Review Article

Chemical Composition, Biological Activity, and Health-Promoting Effects of Withania somnifera for Pharma-Food Industry Applications

Table 2

Health-promoting effect of Withania somnifera.

Biological activityDose/durationStudy design/subjectsEffectReferences

Antistress and antianxiety500 mg dried aqueous extract of roots and leaves/twice a day for 14 daysDouble-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover study (n = 20 healthy men)Decrease aortic pressure[88]
300 mg roots extract/day, 45 daysProspective double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (n = 64 subjects with a history of chronic stress)Reduce cortisol levels and the scores of stress-assessment scales[98]
500 mg powder capsule/twice a day, twice a day, 30 daysSingle-trial group (n = 30 subjects with generalized weakness)Reduce fatigue symptoms, improve workability and quality-of-life dimension scores[99]
120 mg root extract/day, six weeksDouble-blind placebo-controlled trial (n = 30 individuals with the obsessive-compulsive disorder)Improve effect in Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (symptoms severity)[100]
300 mg root extract/day
12 weeks
Clinical control-placebo trial (n = 55 type II diabetics, under oral hypoglycemics)Improvement in stress and complaints[101]
250 mg root ethanol extract/twice a day, 6 weeksDouble-blind, placebo-controlled study (n = 39 subjects with generalized anxiety disorder, mixed anxiety and depression, panic disorder, and adjustment disorder with anxiety)Improvement in anxiety score across time[102]
1000 mg standardized root extract/day, 12 weeksRandomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind (n = 66 patients with depression and anxiety symptoms)Improvement in depression single-item and anxiety-depression cluster scores and anxiety symptoms[103]

Cognitive500 mg standardized root extract/day 8 weeksRandomized placebo-controlled (n = 53 patients with bipolar disorder)Improvement in auditory-verbal working memory (digit span backward)[104]
250 mg dried aqueous extract of roots and leaves/twice daily, 14 daysProspective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover (n = 20 healthy men)Improvement in the cognitive and psychomotor performance[105]
300 mg root extract/twice daily, 8 weeksProspective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled (n = 50 healthy man and female adults)Improvement in general memory and executive function[106]

Cardiorespiratory300 mg roots extract/twice daily, 12 weeksRandomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled (n = 50 healthy athletic male and/or female adult)Enhances the cardiorespiratory endurance, improvement in the self-reported quality-of-life questionnaire[107]
250 mg standardized root extract/twice daily, 14 daysProspective, double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled (n = 50 healthy men)Increased velocity, power, and maximum oxygen consumption[108]
500 mg standardized root extract/day Sensoril®, 12 weeksRandomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled (n = 40 healthy, recreationally active men)Improves upper- and lower-body strength in active men[109]

Analgesic/anti-inflammatory1000 mg standardized root extract/day, 10–14 daysRandomized placebo-controlled (n = 26 healthy men)Increased mean pain threshold time[110]
250–125 mg standardized root extract/twice daily, 12 weeksRandomized, double-blind placebo-controlled (n = 16 patients with knee joint pain and discomfort)Reduced pain and disability scores (both doses), and promoted a better response (at a higher dose)[111]
450 mg root extract/day, 15 daysDouble-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover (n = 42 patients with osteoarthritis)Reduced severity pain and a disability score[112]

Chemoprotective2000 mg root extract/day every 8 h during chemotherapy cyclesOpen-label prospective nonrandomized comparative trial (n = 100 patients with breast cancer in all stages)Reduce score Piper’s fatigue score[113]
Reduced Schwartz’s cancer fatigue score and improved quality-of-life questionnaire scores