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Ayurveda

CorianderCoriandrum sativum

Coriander seed, a staple Ayurvedic digestive. Its IBS trial tested Carmint, a three-herb formula, in 32 people: less pain and bloating than placebo (p = 0.016 and 0.02).

Botanical name
Coriandrum sativum
Part used
fruit (the seed) and leaf
Also called
Sanskrit Dhanyaka (Dhanyakam); Hindi Dhaniya; Cilantro (the leaf, in the Americas), Kishneez (Unani)
Used in
Ayurveda
Taken for
Indigestion, Bloating, Gas, Cramping and pain, Loose stools and diarrhea
Sold as
whole seed, ground, tea, fresh, capsules, essential oil

The plant

Coriander is the plant Coriandrum sativum, an annual herb of the carrot family (Apiaceae). Its small round, ribbed fruits are sold as coriander seed and its leaves as cilantro or fresh coriander. Both are everyday ingredients in Indian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and many other cuisines. The seed is the part used in the Ayurvedic digestive tradition, while a college monograph also lists the whole plant, mainly the leaves, as a medicinal part.

For the gut it is taken as seed water or tea, ground seed, fresh leaf, capsules and essential oil. The two human gut trials we found were run in Iran with multi-herb formulas, not with coriander alone: Carmint, which combines lemon balm, spearmint and coriander, and a capsule of Persian cumin (Bunium persicum) with coriander. Coriander is known in Unani medicine as Kishneez.

How the traditions use it

Ayurveda (about Ayurveda)

An Ayurvedic college monograph records dhanyaka as astringent and bitter in taste (rasa), light and unctuous in its qualities (guna), heating in potency (virya) and sweet in its after-digestion effect (vipaka). The tradition classes it as tridoshahara, meaning it is said to calm all three of its governing principles (vata, pitta and kapha), and as dipana-pachana (kindling and aiding digestion) and grahi (binding, used for loose stools). Charaka lists it among drugs that quench thirst, and Sushruta and Vagbhata place it in the Guduchyadi group.

For the gut, the monograph says repeated use of coriander water is effective for distaste for food, loss of appetite, indigestion, dysentery, diarrhea, abdominal pain and piles. Its wider indication list includes fever, burning sensations, vomiting, cough, breathlessness and worms. It gives the fruit powder as 3 to 6 g.

What is in it

The seed contains a volatile oil, a fixed oil, resin, malic acid and alkaloids, and the volatile oil contains coriandrol, citronellol and other compounds, according to an Ayurvedic college monograph; the same text lists coriandrin and coriandrone among the minor constituents. The Carmint authors describe their three-herb extract as having antispasmodic, carminative (gas-relieving) and sedative effects, a description that comes from the formula as a whole and not from coriander alone. We found no laboratory study in our sources that isolates a coriander compound’s effect on human gut muscle, so the mechanism by which coriander might act in the trials below is not established.

What the human trials show

We could not find a human gut trial of coriander on its own. The trials we found tested mixtures.

The IBS study is a 2006 pilot of Carmint, a formula made of total extracts of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), spearmint (Mentha spicata) and coriander. Thirty-two people with irritable bowel syndrome were randomized to Carmint or placebo, each on top of loperamide or psyllium chosen by their predominant bowel pattern, for 8 weeks. At the end, the severity and frequency of abdominal pain or discomfort were significantly lower in the Carmint group (P = 0.016 and 0.001), as were the severity and frequency of bloating (P = 0.02 and 0.002). Because three herbs were combined, the contribution of coriander cannot be separated out, and the trial was small.

In a 2024 double-blind trial, 90 adults with functional dyspepsia (Rome IV) took a 500 mg capsule of a Bunium persicum and coriander preparation or placebo twice a day for 4 weeks and were followed for 4 more; 40 per group were analyzed. All clinical outcomes, including symptom severity, frequency and quality of life, improved significantly more with the herbs than placebo (p less than 0.05), without serious side effects. In a 2025 trial of 61 orthopedic patients with postoperative constipation, a capsule of senna, aloe, fennel, coriander and caraway improved constipation severity and stool consistency compared with placebo (P less than 0.001), but senna and aloe are laxatives themselves.

StudyDoseWhat it found
Randomized placebo-controlled pilot, 32 people with IBS; Carmint (lemon balm, spearmint and coriander extracts) added to loperamide or psyllium PMID 16868824Not stated in the abstract; 8 weeksLower severity and frequency of abdominal pain (P = 0.016, 0.001) and of bloating (P = 0.02, 0.002) than placebo
Double-blind randomized trial, 90 adults with functional dyspepsia (Bunium persicum and coriander capsule); 40 per group analyzed PMID 38981452500 mg capsule twice daily for 4 weeks, followed for 4 moreAll clinical outcomes improved more than with placebo (p < 0.05); no serious side effects
Triple-blind randomized trial, 61 people with constipation after orthopedic surgery (laxative formula containing senna, aloe, fennel, coriander and caraway) PMID 39951927520 mg capsules twice daily for 1 weekLess constipation severity and better stool consistency than placebo (P < 0.001); no significant adverse effects reported

How much the studies and the texts used

Doses come from the formula trials. Carmint’s abstract does not give its dose, and it was added to loperamide or psyllium for 8 weeks. The dyspepsia trial used a 500 mg capsule twice a day for 4 weeks, and the postoperative constipation trial used 520 mg capsules twice a day for a week.

The Ayurvedic college monograph lists 3 to 6 g of fruit powder as the traditional amount, and describes coriander water, an infusion of the seed, for indigestion and diarrhea.

Doses here describe what studies and pharmacopoeias used. They are not a recommendation for any person; a clinician or pharmacist who knows your medicines and conditions is the right person to ask.

Side effects and cautions

The dyspepsia trial reports no serious side effects, and the postoperative constipation trial reports no significant adverse effects; Carmint’s abstract does not report adverse events. The dyspepsia trial excluded pregnant and breastfeeding women and people with a history of allergy to herbal drugs, so there are no pregnancy data from it. We did not find reports of metal contamination specific to coriander. Published surveys of heavy metals in Ayurvedic medicines concern some compound products, such as a 2004 study that found lead, mercury or arsenic in 14 of 70 products from Boston-area stores and a 2008 study that found them in 20.7% of 193 products ordered online, and they do not describe culinary coriander seed.

Interactions

The Carmint trial added the formula to loperamide or psyllium without reporting a problem, but it did not test an interaction. The dyspepsia trial excluded people using other medicines that affect dyspepsia symptoms. We found no interaction study of coriander with any medicine, and the Ayurvedic monograph’s description of a hypoglycemic action in coriander is laboratory-level, so overlap with glucose-lowering drugs is theoretical.

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Often paired or compared

Ayurvedic Cumin Cuminum cyminum Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Fennel Foeniculum vulgare Ayurvedic / Western Caraway Carum carvi Western Lemon balm Melissa officinalis Western Spearmint Mentha spicata

What people want to know

Has coriander been tested alone for IBS or bloating?

We could not find a trial of coriander alone. The IBS trial tested Carmint, a mixture of lemon balm, spearmint and coriander extracts, in 32 people, and the dyspepsia trial tested a Persian cumin and coriander capsule in 90 people.

What did the Carmint trial show?

After 8 weeks, abdominal pain severity and frequency (P = 0.016 and 0.001) and bloating severity and frequency (P = 0.02 and 0.002) were lower with Carmint than placebo, on top of loperamide or psyllium. It was a 32-person pilot, and three herbs were combined.

What does Ayurveda say coriander does?

A college monograph describes dhanyaka as astringent, bitter, light and heating, said to calm all three governing principles of the tradition, and to kindle digestion. It lists coriander water for indigestion, diarrhea, dysentery and abdominal pain. These are the tradition’s statements.

Is cilantro the same as coriander?

They are the same plant, Coriandrum sativum. In the Americas the fresh leaf is called cilantro and the dried seed coriander. The Ayurvedic monograph names fruits and leaves as the parts used, and the trials above used capsules of mixed preparations.

Is a constipation formula with coriander proof that coriander helps constipation?

No. The 2025 formula also contained senna and aloe, which are laxatives themselves, so the result cannot be credited to coriander.

Sources