Herb library · Herb · Plumbago zeylanica
Chitrak (Ceylon leadwort)
The root of a white-flowered shrub of India and Africa, used in Ayurveda for appetite, digestion and piles. It is a skin irritant, it harmed the liver and kidneys of rats and ended pregnancies in rats, and it has not been studied on its own in people.
Traditional use
Charaka's Samhita names the root of Chitraka the foremost of all things that provoke the appetite and relieve pain and swelling of the anus. Dutt's 1877 compilation from Sanskrit medical works records that Hindu physicians gave the root for weak digestion, piles, dropsy, diarrhea and skin diseases, as one of the three drugs of trimada with vidanga and mustaka, and in an old powder of Susruta for flatulence; it was also made into pastes applied to open abscesses and into caustics. In Ayurvedic practice the root is first soaked in lime water to purify it. It is also commonly used for skin diseases in Ethiopia. Today it is sold as a powder and in Ayurvedic blends.
What studies show
No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.
- Insufficient
Any use: no study of chitrak on its own in people was found. Its effects have been studied only in the laboratory and in animals, and the few human studies use multi-herb formulas.
Be careful of
Cautions
- PregnancyDo not use it if you are pregnant or trying to conceive. In female rats, a root extract stopped embryos from implanting and caused pregnancy loss, and the old Indian books record the related red plumbago root being used to end pregnancies.
- NoteIn a 2015 rat study, repeated doses of root extracts raised liver and kidney markers and changed the liver and kidneys; the extracts richest in plumbagin, the root's main compound, were the most toxic.
- NoteThe root extract is a moderate skin irritant in animal tests, and the old books describe the paste being used to blister the skin. Ayurvedic practice soaks the root in lime water first, and a 2025 analysis of market samples found this lowered their plumbagin.
- NoteSome Ayurvedic preparations include metals. The FDA warns that this makes some Ayurvedic products potentially harmful, and a 2015 survey found high lead or mercury levels in some of the supplements tested.
- 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.
“Of all things that are provocative of appetite and destructive of pains and swellings in the anus, the foremost is the root of Chitraka (Plumbago Zeylanica, Linn:)”
“Plumbago root reduced to a paste is applied to abscesses with the object of opening them. It enters also into the composition of several preparations used as caustics.”
Sources
- Toxicity studies on dermal application of plant extract of Plumbago zeylanica used in Ethiopian traditional medicine (J Ethnopharmacol, 2008) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Comparative toxicity profiles of Plumbago zeylanica L. root petroleum ether, acetone and hydroalcoholic extracts in Wistar rats (Ayu, 2015) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Effect of plumbagin free alcohol extract of Plumbago zeylanica Linn. root on reproductive system of female Wistar rats (Asian Pac J Trop Med, 2011) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Ayurveda Detoxification Process Reduces Plumbagin from the Roots of Plumbago zeylanica L. - A RP-UFLC Analysis (J Chromatogr Sci, 2025) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Can Ceylon Leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica L.) Acclimate to Lead Toxicity? (2020) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Ayurvedic Medicine: In Depth (opens in a new tab) · NCCIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.