Centella asiatica is a low-growing, creeping plant from the Apiaceae family (the same family as celery and carrots) that has been used for centuries across Asia to heal wounds, improve skin, and sharpen cognition. You’ve likely seen it listed as gotu kola, Asiatic pennywort, Indian pennywort, or “cica” on skincare labels. It grows throughout the tropics and subtropics, with deep roots in traditional medicine systems from India to Southeast Asia, where it’s known by over 60 indigenous names.
What the Plant Actually Contains
The compounds that make centella asiatica useful are a group of triterpenoids, which are molecules the plant produces naturally. The two most abundant are madecassoside and asiaticoside, with smaller amounts of their breakdown products, madecassic acid and asiatic acid. In typical extracts, madecassoside is present at roughly 3.1 mg/mL and asiaticoside at about 2.0 mg/mL, while the two acids appear at much lower concentrations around 0.55 mg/mL each.
These four compounds work together but have slightly different strengths. Asiaticoside and madecassoside are the heavy hitters for collagen production and skin repair. Asiatic acid plays a larger role in strengthening newly formed tissue. This combination is why centella appears in both wound care products and anti-aging serums.
How It Affects Your Skin
Centella’s reputation in skincare comes down to one core ability: it stimulates your skin cells to produce more collagen. Specifically, asiaticoside triggers fibroblasts (the cells responsible for building your skin’s structural framework) to ramp up production of type I collagen, the strongest form. It does this by activating a signaling pathway that tells cells to synthesize new collagen proteins. Madecassoside works through the same signaling pathway, reinforcing the effect.
This isn’t just a lab finding. In a four-week study of 25 volunteers, cosmetic formulations containing 5% centella extract applied twice daily produced the best results for skin hydration and barrier function compared to lower concentrations. The 5% formulation also showed anti-inflammatory properties, reducing skin redness in a controlled inflammation model. If you’re shopping for centella products, that 5% concentration is a useful benchmark, though formulations at 2.5% also showed measurable hydration benefits.
Wound Healing Benefits
Centella’s longest-standing use is in wound care, and the European Medicines Agency officially recognizes it as a traditional herbal medicine for aiding the healing of minor wounds. The science behind this is more detailed than you might expect.
When skin is injured, healing happens in stages. First new tissue forms, rich in a softer type III collagen. Over time, the body replaces this with stronger type I collagen that gives healed skin its tensile strength. Centella accelerates both phases. It increases the rate of new cell growth and re-epithelialization (the process of new skin covering a wound), while also boosting the production and cross-linking of collagen fibers, making the repaired tissue stronger.
In animal studies, topical application of asiaticoside at just 0.2% concentration significantly increased the collagen content and tensile strength of healing wounds. This effect has also been demonstrated in diabetic wound models, where healing is normally delayed. Oral centella extract similarly reduced wound area and sped up closure by promoting cellular proliferation and fibroblast activity.
Effects on the Brain and Mood
Centella has a long traditional reputation as a cognitive enhancer, and laboratory research has begun to map out why. In brain cells, centella extract protects against damage from beta-amyloid, the protein fragment that accumulates in Alzheimer’s disease. It does this through several mechanisms at once: boosting mitochondrial energy production, improving the cell’s antioxidant defenses, and suppressing inflammatory enzymes.
Beyond just protecting neurons, centella appears to help them grow. Studies show it increases dendritic branching and the formation of new synapses, essentially helping brain cells build more connections. In aged mice, a water extract of centella improved memory retention. In mouse models of brain aging, it improved performance on standard memory and anxiety tests.
Centella also shows anxiolytic (anxiety-reducing) properties. This has been demonstrated in healthy animals as well as in models of chronic stress and sleep deprivation. Human studies remain limited, but the consistency of animal data across multiple research groups supports centella’s traditional use for calming the mind.
Circulation and Vein Health
One of centella’s lesser-known uses is in treating chronic venous insufficiency, the condition where leg veins struggle to return blood efficiently to the heart, causing swelling, heaviness, and pain. A systematic review of eight clinical trials found that centella significantly improved microcirculation, including measurable changes in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels at the skin surface and reduced rates of ankle swelling. Patients taking centella consistently reported improvement in leg heaviness, pain, and edema compared to control groups.
Not the Same as Bacopa
One common point of confusion: centella asiatica is often mixed up with Bacopa monnieri because both plants are sometimes called “Brahmi” in traditional medicine. They are entirely different species from different plant families. Bacopa belongs to the Plantaginaceae family and contains bacosides as its active compounds, while centella’s active compounds are the triterpenoids described above. Both have cognitive benefits, but they work through different mechanisms. A practical distinction for skincare shoppers: Bacopa has no reported skin benefits and isn’t used in cosmetics. If a product says “Brahmi” without specifying the species, check the ingredients list for centella asiatica or bacopa monnieri to know which you’re getting.
Safety and Side Effects
Centella has a strong safety profile. In clinical trials, it has been well tolerated with only mild, transient side effects like headache, dizziness, bloating, nausea, or stomach upset, and these occurred at similar rates in people taking a placebo. Topical use occasionally triggers allergic contact dermatitis, though this is rare.
Some guidelines recommend limiting continuous oral use to six weeks at a time, particularly at higher doses, where drowsiness and dizziness become more likely. There are no known severe adverse effects at recommended doses. The plant has no established toxicity threshold in normal use, though as with any supplement, quality and sourcing vary widely between products.