Product guide
Centella asiatica
A finely milled leaf powder, green and faintly bitter — closer in taste to a salad leaf than to a herb.
Botanical story · current research
Gotu kola is a creeping tropical herb with round, fan-shaped leaves held on slender stems. Centella asiatica favours damp ground and spreads close to the soil, forming bright green mats rather than growing as a tall tea plant. Its leaf flavour is fresh, grassy and gently bitter, with a clean green finish.
Centella asiatica
Tropical Asia
Across Sri Lanka, India and Southeast Asia, gotu kola has long moved between food and botanical traditions. Fresh leaves appear in sambol, salads and blended green drinks, while in Thailand they are also prepared as a cooling herbal beverage. The plant’s everyday food context is as important as the older stories attached to it.
Leaf · powder
Fresh leaves can be chopped into salads or blended with water; dried leaf and powder make the plant easier to use outside its growing region. Powder brings the whole milled leaf into smoothies, drinks, soups or food blends and therefore retains a vegetal texture. Begin lightly so the pleasant green bitterness stays balanced.
Latest useful research
We prioritise the newest credible source we can find and state clearly whether it is human, animal, laboratory or review evidence.
112 participants, 12 weeks; tested a standardised extract.
Open the research ↗A study of an extract, cell or animal model is not the same as eating or drinking the plant. It can still be valuable evidence when described accurately.
From plant to kitchen
Flavour profile
How to prepare
Start with ½ teaspoon in 250 ml of water, juice or a smoothie.
Cold or warm liquid suits it better than boiling water, which sharpens the bitterness.
Lemon, apple or mint soften the grassy edge if you want it milder.
Ways to use it
Further watching & reading
