than 10% shatavarins and given as 300 mg once or twice daily, so each capsule corresponds to roughly 4 g of root. Other trials used 250 mg twice daily, 100 mg of SheVari4, 250 mg of ARova5X standardized to 5% shatavarins, and 250 or 500 mg of an aqueous extract, while the Exeter trial gave 1,000 mg a day of a product said to equal 26.5 g of fresh root. Combination products are common: Ayush-SS granules add dill, cumin, and cardamom, Lactare adds ashwagandha, fenugreek, licorice, and garlic, and the Fenavari blend adds fenugreek. Durations studied range from 3 days after birth to 24 weeks, so there is no information on years of use. A result from one extract cannot be assumed to apply to another or to plain root powder.

Quality is the main practical concern. LactMed notes that dietary supplements do not need FDA approval before sale, that labeled and actual ingredients often differ, and that third-party certification checks quality but not safety or effectiveness. Saper and colleagues (JAMA 2004) found lead, mercury, or arsenic in 14 of 70 Ayurvedic products sold in Boston-area stores, and in a later study (JAMA 2008), 20.7% of 193 Ayurvedic products bought online contained detectable metals, with similar rates for US-made and Indian-made products; metals were more common in rasa shastra preparations, which deliberately combine herbs with metals and minerals (40.6% versus 17.1%), and 75% of the contaminated products claimed good manufacturing practices. These studies examined Ayurvedic products in general, not shatavari specifically, but NCCIH warns that some Ayurvedic preparations contain toxic amounts of these metals. Misidentification is a second risk, given DNA evidence of other species sold as shatavari and the history of Stemona roots being mistaken for it. A single-ingredient product labeled Asparagus racemosus root, from a maker that tests for heavy metals and identity, avoids the worst problems, and herbo-mineral formulas are best avoided.