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Herb library · Herb · Picrorhiza kurroa

Kutki (katuka)

The intensely bitter root of a small Himalayan plant, a classic Ayurvedic remedy for fever and digestion and sold today for the liver. One small trial in the 1990s looked at it for acute viral hepatitis; there is little else in people.

Traditional use

Dutt's 1877 compilation from Sanskrit medical works records that its Sanskrit names were Kaṭuká and Kaṭurohini, and that Hindu physicians described the root as bitter, acrid and stomachic and, in larger doses, a moderate cathartic. It was used in fever and dyspepsia and in many purgative medicines: taken with sugar and warm water as a mild purgative, boiled with licorice, raisins and neem bark for bilious fever, and powdered with calamus, chebulic myrobalan and plumbago root for dyspepsia. Traditional uses listed in a 2022 review also include jaundice, constipation, skin problems and breathing complaints. Today it is sold as powders and capsules, often in combination liver products.

Traditional energetics

What studies show

  • Insufficient

    Acute viral hepatitis: one randomized, double-blind trial from 1996 in 33 people found that 375 mg of the root powder three times a day for 2 weeks brought bilirubin and liver enzymes down faster than placebo. It was very small and has not been repeated.

  • Insufficient

    Liver health and other uses: most research is in the laboratory and in animals, and the other trials in people tested it only as one ingredient of multi-herb products.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • AmountSafe amounts and long-term safety have not been established in studies in people.
  • NoteIt is often one ingredient of multi-herb liver products, so check labels for what else you are taking.
  • PregnancyNCCIH advises talking with your clinician before using Ayurvedic products while pregnant or nursing.
  • 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.

“The root of Piororrhiza Kurroa is described as bitter, acrid and stomachic and in larger doses a moderate cathartic. It is used in fever and dyspepsia and as an ingredient of various purgative medicines.”
Udoy Chand Dutt, The Materia Medica of the Hindus (1877), p. 212. See the page of The Materia Medica of the Hindus, p. 212 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from The Materia Medica of the Hindus, p. 212

Sources

  1. Picrorhiza kurroa (Kutaki) Royle ex Benth as a hepatoprotective agent--experimental & clinical studies (1996) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Pharmacological and Clinical Efficacy of Picrorhiza kurroa and Its Secondary Metabolites: A Comprehensive Review (2022) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Ayurvedic Medicine: In Depth (opens in a new tab) · NCCIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.