- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- High Himalayas of Nepal, India and Tibet. Picrorhiza kurroa
- Sanskrit
- Katula
- Other names
- Katuka
Asia · Herb · № 143
Picrorhiza kurroa
Herb · Asia
Kutki
Picrorhiza kurroa
A very bitter herb used in Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine for liver complaints, fever and digestive problems. Research is mainly in animals.
Safety notes
May cause diarrhoea and stomach cramps. It is listed in CITES Appendix II; choose certified cultivated material. Liver complaints need a doctor.
Cautions by tradition (2)
- Herbal medicine worldwide: High doses can cause diarrhoea and cramps.
- Chinese materia medica: Not with stomach or spleen deficiency.
Preparation
The rhizome as powder or in Ayurvedic formulas. No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
Kutki is an important source of income for mountain communities in Nepal, but wild populations have declined sharply from overharvesting. Ody describes it as an Ayurvedic liver herb.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Bitter digestive, stimulates appetite, protects the liver, promotes bile, stimulates the immune system, antioxidant; for jaundice, diarrhoea, constipation, infections, autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo).
Preparation and amount
500–2000 mg a day; extremely bitter.
Caution: High doses can cause diarrhoea and cramps.
Ayurvedic materia medica
Attributed effects
In small doses bitter, stomachic and laxative, in large doses purgative; fever-reducing, promotes bile; for constipation, bilious fever, painful indigestion, vague mild fever, oedema, snake and scorpion bites.
Preparation and amount
Powder as a tonic 1–1.5 g, as a fever remedy 3–3.5 g; with sugar and hot water as a laxative; in compound decoctions.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- bitter, cold
- Meridians
- liver, stomach, large intestine
Attributed effects
The Chinese species (hu huang lian, Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora) drains damp heat in the lower body in diarrhoea and haemorrhoids, cools heat from yin deficiency with mild fever, thirst and a red tongue, and cools heat in malnutrition of children.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 3–9 g a day, usually in a decoction.
Combinations
- With di gu pi for afternoon fever and 'fever from the bones'
- With dried ginger for chronic diarrhoea with blood
Caution: Not with stomach or spleen deficiency.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- DecoctionPowder and kitchen