Shatavari is known as the ‘Queen of Herbs’ as the herb is much effective in treating many disorders affecting women, especially the problems related to the female reproductive system. Noted Ayurvedic practitioner Dr Pretty Prabhakaran gives a brief information on the herb found at low altitudes throughout India.

Scientific name: Asparagus racemosus wild

Family: Liliaceae

Names

Sanskrit      - Shatavari, Shatamuli, Shataveerya, Atirasa

Hindi          - Satavar

Malayalam – Shatavari

Kannada     - Majjige gande

Telungu      - Challa gadda

English        - Asparagus

Shatavari in Sanskrit means “the plant with hundred roots” owing to numerous roots of this natural herb. The stems are thorny, delicate, brittle and smooth. The leaves are reduced to minute spines. Flowers are white in simple or branched racemes. Fruits are globular and purplish in colour when they ripe. Roots are succulent and tuberous, from 30cm to 1meter in length and smooth tapering on both ends.

Properties

Rasa – Madhura, Tikta

Guna – Guru, Snigda

Veerya – Seeta

Vipaka – Madhura

Medicinal uses

Useful part – rhizome.

1)      It’s useful to mitigate aggregated vata & pitta and provides nourishment and has coolant properties. The extracted juice of rhizome mixed with honey is advocated in conditions like Leucorrhea – white, greenish or a slightly yellow discharge from the vagina, and Menorrhagia (menstrual periods with abnormally heavy or prolonged bleeding; need medical evaluation to rule out the cause of excess bleeding)

2)      Medicated milk boiled with rhizome of Shatavari or its powder boiled in milk can be used to treat Urinary Tract Infection

3)      Shatavari granules can be taken with milk by those suffering from Stanya kshaya (low breast milk)

4)      Shatavari extract of rhizome can be taken with equal amounts of water for complaints like hyperacidity, Peptic Ulcer.

5)      Shatavari helps in treating numerous hormonal problems and conditions like endometriosis (inflammation of the lining of the uterus) in females