Herb library · Herb · Clitoria ternatea
Butterfly pea
A climbing pea with deep blue flowers, made into a blue drink and used as a natural food color. A few small, short studies in people have looked at blood sugar and blood fats after a meal; nothing longer-term has been studied.
Traditional use
A tropical climbing vine. In Ayurvedic writing it is Aparajita or Gokarna, names for Shiva, to whom the flowers are sacred; Sanskrit texts used the root as a laxative and diuretic. Kirtikar and Basu's 1918 survey adds that in the Konkan the root juice was given in cold milk for chronic bronchitis, and records its names across India, from Aparâjitâ in Sanskrit and Bengali to Kakkanam-kodi in Tamil. In 1890 Dymock recorded a syrup of the flowers recommended as a coloring. Today the flowers are made into a blue drink, and the flower extract is used as a natural food color.
What studies show
- Limited
Blood sugar after sugar: in a small randomized crossover trial in 15 healthy young men, a drink with the flower extract taken with sugar lowered the rise in blood sugar and insulin over the next half hour. The extract alone did not lower fasting blood sugar.
- Limited
Blood fats after a high-fat meal: in a small trial in 16 overweight or obese men, 2 g of the extract with the meal lowered the rise in triglycerides over six hours; blood sugar and markers of inflammation did not differ.
- Limited
Dandruff: in a study of 70 young women, a 20% butterfly pea shampoo and a 2% ketoconazole shampoo reduced dandruff severity about equally, with fewer side effects in the butterfly pea group. There was no placebo group.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteThe studies in people were small and short: single meals, or a few weeks of shampoo use. The safety of taking the extract regularly over a longer time has not been studied.
- NoteThe FDA approved butterfly pea flower extract as a color additive for food in 2021. That approval covers its use as a coloring in food, not larger amounts taken as a supplement.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“Sanskrit writers describe the root as laxative and diuretic, useful in ascites, fevers, &c. (Dutt).”
“The author of the Bengal Dispensatory after extensive experiments denies its emetic properties, but says that an alcoholic extract proved a brisk purgative in doses of from 5 to 10 grains; he found it however to give rise to griping and tenesmus, and does not recommend its use.”
“Haines has recommended a syrup of the deep blue flowers as a colouring agent, and a tincture as a substitute for litmus.”
Sources
- Acute effect of Clitoria ternatea flower beverage on glycemic response and antioxidant capacity in healthy subjects: a randomized crossover trial (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Clitoria ternatea Flower Extract Attenuates Postprandial Lipemia and Increases Plasma Antioxidant Status Responses to a High-Fat Meal Challenge in Overweight and Obese Participants (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Anti-dandruff effects of butterfly pea flowers (Clitoria ternatea)-based shampoo: A pretest-posttest control study (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Summary of Color Additives for Use in the United States in Foods, Drugs, Cosmetics, and Medical Devices (opens in a new tab) · FDA · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.