La Biblioteca de la NaturalezaEN·ES
← La BoticaAsteraceaeaerial parts (herb), leaf and shoot juice, whole plantVerificado el 24 de octubre de 2026

Las fichas de la Botica están en inglés mientras se traducen.

False daisy

Eclipta prostrata

También llamadaBhringraj / Bhringaraj (Sanskrit, Hindi) · Bhumiraj (Nepali) · Mo han lian (Chinese) · Ecliptae Herba (pharmacopoeial name) · Erva-botão (Portuguese, Brazil) · Ink plant

En monografías antiguasEclipta alba

A small white-flowered weed of wet ground, known in India as bhringraj and in China as mo han lian. In Ayurveda its juice and medicated oils are used for hair loss and greying and for the liver; in Chinese medicine it 'cools the blood' to stop bleeding and nourishes liver and kidney yin, often paired with glossy privet. Liver-protective and hair-growth effects are shown in rats and mice, but there are no clinical trials of the herb on its own.

Para qué se usa

  • Leaf extracts promoted hair growth in rats and mice at rates comparable to 2% minoxidil. In a 120-day randomised trial in 75 adults with hair loss and greying, an Ayurvedic polyherbal oil containing bhringraj (Neeli Bhringadi oil) improved hair growth, density and greying scores from baseline; because the oil has many ingredients, the effect of eclipta alone is unknown.1,2,3

  • Extracts protected rats against carbon-tetrachloride liver injury, and folk medicine in India and Bangladesh uses it for jaundice; a 2021 review notes that clinical significance has not been studied.1,3

  • Hemorragias
    Tradicional

    In Chinese medicine it is a blood-cooling haemostatic for nose, mouth, urinary, rectal and uterine bleeding; the Tang Materia Medica (659 CE) records it for bloody dysentery.3

  • Heridas y cortes
    Tradicional

    Leaves and shoots are used in Nepal to prevent and treat wound infection, and in India for cuts and skin problems.1

  • Diarrea
    Tradicional

    In Indian folk medicine shoot juice with mustard oil is taken for diarrhoea and dysentery; in Brazil it is used for diarrhoea.1,3

  • Menopausia
    Tradicional

    The pair of eclipta and glossy privet (the Erzhi formula) is among the herb pairs most frequently prescribed for menopausal symptoms in Chinese medicine; no clinical trials of either herb alone were found.3

Cómo se prepara

juice

Fresh leaf or shoot juice, taken by mouth or applied to the scalp; with honey it is a folk remedy for catarrh in infants.

Cabello y cuero cabelludo

infused oil

Herb cooked into an oil base with other herbs (for example Neeli Bhringadi taila) and massaged into the scalp.

Cabello y cuero cabelludo

Las cantidades son las que registra la fuente citada, no una recomendación.

Seguridad

Embarazo
Datos insuficientes
Lactancia
Datos insuficientes
Niños
No paediatric safety data found.

Efectos secundarios

  • The polyherbal hair-oil trial reported favourable safety; human safety data for the herb itself are lacking

Toxicidad

Water extracts caused acute toxicity in mice at doses above 2 g/kg per day. Human toxicity data are lacking.

En las tradiciones curativas

  • Ayurveda

    Bhringaraj

    Used for its revitalising and anti-ageing properties, and for hair loss and premature greying, applied in medicated oils such as Neeli Bhringadi taila for head massage (shiro abhyanga).

    Neeli Bhringadi taila (classical Ayurvedic formulation)

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine

    Mo han lian

    Cold and sour; tonifies liver and kidney, cools the blood and stops bleeding in yin deficiency with blood heat. Combined in equal parts with glossy privet fruit (Ligustrum lucidum) as Erzhi Wan, the 'two solstices pill', named for the summer and winter solstice harvests of its two herbs, for dizziness, tinnitus, weak back and knees and premature greying.

    Tang Materia Medica (659 CE), as 'li chang'; Erzhi Wan first recorded as Nüzhen Dan in Fu Shou Jing Fang (1536); Chinese Pharmacopoeia

  • Andean / Amazonian

    Erva-botão

    In Brazil used for lung complaints, diarrhoea, syphilis, snakebite, filariasis and leprosy; ethnic groups in South America use it for snakebite.

Compuestos activos

wedelolactone
coumestan; the Chinese Pharmacopoeia quality marker (at least 0.040%); linked to hair-growth and liver effects in animal studies
eclalbasaponins / ecliptasaponins
triterpenoid saponins
α-terthienyl
thiophene
luteolin and apigenin
flavones

Historia

The Tang Materia Medica of 659 CE first recorded the herb under the name 'li chang', for bloody dysentery. In 1536 the Ming formulary Fu Shou Jing Fang paired it with glossy privet in Nüzhen Dan, later called Erzhi Wan, the 'two solstices pill', because eclipta is harvested at the summer solstice and privet at the winter solstice.

Fuentes

  1. 1.Timalsina D, Devkota HP. Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. (Asteraceae): ethnomedicinal uses, chemical constituents, and biological activities. Biomolecules 2021
  2. 2.Patel MN et al. An integrative approach of Neeli Bhringraj polyherbal hair oil in clinical evaluation of androgenetic alopecia and premature hair greying. Cureus 2026
  3. 3.Li X et al. The modern scientific interpretation of ancient wisdom: a review of the phytochemistry and pharmacology of Erzhi Pill and its constituent botanical drugs. Front Pharmacol 2026
  4. 4.GBIF: Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. (accepted; IUCN Least Concern)

Referencia, no receta. Nada de esto es consejo médico. Las hierbas pueden interactuar con medicamentos y ser peligrosas en el embarazo; informa a tu médico o farmacéutico de todo lo que tomes.