Ashwagandha: root or leaf — what counts in the EU?
Futures Nutrition Editorial Team · 11 August 2026
Ashwagandha: root or leaf — what counts in the EU?
11 August 2026
The short answer: in Europe, practically only the root is in play. The EU Novel Food catalogue lists ashwagandha as not novel in food supplements and, beyond that, names as a conventional food only the non-concentrated infusion — the tea — of the root. Leaf preparations do not appear there. That is not a formal EU ban on the leaf, but it is the reason why German shelves carry almost nothing but root extracts: anyone using leaf material cannot point to a catalogue entry.
For the buyer this means the plant part is not a botanist's detail but the first item to look for in the ingredient list. It decides the profile of constituents — and how solid a product's footing in the EU actually is.
One plant, several parts — and a tradition that made its choice
Withania somnifera Dunal is a small woody shrub of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), botanically a relative of tomato, potato and physalis. It comes above all from India and grows in dry, poor soils; roughly seven months pass before harvest. The common names — winter cherry, Indian ginseng, and in German Schlafbeere (sleeping berry) — refer to three entirely different features of the plant, so the confusion starts with the name.
Three parts are used traditionally, but not in the same way:
- The root is the part taken internally. Ayurvedic medicine knows it in more than 200 different preparations; traditional Chinese medicine uses the rhizome.
- The leaves are bitter and were traditionally applied externally. That is the decisive difference: there is no long history of consumption for the leaf of the kind European food law accepts as an argument.
- The berries play no role in food supplements; they contain milk-clotting enzymes and were used regionally as a plant rennet.
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) describes the starting position soberly in its communication 039/2024: traditionally, it says, it is "above all the root of the plant or preparations of it" that is used; "more recently", preparations "from the root, but also from leaves" are being used in Europe in food supplements or tea drinks. In Europe, then, the leaf is the new practice, not the old one.
What is different in the leaf compared with the root
According to the BfR, the biologically active constituents are above all the withanolides and the alkaloids. Both groups are unevenly distributed in the plant, and that is exactly what the question of the plant part hangs on.
| Root | Leaf | |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional use | internal, for centuries | external |
| Marker substances | withanolides, including withanolide A; alkaloids | withanolides with a markedly higher share of withaferin A |
| In the EU Novel Food catalogue | named (tea as a conventional food) | not named |
| In German retail | the rule | the exception, mostly as an admixture |
Withaferin A is a single withanolide that occurs far more abundantly in leaves than in the root. Branded extracts that use leaf material therefore set an upper limit for it — with the Sensoril extract, for example, no more than 0.5 %. How two such specifications can be compared at all, and why 10 % is not double 5 %, is set out in KSM-66 or Sensoril.
From this uneven distribution the BfR draws a clear conclusion: because manufacturing uses "above all the root, but in part also other plant parts (such as leaves)" and because different extraction methods are applied, both can "influence the concentration of the constituents contained in a preparation". Two capsules with the same milligram figure are therefore not necessarily the same product.
What the Novel Food catalogue really says — and what it does not
The European Commission's Novel Food catalogue is a guide, not a law. But it is the list that enforcement authorities and manufacturers orient themselves by, and its entry on ashwagandha (as at 8 January 2024) has two parts:
- In food supplements, ashwagandha counts as not novel — it was on the market before May 1997 and therefore does not fall under Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.
- As a conventional food, only the non-concentrated aqueous extract of the root — the tea — is not novel.
From this, the consumer association of North Rhine-Westphalia (Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen) concluded in its market survey of April 2026 that outside food supplements ashwagandha is admissible only as a tea preparation. Two powder products found in retail that were not labelled as food supplements therefore appeared to it not to be marketable.
Even so, the picture is not entirely clear-cut. The minutes of the 35th meeting of the Joint Expert Commission for the Classification of Substances (BVL and BfArM) of 18 June 2024 contain the note that ashwagandha roots are not novel in foods — the consumer association speaks here of "a certain contradiction". Anyone buying today should know this: in the EU, the question of the plant part is not settled, it is only now being settled.
A patchwork: every country decides for itself
For plants in food supplements there are no harmonised EU rules — unlike vitamins and minerals, each member state decides for itself. The result is a very uneven picture:
| Country | Position |
|---|---|
| Germany | permitted; no maximum levels, no requirements on plant parts or extracts |
| Poland | maximum levels: max. 3 g root powder per day, max. 10 mg withanolides per day |
| France | ANSES warning of 19 April 2024, stricter labelling |
| Netherlands | RIVM assessment March 2024, proposal for a ban; public consultation 24 Feb to 24 Mar 2025 |
| Denmark | banned in food supplements since April 2023 |
| Finland, Sweden | bans under consideration |
The Polish rule is notable because it is the only one to name both figures: an amount for the root powder and one for the withanolides from standardised extracts. That is precisely the distinction missing from many labels.
Something is moving at European level too: in June 2024 the "Food Supplements" working group of the Heads of Food Safety Agencies presented a list of 117 substances that, because of possible risks, should not be used or only in a restricted way. Twelve of them are considered a priority for regulation — Withania somnifera is among them, and expressly for preparations from root, herb and flowers. The question therefore covers more than the root alone.
In Germany itself, the root is described in the substance list of the federal government and the federal states (plant list, 2nd edition, October 2020) both as a food and as a medicinal substance. There are no maximum levels or definitions for ingredients from Withania somnifera; under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the manufacturer alone is liable for safety. Medicines law draws one boundary: a food supplement must not have a pharmacological effect, which rules out extracts typical of medicinal products.
How to recognise the plant part on the label
Four items belong in the ingredient list. If the second one is missing, the most important one is missing:
- Latin species name — Withania somnifera, not just "ashwagandha".
- Plant part — "root", "root extract" or indeed "root and leaf". If it says only "ashwagandha extract", you do not know.
- Extract ratio — 10:1, for instance, meaning ten parts dried root per part of extract.
- Marker content — withanolides as a percentage and the resulting amount in milligrams per daily portion.
How often these details are missing in retail, and how to spot a figure that is not an amount at all, is covered in Ashwagandha quality: what counts on the label.
Our Ashwagandha Extract declares exactly that: Withania somnifera, root, 10 % withanolides, one tablet a day with a meal, purely plant-based and free from gelatine, lactose and gluten. The combination with melatonin is likewise based on root material — there, melatonin is the component for which an authorised statement exists, not the root. An overview of both preparations can be found in the ashwagandha category.
Frequently asked questions
Are leaf extracts banned in Germany?
No, there is no express ban. But neither is there a catalogue entry a leaf extract could rely on, nor a national rule expressly permitting it. Responsibility for safety therefore rests entirely with the manufacturer. That is why root extracts dominate German retail.
Why do some tubs say "root and leaf"?
Because individual branded extracts use both plant parts and declare this openly — which is more honest than "ashwagandha extract" with no origin at all. In that case, expect the withaferin A share to be higher than in a pure root extract.
May I buy ashwagandha powder as an ordinary food?
Under the Novel Food catalogue, outside food supplements only the non-concentrated infusion of the root is classified as a conventional food. Powder that is not labelled as a food supplement does not fall into this category.
Who are ashwagandha preparations not suitable for?
In its communication of 10 September 2024, the BfR recommends that children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and people with an existing or previous liver disease in particular should not take ashwagandha preparations; it advises the rest of the population to be restrained. France additionally names people with thyroid or heart conditions. Interactions with medicines for diabetes and high blood pressure and with immunosuppressants have also been described — with long-term medication, this belongs in a conversation with a doctor. What else has been reported is set out in Ashwagandha side effects.
Food supplements are not a substitute for a balanced and varied diet and a healthy lifestyle.
