Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus)

Shatavari is the root of Asparagus racemosus, a thorny climbing asparagus that grows wild across the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the best-known herbs in Ayurveda, India's traditional medical system, where it has long been given to women — above all to new mothers hoping to make more breast milk, and to women going through the menopause. A 2025 review notes that its reputation has earned it the nickname "Queen of Herbs."

This page sets out what the plant is, what tradition used it for, what is in the root, and what research has actually measured. The short version: the human evidence is thin. A handful of small, recent randomised trials in women report encouraging results for milk supply, menopausal symptoms and a few other outcomes, but they are few, short and come from a small number of overlapping research teams. Most of the rest of the research literature was done in animals, in cell culture or on a computer, and none of it shows that Shatavari acts like oestrogen in people.

Table of Contents

  1. What Shatavari Is
  2. What the Name Means
  3. Traditional Uses
  4. What Is in the Root
  5. How Strong Is the Evidence?
  6. Breast Milk: The Signature Claim
  7. Menopause, PCOS and Female Reproductive Health
  8. Muscle, Bone and Digestion
  9. Laboratory and Animal Findings
  10. Forms and Doses Used in Studies
  11. Safety: What Is Known and Not Known
  12. A Plant Under Pressure
  13. The Bottom Line
  14. Key Research Papers
  15. Connections
  16. Featured Videos

What Shatavari Is

Asparagus racemosus is a woody, spiny climber in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). Above ground it is a tangle of thin stems and needle-like leaves; below ground it forms a cluster of pale, fleshy, finger-like tuberous roots. Those roots are the medicinal part. They are dug, peeled or sliced, dried and powdered, or boiled into decoctions.

It is a close cousin of the garden asparagus eaten as a vegetable (Asparagus officinalis), but it is a different species. The US National Library of Medicine's lactation database, LactMed, makes the point explicitly: wild asparagus, called shatavari, "is a different plant from the asparagus commonly used as a food." The shared genus does mean the two plants share some chemistry — both make steroidal saponins — which this site's Asparagus page covers for the vegetable.

The plant grows across tropical and subtropical India and neighbouring regions. Reviews describe its medicinal use as recorded in the Indian and British Pharmacopoeias as well as in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine.

What the Name Means

In Sanskrit, shata means "a hundred." The full name is usually rendered as "she who possesses a hundred husbands" or "acceptable to many" — the wording given in a 2013 plant-profile review in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease. The same review reads it as "100 spouses," a reference to the herb's traditional standing as a tonic for women's fertility and vitality.

The name is a statement of tradition, not a finding. It tells you how Ayurvedic practitioners thought of the root, and it explains why most modern trials were run in women. It does not tell you whether the root does what its name implies; that question is for the evidence below.

Traditional Uses

Ayurveda classes Shatavari as a rasayana, a rejuvenating tonic, and reviews describe it being used "extensively as an adaptogen" — a substance thought to raise general resistance to stress. Traditional texts and practitioners have used the root for:

The same 2003 review was candid about the gap between this list and the science: at the time, it said, "no scientific proof justifying aforementioned uses of root extract of A. racemosus is available so far," with only a few reports of effects in clinical conditions and experimental models.

What Is in the Root

The root's chemistry is dominated by steroidal saponins — soap-like molecules built from a steroid skeleton with sugars attached. The named ones are the shatavarins; a 2025 review lists shatavarins I to VI and describes shatavarin IV as a glycoside of a steroid called sarsasapogenin, carrying two rhamnose sugars and one glucose.

A 2023 review of the roots adds fructo-oligosaccharides and other polysaccharides, asparosides, sapogenins, racemosols, isoflavones, other glycosides, mucilage and fatty acids, and identifies saponins as among the root's main active constituents. LactMed lists asparagamine, racemosol, folic acid, flavonoids and polyphenols as well.

Two points matter for reading the research. First, the amount of shatavarin IV varies a lot between plants: one study of 12 cultivated lines measured about 152 micrograms per gram of root in the richest line and about 81 in the next. Second, most studies tested whole extracts, not single compounds, so their results cannot be pinned on any one molecule. The Shatavarins and Plant Chemistry deep dive covers this in detail.

How Strong Is the Evidence?

Sorted by type, the published research on Shatavari looks like this:

A 2021 review of its brain-related effects named the lack of standardisation as "a major hurdle": studies use different multi-component extracts, so results are hard to compare or attribute. A 2024 review of Ayurvedic herbs in women's health, and a 2025 fertility review, both call for more rigorous clinical trials. The animal-evidence deep dive explains why most of this pile cannot answer questions about people.

Breast Milk: The Signature Claim

The most direct test is a 2025 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in India. It enrolled 120 women who had just given birth and intended to breastfeed; they took 300 mg of a Shatavari root extract or a placebo twice a day for 72 hours. Among the 113 who finished, the Shatavari group reached noticeable breast fullness sooner after a feed and expressed a larger volume of milk at 72 hours. More of them reported being satisfied with lactation (52.6% against 25.0%). No adverse events were recorded.

That is a positive result, but it is one short trial, measured over three days, without longer outcomes such as how long women went on to breastfeed. LactMed summarises the wider record as "mixed": several older studies tested Shatavari inside multi-herb mixtures, and one small, well-run study found larger rises in the hormone prolactin and in infant weight with Shatavari than with placebo. A 2012 review of galactagogues available in the US concluded that, for asparagus among others, "efficacy and safety data in the literature are lacking." The lactation deep dive reads these studies in detail.

Menopause, PCOS and Female Reproductive Health

Four recent trials tested Shatavari around the menopause:

A 2026 trial in 70 women with PCOS found no difference in ovarian volume (its main structural outcome) after 12 weeks, but reported lower stress scores, a lower follicle count and a thicker uterine lining with the extract; hormone levels, weight and laboratory tests did not differ. Reviews that discuss fertility describe the evidence as preliminary. The menopause and reproductive health deep dive covers each trial and its limits, including the fact that a further 2025 perimenopause trial was retracted.

Muscle, Bone and Digestion

Muscle and bone. In a 2021 UK trial, 20 postmenopausal women (average age 68.5) took 1,000 mg a day of Shatavari or a placebo for six weeks. Grip strength rose slightly with Shatavari (+0.7 kg against −0.4 kg), and muscle biopsies showed a change in a protein linked to muscle contraction; leg strength did not change, and neither did blood markers of bone turnover. The postmenopause trial above, by contrast, reported falls in bone-breakdown markers over 24 weeks. With so few women and such different designs, the two cannot be reconciled yet.

Digestion. A 1990 crossover study in eight healthy men measured how fast the stomach empties. Shatavari cut the half-emptying time from about 160 minutes to about 101 minutes, a similar effect to the drug metoclopramide (about 85 minutes); the two did not differ significantly. That is one small study of a physiological measure, not evidence about indigestion symptoms or ulcers.

As a food. In Sri Lanka, leafy porridges made with plant-leaf water extracts are a household remedy. One study measured the glycaemic index (how sharply a food raises blood sugar) of an Asparagus racemosus leaf porridge at 37, which counts as low — though rice and coconut milk make up most of such porridges, so the figure says more about the dish than the plant.

Laboratory and Animal Findings

A large share of what is written about Shatavari online traces back to non-human research. Examples from the research behind this page:

Reviews of the plant's adaptogenic and brain effects describe changes in stress hormones, brain chemistry and antioxidant enzymes, largely from this kind of preclinical work. None of these findings has been shown in people.

Forms and Doses Used in Studies

Shatavari is sold and used as dried root powder, as standardised root-extract capsules, as decoctions and as an ingredient in multi-herb formulas. A 2023 food-science review notes that the fresh roots spoil quickly and that drying and irradiation are the only preservation methods reported so far.

Doses reported in the trial abstracts on this page:

These were different extracts made in different ways, so the milligram figures are not interchangeable. LactMed adds that dietary supplements often differ from their labels and that "clinical testing results on one product may not be applicable to other products."

Safety: What Is Known and Not Known

The trials reported few side effects. The lactation trial recorded no adverse events; the three-arm menopause trial recorded nausea in one woman taking Shatavari alone; the PCOS trial reported mild-to-moderate events in 11.4% of the extract group and 8.5% of the placebo group, judged unrelated to treatment; the perimenopause trial found no adverse effects on liver or kidney tests.

Those trials were short and small, which limits what they can detect. LactMed states that the safety of Shatavari "has not been rigorously studied," while noting that small clinical studies found no adverse effects in mothers or their nursing infants. A dedicated search of PubMed for Shatavari toxicity or safety studies, run for this page, returned no records beyond those already listed. There is no good data on long-term use, pregnancy or drug interactions.

No study has looked at people with hormone-sensitive conditions, such as hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer or endometriosis. That gap matters because the perimenopause trial reported rises in estradiol and FSH and the plant is widely described as "phytoestrogenic" — even though no study shows an oestrogen-like effect in human tissue. A 2025 fertility review states that it is "crucial for pregnant and breastfeeding women to consult healthcare professionals before using Shatavari due to potential interactions and contraindications." Decisions about supplements belong with a clinician.

A Plant Under Pressure

Demand for the root has outrun wild supply. A 2007 review described harvesting as "destructive" — the whole root cluster is dug up — and, combined with deforestation, said the plant "is now considered 'endangered' in its natural habitat." A 2023 review repeats that assessment. The 2007 review also flagged deliberate or accidental adulteration of the traded root.

Cultivation is the proposed answer. A 2020 field study of 12 cultivated lines in Gujarat, framed as restoring an "over exploited species," identified lines with high root yield and high shatavarin IV content and judged the crop an economically viable replacement for some traditional field crops.

The Bottom Line

Shatavari is a long-used Ayurvedic root with a clear traditional identity — a tonic for women and a milk-promoting herb — and a chemistry dominated by steroidal saponins. A small group of recent, short, placebo-controlled trials in women report better milk volume, fewer menopausal symptoms and some changes in PCOS measures, with few side effects. Those trials are few, mostly small, share authors, and in one case have been retracted.

Beyond that, the evidence is laboratory and animal work. The widely repeated claim that Shatavari is "estrogenic" rests on traditional description, computer modelling and the plant's chemistry, not on demonstrated effects in human tissue. Long-term safety, pregnancy safety and drug interactions have not been studied.

Key Research Papers

  1. Ajgaonkar A, Debnath T, Bhatnagar S, et al. Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus Willd) root extract for postpartum lactation: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology : the journal of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2025;45(1):2564168. PubMed PMID: 41055223
  2. Wild Asparagus. Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 2006. PubMed PMID: 30000872
  3. Forinash AB, Yancey AM, Barnes KN, et al. The use of galactogogues in the breastfeeding mother. The Annals of pharmacotherapy. 2012;46(10):1392-404. PubMed PMID: 23012383
  4. Mahajan S, Avad P, Langade J. Efficacy and Safety of Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) Root Extract for Perimenopause: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. International journal of women's health. 2025;17:4057-4073. PubMed PMID: 41209045
  5. Gudise VS, Dasari MP, Kuricheti SSK. Efficacy and Safety of Shatavari Root Extract for the Management of Menopausal Symptoms: A Double-Blind, Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial. Cureus. 2024;16(4):e57879. PubMed PMID: 38725785
  6. Ademola J, Ajgaonkar A, Debnath T, et al. Efficacy and safety of Shatavari root extract (Asparagus racemosus) for menopausal symptoms: a randomized, double-blind, three-arm, placebo-controlled study. Frontiers in reproductive health. 2025;7:1654503. PubMed PMID: 41394012
  7. Pingali U, Nutalapati C, Wang Y. Ashwagandha and Shatavari Extracts Dose-Dependently Reduce Menopause Symptoms, Vascular Dysfunction, and Bone Resorption in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Journal of menopausal medicine. 2025;31(1):21-34. PubMed PMID: 40347163
  8. O'Leary MF, Jackman SR, Sabou VR, et al. Shatavari Supplementation in Postmenopausal Women Improves Handgrip Strength and Increases Vastus lateralis Myosin Regulatory Light Chain Phosphorylation but Does Not Alter Markers of Bone Turnover. Nutrients. 2021;13(12). PubMed PMID: 34959836
  9. Mhatre Y, Jadhav P, Malik A, et al. Efficacy and safety of Shatavari root extract in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Frontiers in endocrinology. 2026;17:1769773. PubMed PMID: 41816216
  10. Dalvi SS, Nadkarni PM, Gupta KC. Effect of Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) on gastric emptying time in normal healthy volunteers. Journal of postgraduate medicine. 1990;36(2):91-4. PubMed PMID: 2097375
  11. Anuruddhika Subhashinie Senadheera SP, Ekanayake S. Green leafy porridges: how good are they in controlling glycaemic response?. International journal of food sciences and nutrition. 2013;64(2):169-74. PubMed PMID: 22849311
  12. Bopana N, Saxena S. Asparagus racemosus--ethnopharmacological evaluation and conservation needs. Journal of ethnopharmacology. 2007;110(1):1-15. PubMed PMID: 17240097
  13. Goyal RK, Singh J, Lal H. Asparagus racemosus--an update. Indian journal of medical sciences. 2003;57(9):408-14. PubMed PMID: 14515032
  14. Singh R. Asparagus racemosus: a review on its phytochemical and therapeutic potential. Natural product research. 2016;30(17):1896-908. PubMed PMID: 26463825
  15. Kohli D, Champawat PS, Mudgal VD. Asparagus (Asparagus racemosus L.) roots: nutritional profile, medicinal profile, preservation, and value addition. Journal of the science of food and agriculture. 2023;103(5):2239-2250. PubMed PMID: 36433663
  16. Banerjee P, Das A, Kumar P, et al. An Updated Insight on the Chemistry, Ethnobotany, and Health Benefits of Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari): With a Special Emphasis on Shatavarin IV. Journal of the American Nutrition Association. 2025;44(8):681-692. PubMed PMID: 40334116
  17. Majumdar S, Gupta S, Prajapati SK, et al. Neuro-nutraceutical potential of Asparagus racemosus: A review. Neurochemistry international. 2021;145:105013. PubMed PMID: 33689806
  18. Patibandla S, Gallagher JJ, Patibandla L, et al. Ayurvedic Herbal Medicines: A Literature Review of Their Applications in Female Reproductive Health. Cureus. 2024;16(2):e55240. PubMed PMID: 38558676
  19. Oyovwi MO, Chijiokwu EA, Ben-Azu B, et al. Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus): A Promising Ally for Fertility. Current nutrition reports. 2025;14(1):108. PubMed PMID: 40974515
  20. Saran PL, Singh S, Solanki VH, et al. Identification of potential accessions of Asparagus racemosus for root yield and shatavarin IV content. Heliyon. 2020;6(12):e05674. PubMed PMID: 33336097

PubMed Topic Searches

  1. PubMed: Asparagus racemosus (all studies)
  2. PubMed: Shatavari randomised trials
  3. PubMed: Shatavari and lactation
  4. PubMed: Shatavarins
  5. PubMed: Shatavari toxicity and safety

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Connections

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