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Kokilaksha

Hygrophila auriculata

Kokilaksha (Hygrophila auriculata) is a plant drug, also called Kokilaksah, Gokulakamta and Talamakhana. Milk-based preparations (Ksheera Paka) significantly enhance phytoecdysteroid absorption due to lipid carrier effect. Piperine co-administration improves ecdysterone bioavailability by inhibiting CYP3A4 metabolism.

Key facts
Botanical nameHygrophila auriculata
FamilyAcanthaceae · other entries in this family
OrderLamiales
Taxon identifiersGBIF 5415352 · Wikidata Q3537349 · NCBI Taxonomy 2030897
Names in other languages
Sanskritकोकिलाक्षः (kokilākṣaḥ)
Hindiगोकुलकाँटा (gokulakāṁṭā), तालमखाना (tālamakhānā)
Tamilநீர்முள்ளி

Sources: Flowers of India / "Names of Plants in India" Marsh Barbel (Hygrophila auriculata) page gives Tamil "நீர்முள்ளி nir-mulli"; efloraofindia's page for the same species independently gives நீர்முள்ளி.; Flowers of India / "Names of Plants in India", Marsh Barbel (Hygrophila auriculata) page: Hindi "ताल मखाना tal makhana" (with भानकरी, गोक्षुर, कोकिल आंख, क्षुर, त्रिकट, त्रिवर्णक); efloraofindia gives ताल मखाना too.; Flowers of India, Marsh Barbel page: Sanskrit "कोकिलाक्षः kokilaksah"; efloraofindia gives कोकिलाक्ष plus गोकण्ट and त्रिकट.; efloraofindia, Hygrophila auriculata: Hindi "गोकुलकाँटा gokulkanta".. How we source.

The evidence at a glance

12papers on this site for this drug, published 2006 to 2025, every one with a DOI.

  • 2Other clinical studies and reviews
  • 10Laboratory and animal studies

A count is not a conclusion and a tier is a study design, not a verdict. Everything listed here is laboratory or animal work, which does not show an effect in people. Each paper is listed with what it measured on the page below. See the research index for how papers are tiered.

Names and identification

LanguageName
EnglishKokilaksha

Ayurvedic pharmacology (Dravyaguna)

PropertyValueDescription
Rasa (Taste)TiktaPrimary taste
Guna (Quality)LaghuPhysical quality
Virya (Potency)SheetaHeating/Cooling effect
Vipaka (Post-digestive)MadhuraPost-digestive effect

Dosage forms and preparation

Dosage Forms: Churna (powder), Kashayam (decoction), Capsule, Tablet, Taila (medicated oil), Ksheera Paka (milk decoction)

Standard Dosage: 3-6 g powder twice daily; 50-100 mL decoction; 500 mg capsule twice daily; 100 mL Ksheera Paka once daily

Optimal Timing: With milk for reproductive and anabolic applications (evening preferred); before meals for urinary conditions; Ksheera Paka at bedtime

Storage: Store in airtight containers at 15-30°C. Seed powder is prone to insect infestation, fumigate or use vacuum packaging. Ksheera Paka must be refrigerated and consumed within 24 hours.

Marker Compounds: 20-Hydroxyecdysone (Beta-ecdysterone), 25-Hydroxydacryhainansterone, Asteracanthine, Asteracanthicine, Lupeol, Stigmasterol, Betulinic acid, Apigenin

Synergistic Combinations

Published research

Literature indexed in PubMed that concerns this subject, grouped by study type. A paper appearing here is a record of what has been published, not evidence that the subject works, and laboratory or animal results do not transfer to people. Study titles link to PubMed so you can read the source rather than take our word.

Other clinical studies and reviews2

  1. Sethiya NK, Ahmed NM, Shekh RM and others. 2018. Ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological updates on Hygrophila auriculata (Schum.) Hiene: an overviewJournal of integrative medicine. PMID 30007830 · doi:10.1016/j.joim.2018.07.002
  2. Vijayakumar M, Govindarajan R, Rao GM and others. 2006. Action of Hygrophila auriculata against streptozotocin-induced oxidative stressJournal of ethnopharmacology. PMID 16289604 · doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.09.030

Laboratory and animal studies10

  1. Philip JL, Chakraborty S, Vijayarangan DR. 2025. Toxicity studies on Danio rerio (zebrafish) models using yttrium oxide nanoparticles from Hygrophila auriculata and their potential biological and environmental applicationsEnvironmental toxicology and chemistry. PMID 40459880 · doi:10.1093/etojnl/vgaf141
  2. Alghamdi MA, Azam F, Sarfaraj Hussain M and others. 2025. Isolation, Characterization, and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of β-Sitosterol-β-D-Glucoside from Hygrophila auriculata: Experimental Validation, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamics SimulationsChemistry & biodiversity. PMID 39471254 · doi:10.1002/cbdv.202401927
  3. Almutairi FM. 2024. Antihyperglycemic Potential of Dried Powder Combination of Hygrophila auriculata and Cordia macleodii: In Vivo Study in Sprague Dawley RatsJournal of pharmacy & bioallied sciences. PMID 39926789 · doi:10.4103/jpbs.jpbs_555_24
  4. Ghosh C, Maity R, Roy A and others. 2023. Dose-Dependent Protective Effect of Hygrophila auriculata Seeds on Cyproterone Acetate-Induced Testicular DysfunctionReproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.). PMID 37286756 · doi:10.1007/s43032-023-01279-9
  5. Kumar J, Priyadharshini M, Madhavi M and others. 2022. Impact of Hygrophila auriculata supplementary diets on the growth, survival, biochemical and haematological parameters in fingerlings of freshwater fish Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822)Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology. PMID 34688885 · doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2021.111097
  6. Ghosh C, Mallick C. 2020. Protective effect of ethanolic extract of Hygrophila auriculata seeds in cyproterone acetate-induced sexual dysfunction in male albino ratsAndrologia. PMID 31815317 · doi:10.1111/and.13482
  7. Zihad SMNK, Gupt Y, Uddin SJ and others. 2019. Nutritional value, micronutrient and antioxidant capacity of some green leafy vegetables commonly used by southern coastal people of BangladeshHeliyon. PMID 31768435 · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02768
  8. Hussain MS, Azam F, Ahamed KF and others. 2016. Anti-endotoxin effects of terpenoids fraction from Hygrophila auriculata in lipopolysaccharide-induced septic shock in ratsPharmaceutical biology. PMID 26428681 · doi:10.3109/13880209.2015.1070877
  9. Kanhere R, Anjana A, Anbu J and others. 2013. Neuroprotective and antioxidant potential of terpenoid fraction from Hygrophila auriculata against transient global cerebral ischemia in ratsPharmaceutical biology. PMID 23153190 · doi:10.3109/13880209.2012.716851
  10. Raj VP, Chandrasekhar RH, P V and others. 2010. In vitro and in vivo hepatoprotective effects of the total alkaloid fraction of Hygrophila auriculata leavesIndian journal of pharmacology. PMID 20711375 · doi:10.4103/0253-7613.64500

Reference lists that include it

Lupeol, Stigmasterol

Reviewed by Dr. Awadesh Pratap Singh, BAMS, on 11 October 2026. What that review covered.

Consult a qualified vaidya before acting on anything here. Ayurvedic practice is prescribed to a person, not to a condition: the same dravya is given, withheld or substituted depending on your constitution, your agni, the season and what else you are already taking. A page cannot know any of that. Self-prescribing from a reference is how the wrong preparation, the wrong dose or the wrong anupana gets used.

Educational reference only. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a diagnosis, or a recommendation to take anything. Traditional uses and research findings are reported as published, not as claims about what any product does. If you take prescribed medication, raise any interaction with the prescriber rather than acting on a page. See our editorial standards.