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Pueraria mirifica is a climbing shrub from northern and northeastern Thailand and Myanmar, valued for its tuberous root used in traditional medicine. Its root is the part people use, and it is best known in herbal supplements rather than as a garden plant.
Pueraria mirifica, also known as กวาวเครือ kwao krua (among other names), is a plant found in northern and northeastern Thailand and Myanmar.
In Thailand, the plant is known as "kwao krua kao", the 'kao' meaning white which distinguishes Pueraria mirifica from other plants with tuberous roots also sharing the 'kwao krua' designation, such as Butea superba, commonly called kwao krua deng (red) and the 'black' and 'dull grey' kwao krua plants. The species was definitively identified as Pueraria mirifica in 1952.
The safety of using P. mirifica extracts has not been adequately demonstrated, particularly for endocrine and reproductive functions, with adverse effects possibly affecting people having elevated blood lipids, asthma, diabetes mellitus,epilepsy or systemic lupus erythematosus. Women under 18 years old, those using birth control or prescription estrogen, and pregnant or nursing mothers should not use pueraria products.
Some herbal supplements claim various health benefits of the extracts of Pueraria mirifica, although the claims are unsubstantiated and not backed by rigorous clinical evidence. A 2024 evidence map identified four randomized controlled trials of Pueraria mirifica, delivered orally or as a vaginal gel, for symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause, with the authors noting that adequately powered, longer-duration placebo-controlled trials are needed to assess durability of benefits and safety.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pueraria mirifica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
