Akarkara
Anacyclus pyrethrum root / Pellitory; pellitorine & alkylamides
Evidence grade 2 of 5, Thin. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.
- FDA
- Not FDA evaluated; sold as Unani/Ayurvedic aphrodisiac
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
No robust human safety dataset. The pungent alkylamides can cause oral/GI irritation and salivation; high doses and the neuro-active alkamide load warrant caution. Quality varies and adulteration with other Anacyclus and pellitory-named roots occurs.
This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about akarkara in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.
Akarkara (Anacyclus pyrethrum, pellitory) is a Mediterranean/North African daisy-family root long central to Unani and Ayurvedic men's-health formulations and to dental folk use (its alkylamides cause salivation and a tingling numbness). Its actives are pungent N-alkylamides such as pellitorine and anacyclin, plus inulin and lignans. Rodent studies - notably by Sharma and colleagues - reported some of the more striking aphrodisiac and testosterone/spermatogenic effects among Ayurvedic roots, including increased mounting, testosterone, and sperm parameters. Human controlled data are essentially absent, and pellitorine's bioactivity warrants caution rather than casual self-dosing.
The pungent 'tingle root' of Unani medicine, with notable rodent androgenic data.
What people take it for
These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.
How it is supposed to work
Rodent work attributes pro-sexual effects to increased testosterone and possibly enhanced spermatogenesis; the bioactive N-alkylamides (pellitorine and relatives) are pungent TRP-channel and neuromodulatory agents with reported immunomodulatory and insecticidal activity. A precise erectogenic mechanism in humans is unestablished.
The pungency and 'tingle' come from unsaturated N-isobutylamide alkamides (pellitorine, anacyclin, deca-2,4-dienoic acid isobutylamide), structurally akin to the alkylamides in Spilanthes/Acmella and Echinacea. The root also contains inulin, sesamin-type lignans, and sterols.
Striking rat data, no human safety map
The rodent androgenic data are eye-catching, but akarkara is also a potent neuro-active alkylamide source used as a numbing agent and even an insecticide. The leap from 'raises testosterone in rats' to 'safe daily male tonic' is unsupported by human safety data.
Safety in detail
- No controlled human safety data for systemic aphrodisiac use
- Oral/GI irritation from pungent alkylamides
- Neuro-active alkamides (also used as insecticide) argue for caution
- Adulteration/substitution among 'pellitory' roots
What people get wrong
Often saidA proven herbal androgen for men
ActuallyThe androgenic data are from rats; there are no controlled human trials, and the same root is a potent neuro-active alkylamide source used as a numbing/insecticidal agent.
Who profits, and who pushes back
Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.
How we got here
Pellitory-of-Spain was known to Greco-Arab and Unani physicians as a heating, stimulant root for paralysis, toothache, and impotence, and remains a fixture of Unani muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac) electuaries and Ayurvedic men's formulas across South Asia and the Maghreb.
The people taking it
Wild-harvested in North Africa (notably Morocco and Algeria) and India; traded as dried root and powder into Unani/Ayurvedic men's products worldwide, often alongside salab, ginger, and clove.
What we do not know
- Do the rodent androgenic effects occur in men, and at what safety cost?
- Can sustainable cultivation relieve pressure on threatened wild Moroccan populations?
The market for this
What follows describes how this is bought and sold. It is not a buying guide and it is not an endorsement of any seller.
Conservation concern: A. pyrethrum is over-harvested and considered threatened/endangered in parts of its Moroccan range, driving substitution and adulteration in commerce.
At a glance
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Part used
- Root
- Active alkylamides
- Pellitorine, anacyclin
- Sensory effect
- Tingling/numbing salivation
- Unani role
- Classic muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac)
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Akarkara. A short entry is not a safe entry.
- Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
- Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
- Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
- Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
- What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
- How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
- Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
Sources
The studies below are named and described, but not linked. You cannot open them from here and check our reading against them, which means this page is our summary of the literature rather than a document you can verify. Weigh it accordingly until the links exist.
The studies that matter
Sharma et al., Anacyclus pyrethrum on male rat sexual behaviour2009-2010
Reported increased mounting frequency, testosterone, and improved sexual parameters with petroleum-ether/ethanol root extracts
Spermatogenic/androgenic rodent studies2010s
Reported increased sperm count and testicular changes consistent with an androgenic effect in rats