Indian lettuce
StarLactuca indica
Synonyms: Sonchus calyculatus, Lactuca jamaicensis, Chondrilla squarrosa, Prenanthes taraxacoides, Brachyramphus taraxacoides, Lactuca laciniata f. indivisa, Lactuca hoatiensis, Lactuca cavaleriei, Lactuca mauritiana, Prenanthes laciniata, Pterocypsela indica var. laciniata, Lactuca indica var. laciniata, Chondrilla indica, Scariola brevirostris, Pterocypsela indivisa, Lactuca brevirostris, Brachyramphus heyneanus, Lactuca bialata, Chondrilla sonchifolia, Lactuca dracoglossa, Prenanthes squarrosa, Pterocypsela indica, Pterocypsela laciniata, Prenanthes indica, Lactuca amurensis, Leontodon acutissimus, Brachyramphus sinicus, Lactuca kouyangensis, Lactuca squarrosa
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
Cautions & contraindications
- Bleeding disorders
Western Herbalism Properties
Gallery
Botanical Description
Lactuca indica, the Indian lettuce, is a tall annual or biennial herb in the daisy family (Asteraceae), native to eastern and southeastern Asia from India and the Himalayas across China, Korea, and Japan to the Philippines and Indonesia. Plants produce an erect, glabrous, often glaucous stem 0.6-2 meters tall, exuding white latex when cut. The leaves are alternate, highly variable in shape: the lower ones lanceolate to elliptic and 10-30 cm long, often pinnately lobed with backward-pointing segments, while upper leaves become narrower and entire; bases are sessile and somewhat clasping. Inflorescences are loose terminal panicles of small heads; each capitulum is 1-2 cm across, bearing only ligulate florets that are pale yellow, occasionally drying bluish. The involucre is cylindrical with imbricate bracts. Fruits are small flattened black achenes 4-5 mm long with a beak shorter than the body and a soft white pappus. The species occupies forest margins, grasslands, roadsides, and cultivated fields, and is grown as a leafy vegetable in parts of East and Southeast Asia.
Active Constituents
Lactucin, 8-deoxylactucin and lactucopicrin
Guaianolide sesquiterpene lactonesConcentration: Present in leaf, stem and root, with the root the best accumulating tissue; lactucin quantified by HPLC in propagated material
The bitter principles of the latex, shared with wild lettuce and chicory. They are the constituents that give the plant its bitterness and its folk reputation for sedation, and they are also the sesquiterpene lactones responsible for Asteraceae contact allergy. Because they concentrate in the root, a root preparation and an aerial-parts preparation are not interchangeable.
Chlorogenic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid
Caffeoylquinic acidsConcentration: Quantified by validated HPLC-DAD across 12 batches; between-batch DPPH IC50 for the whole extract ranged from 30.40 to 97.91 micrograms per millilitre
The main antioxidant constituents. Partial least squares regression across a dozen batches identified chlorogenic acid as one of the two variables most closely tied to radical-scavenging activity, making it a candidate quality marker. The threefold spread in antioxidant potency between batches is the practical point here.
Luteolin 7-O-glucuronide and luteolin 7-O-glucoside (cynaroside)
Flavone glycosidesConcentration: Quantified alongside the caffeoylquinic acids; luteolin 7-O-glucuronide is the second proposed quality marker
Flavone glycosides that track with the antioxidant activity of the extract. Cynaroside also docked strongly to inducible nitric oxide synthase in a study that traced the herb's anti-inflammatory activity to suppression of excess nitric oxide.
Protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, methyl p-hydroxybenzoate and quercetin 3-O-glucoside
Simple phenolics and a flavonol glycosideConcentration: Identified by bioactivity-guided fractionation as the major antioxidative constituents of the extract
Together with the caffeoylquinic acids and luteolin glycosides these carry the extract's free radical scavenging, which protected supercoiled DNA from strand cleavage and reduced oxidative stress in HL-60 cells.
Beta-amyrin acetate, oleanolic acid and lupeol
TriterpenesConcentration: Isolated from the n-hexane and chloroform sub-extracts of the aerial parts
The lipophilic fraction that carried both the nitric-oxide-inhibitory and the antibacterial activity of the herb. All three docked well to inducible nitric oxide synthase, which is the proposed basis for the traditional use in skin inflammation and stomach ache.
Lactuca indica acidic polysaccharide
Acidic polysaccharideConcentration: Isolated as a homogeneous acidic polysaccharide of eight monosaccharides
In streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice this fraction improved glucose handling, reduced pancreatic and hepatic damage and increased short-chain-fatty-acid-producing gut bacteria. It is a large molecule that acts on the gut rather than being absorbed, so its behaviour will differ between a decoction and an alcoholic extract.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Sedatives and central nervous system depressants (benzodiazepines, opioids, alcohol, sedating antihistamines)
Lactucin and lactucopicrin produced analgesia comparable to ibuprofen in the mouse hot plate and tail flick tests at 15 to 30 mg per kilogram, and lactucin and lactucopicrin also reduced spontaneous locomotor activity, a sedative signal. The species caveat matters: that study used compounds characteristic of Lactuca virosa and Cichorium intybus, not material extracted from Lactuca indica. What links them is that lactucin has been separately quantified in Lactuca indica, most abundantly in the root. So the constituent is present, but the dose delivered by a Lactuca indica preparation and whether it reaches a sedative concentration in a person are both unknown.
Clinical note: Warn patients taking sedatives or drinking alcohol that added drowsiness is plausible, particularly with root preparations. Advise caution with driving when first starting a root-containing formula.
Other bitter Asteraceae drugs sold as Ku Cai (Ixeris, Sonchus, Youngia and Cichorium species)
An identity problem rather than a pharmacological one. This herb's recorded Chinese aliases include Ku Cai and Ku Jie Cai, bitter-vegetable names that Chinese folk usage also attaches to Ixeris, Sonchus and Youngia species, and the same bitter-lettuce ecology means the dried aerial parts look similar. Chicory carries the same lactucin-type sesquiterpene lactones, so a chemical bitterness test will not separate them. The taxonomy adds a further trap: the accepted name is Lactuca indica L., but a great deal of Chinese literature files this plant under Pterocypsela indica, and Flora of China uses that combination.
Clinical note: Order and record by binomial. When reading Chinese-language sources, search Pterocypsela indica as well as Lactuca indica or you will miss half the literature.
Insulin, sulfonylureas and other glucose-lowering drugs
An acidic polysaccharide from the herb improved glucose metabolism, insulin signalling and pancreatic histology in streptozotocin-diabetic mice, acting largely through the gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids. Mouse data on an isolated fraction; there is no human glycaemic study and no traditional hypoglycaemic indication for this drug, so this is a signal to watch rather than an established effect.
Clinical note: No change to diabetic medication is warranted on this evidence. Mention it if a diabetic patient reports unexplained low readings after starting the herb.
Warfarin, antiplatelet agents and other Asteraceae herbs in a formula
Two things are worth flagging honestly. First, the classical Chinese action assigned to this drug is to invigorate the blood and dispel stasis, and it is prescribed for postpartum stasis pain and for abnormal uterine bleeding; blood-moving drugs are conventionally treated as a bleeding-risk caution, but no antiplatelet or anticoagulant assay has been published for this species and the traditional category is not by itself pharmacological evidence. Second, the sesquiterpene lactones responsible for Asteraceae contact allergy are present, and sensitisation cross-reacts across the family, so a patient reacting to chamomile, feverfew or Arnica may react to this herb.
Clinical note: Ask about Asteraceae allergy before prescribing, and about anticoagulants before using it for a bleeding indication. Do not present the blood-moving caution as a documented pharmacological interaction to the patient, because it is not one.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 5 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
5
1 verified · 4 unverified
Show 5 studies
- Discovery of anti-inflammatory phytoconstituents from Lactuca indica L. based on its traditional uses
- Antioxidant Properties and Phytochemical Characteristics of Extracts from Lactuca indica
- Lactuca indica L. polysaccharide ameliorates type 1 diabetes via gut microbiota-SCFAs-IRS-1/PI3K/GLUT4-MYD88/NF-κB axis
- Four New Compounds From Lactuca indica That Inhibit Nitric Oxide Production
- Analgesic and sedative activities of lactucin and some lactucin-like guaianolides in mice
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Discovery of anti-inflammatory phytoconstituents from Lactuca indica L. based on its traditional uses
Bioactivity-guided fractionation of an ethanolic extract of the aerial parts. The hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate sub-extracts suppressed nitric oxide overproduction in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages, only the hexane fraction was antibacterial, and twelve compounds were isolated including beta-amyrin acetate, oleanolic acid, lupeol, protocatechuic acid, cynaroside and lynarin. The negative result deserves as much weight as the positive one: none of the sub-extracts was cytotoxic to HL-60 leukaemia, HepG2 hepatoma or MKN-7 gastric carcinoma cells, which does not support anticancer claims for this herb. Cell assays and docking only.
Antioxidant Properties and Phytochemical Characteristics of Extracts from Lactuca indica
The first systematic evaluation of the herb across five antioxidant assay systems. The extract scavenged free radicals, protected phiX174 supercoiled DNA from strand cleavage, reduced oxidative stress in HL-60 cells and at 100 micrograms per millilitre almost abolished nitric oxide production and inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA in stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Six phenolics were identified as the major antioxidative constituents. In vitro throughout.
Lactuca indica L. polysaccharide ameliorates type 1 diabetes via gut microbiota-SCFAs-IRS-1/PI3K/GLUT4-MYD88/NF-κB axis
A homogeneous acidic polysaccharide of eight monosaccharides isolated from the herb was given to streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice. It improved glucose metabolism, reduced inflammation, limited pancreatic and hepatic damage, modulated hepatic insulin signalling and restored the gut microbiota with an increase in short-chain-fatty-acid producers. Mouse model of an autoimmune disease using a purified fraction, not the herb as prescribed.
Four New Compounds From Lactuca indica That Inhibit Nitric Oxide Production
Four previously undescribed compounds and six known ones were isolated and assessed for nitric oxide inhibition; a maleimide glucoside and one known compound inhibited with IC50 values of 25.3 and 21.4 micromolar. Chemistry with a single cell-based assay. It adds structural detail to the anti-inflammatory picture and nothing clinical.
Analgesic and sedative activities of lactucin and some lactucin-like guaianolides in mice
Lactucin, lactucopicrin and 11beta,13-dihydrolactucin were analgesic in mouse hot plate and tail flick tests at doses comparable to ibuprofen, and lactucin and lactucopicrin also reduced spontaneous locomotor activity. Included here because lactucin has been separately quantified in Lactuca indica, but the compounds tested were described as characteristic of Lactuca virosa and Cichorium intybus and were not obtained from Lactuca indica. Read it as evidence about the molecules, not about this herb. No human trial of Lactuca indica has been published for any indication.
Historical Texts
Jiu Huang Ben Cao (Herbal for the Relief of Famine), by Zhu Su
Ming dynasty, 1406Zhong Yao Da Ci Dian (Dictionary of Chinese Materia Medica) line of transmission
Modern compendia, 20th centuryVietnamese and Korean folk usage
Folk tradition documented in modern sourcesReferences
- Nguyen KT, Nguyen TKA, Van Thanh D, Doan TH, Nguyen TT, Pham TSM, Thuong PT. Integrated HPLC-DAD and multivariate analysis for exploratory prioritisation of candidate marker compounds in Lactuca indica . Natural Product Research (2026) [DOI]
- Oliya BK, Kim MY, Lee SH. In vitro propagation, lactucin quantification, and antibacterial activity of Indian lettuce (Lactuca indica L.) . In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant (2022) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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