Gotu kola has become one of the most in-demand cosmetic actives in the world under the name cica, and the rush has outpaced the specifications. Buyers ask for “total triterpenes 10%” and receive material that may be almost entirely one compound — often not the one their formulation is built on. Add a plant that grows in standing water and a shared vernacular name with an unrelated herb, and this is an ingredient that rewards precision.
What Is Gotu Kola?
Gotu kola (Centella asiatica (L.) Urban) is a creeping herb of the Apiaceae family found across wetlands and damp ground throughout South and Southeast Asia. In Sanskrit it is mandukaparni; in modern cosmetic shorthand it is cica.
Its actives are four pentacyclic triterpenes:
| Compound | Type | Wanted especially by |
|---|---|---|
| Asiaticoside | Glycoside | Nutraceutical and cosmetic |
| Madecassoside | Glycoside | Cosmetic (cica) |
| Asiatic acid | Aglycone | TECA specifications |
| Madecassic acid | Aglycone | TECA specifications |
Why "Total Triterpenes" Is Not a Specification
The four are commonly summed into a single figure. That sum is a useful concentration measure and it is silent about composition.
A "total triterpenes 10%" material could be:
- Balanced across all four, or
- Almost entirely asiaticoside with negligible madecassoside, or
- Weighted toward whichever fraction was cheapest to produce.
All three meet the specification. Only one may suit your formulation.
The specification line: "Total triterpenes NLT 10% w/w by HPLC, with asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid each reported individually on the Certificate of Analysis." This costs a supplier nothing — the total is calculated from those four numbers, so a proper HPLC method already produces them. Reporting only the sum is a choice to withhold. The detail is in our standardisation guide.
If You Are a Cosmetic Buyer, Say Madecassoside
The cica category is built substantially on madecassoside. A cosmetic brand marketing on cica positioning while specifying only a total triterpene figure may receive material with very little of it.
Specify madecassoside as its own line with its own minimum. This is the single most common gap in cosmetic centella specifications.
TECA: A Ratio, Not a Total
Worth knowing because it predates the cosmetic boom and still governs some registrations.
TECA (also seen as TTFCA) is a pharmaceutical-heritage specification defining a ratio of asiaticoside to asiatic acid and madecassic acid in set proportions, rather than a bare total.
The difference is exactly the point of this guide: TECA constrains composition; a total does not. If your formulation or registration references TECA or TTFCA, specify it explicitly and require the individual figures so the ratio is verifiable rather than asserted.
The Wetland Problem: Heavy Metals
This deserves prominence rather than a line in a contaminant table.
Centella is a wetland plant. It creeps across damp ground, marshy areas and the margins of standing water. Plants growing that way are efficient accumulators of heavy metals present in the water and soil.
Material collected from uncharacterised wetland sites — near industry, intensive agriculture, or urban run-off — carries genuine risk. On most botanicals a heavy-metal panel is prudent routine. On centella it is a substantive control.
Practically:
- Require ICP-MS with numeric per-element limits, not "complies".
- Require collection status — cultivated or wild-collected — on the certificate.
- Prefer cultivated material where the growing environment is controlled.
- Verify independently. This is the ingredient in our range where third-party metals testing earns its cost most clearly.
The Brahmi Problem
A nomenclature trap that catches buyers regularly, and it is genuinely ambiguous rather than anyone's fault.
In India, the vernacular name brahmi is applied to both:
- Centella asiatica (also mandukaparni) — triterpenes
- Bacopa monnieri — bacosides
Two unrelated plants, different families, entirely different chemistry and markers. A purchase order or label saying "brahmi" can be filled with either in complete good faith.
Always specify the binomial. We have written a full guide to the two brahmis for buyers navigating this.
And a Species Look-Alike
Hydrocotyle species are creeping wetland plants of similar appearance and habit that are not centella — and were historically classified in the same genus, which is precisely why the confusion persists in collection chains.
A total-triterpene assay is not a reliable identity check. Require TLC and HPLC identity against authentic C. asiatica reference material.
What a Genuine Gotu Kola CoA Must Show
| Parameter | Specification / Limit | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Species | Centella asiatica (L.) Urban — binomial | Documentation |
| Identification | vs authentic reference material | TLC / HPLC |
| Total triterpenes | NLT 10% w/w (dry basis) | By HPLC |
| Asiaticoside | Reported individually | By HPLC |
| Madecassoside | Reported individually | By HPLC |
| Asiatic / madecassic acid | Reported individually | By HPLC |
| Heavy metals | ICP-MS, numeric per-element limits | ICP-MS |
| Collection status | Cultivated or wild-collected — declared | Documentation |
| Loss on drying (105°C) | NMT 5.0% | IP-2014 |
| Total ash / acid-insoluble ash | NMT 12% / NMT 2% | IP-2014 |
| Pesticide residues / ETO | Complies EU MRL / not treated | GC-MS, LC-MS/MS |
| Microbiology (TPC / Y&M / pathogens) | NMT 1,000 / NMT 100 / negative | USP <2021>/<2022> |
A Colour Note
Whole-herb grades are brown to dark green and the chlorophyll fades toward brown-green in light — cosmetic, not a triterpene loss. Higher-assay grades are much paler, so read colour against the grade rather than a single expectation.
What to Ask Your Supplier
- Individual triterpene split reported — all four, every batch
- Madecassoside as its own line if you are a cosmetic buyer
- TECA ratio explicitly, if your registration references it
- Heavy metals by ICP-MS with numeric limits
- Collection status — and cultivated where available
- Species by binomial, and identity against reference
- Acid-insoluble ash limited; carriers declared
- Pesticide residue against EU MRL
Our companion gotu kola supplier evaluation guide turns this into a scored checklist. SV Botanica reports the full triterpene split and ICP-MS metals on every certificate.
Source Split-Reported Gotu Kola Extract from India
Individual triterpene split reported per batch · TECA-ratio & cosmetic grades · heavy metals by ICP-MS as a substantive control · CoA-backed · samples for qualified buyers