Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus), of the Asparagaceae (formerly Liliaceae) family. Spiny climbing shrub with needle-like cladodes and a cluster of tuberous roots; native range: the forests and lower hills of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Globally recognized as shatavari / shatamuli in Sanskrit, satavar / shatavari in Hindi, satawar in Arabic, and wild asparagus, hundred-roots, climbing asparagus in English. The part used is the fleshy tuberous root. Finger-thick pale roots, mucilaginous and cool to the tongue, sweet with a clean bitter close; the fresh root milky when cut.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SHATAVARI
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Shatavari
- Scientific name
- Asparagus racemosus Willd.
- Family
- Asparagaceae (formerly Liliaceae)
Form
- Part used
- the fleshy tuberous root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet (madhura) · bitter (tikta)
- Western
- sweet · mucilaginous · bitter
- Unani
- sweet
Temperature
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta)
Western: cool
Unani: hot (1st degree) & moist
convergence: the two Indic-influenced witnesses call it cooling; Unani alone ranks it a gently warm, moistening tonic — the outlier on heat, not on its nourishing, unctuous nature
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- uterus · mucous membranes · stomach · blood
- Unani
- uterus · kidneys · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- vata-pitta-hara, stanyajanana (galactagogue), vrishya and shukrala (reproductive tonic), balya, and a demulcent for hyperacidity
- Western
- adaptogen, demulcent, nutritive tonic, galactagogue and reproductive restorative for women
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac), muqawwi-e-badan (general tonic), mudir-e-laban (galactagogue) and mudir-e-baul (diuretic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- high kapha and ama, sluggish digestion with congestion; oestrogen-sensitive conditions warrant care
- Toxicity
- very low; occasional loose stool or heaviness from its unctuousness
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