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Ayurveda

VidangaEmbelia ribes

Embelia berry, the classic Ayurvedic worm remedy. Human gut trials are lacking; a review cites one report of ova-free stools in 80% of children, with no design given.

Botanical name
Embelia ribes
Part used
fruit (the dried berry)
Also called
Sanskrit Vidanga; Hindi Vaividang, Baobarang; Embelia, False black pepper
Used in
Ayurveda
Taken for
Antimicrobial use, Gas, Appetite, Cramping and pain, Constipation
Sold as
powder, capsules, tablets, extract

What vidanga is

Vidanga is the dried berry of Embelia ribes, a woody climbing shrub found across tropical Asia, from India and Sri Lanka through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and south China, according to a 2022 review. The small round berries are dried, ground to a powder (a churna) or made into pills, and are also used as extracts. The plant is sometimes called false black pepper, but it is unrelated to the pepper vine.

The compound most studied from it is embelin, a quinone from the berry, and extracts standardized to embelin are sold. Vidanga is also an ingredient in compound formulas, among them an Ayurvedic contraceptive called pippaliyadi vati, which matters for the safety section below. The human gut evidence is thin: the traditional use is well documented, the laboratory and animal work is large, and controlled human trials for digestion are lacking.

What the traditions use it for

Ayurveda (about Ayurveda)

Ayurvedic texts, as translated in a reference library, describe vidanga as pungent in taste (rasa), light in its qualities (guna) and heating in potency (virya). The Rajanighantu, a thirteenth-century lexicon, says it relieves vata and kapha and is useful for reduced digestive power and anorexia. The Sushruta Samhita calls it light and pungent after digestion, heat-making, and slightly bitter, and says it subdues vata and kapha and produces dryness. A modern textbook summary adds that it is a good anthelmintic that clears intestinal worms and eases abdominal pain, flatulence and constipation, and the seventh-century Madhavacikitsa uses it in the treatment of atisara, the tradition’s term for acute loose stools.

A 2022 review adds that the powder was traditionally used for infections, indigestion and constipation, that it is described as carminative (wind-relieving) and, through its seeds, anthelmintic (worm-expelling), and that Ayurvedic texts describe the plant as helpful for digestive fire, flatulence and colic. These are the tradition’s descriptions.

The constituents

The main compound is embelin, a benzoquinone (2,5-dihydroxy-3-undecyl-1,4-benzoquinone), which a 2022 review treats as the principal bioactive constituent; the review does not give embelin percentages for any plant part. Animal studies in the review used extracts of 100 and 200 mg/kg by mouth most often and embelin at 25 to 50 mg/kg. In rats, embelin given under the skin at 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mg/kg for 35 days altered testicular tissue and sperm-producing cell counts, which links to the berry’s traditional use in contraceptive formulas. These are animal findings, and the amounts do not convert to human doses.

The human evidence

We could not find a controlled human trial of vidanga for any digestive outcome. The 2022 review mentions two human reports in brief. In children with intestinal roundworm (ascarids), an alcoholic extract was said to succeed in 80% of cases and an aqueous extract in 55%, judged by ova-free stools, with a single dose of up to 8 g expelling worms within 6 to 24 hours and no adverse effects identified; infections with tapeworm, Giardia and Entamoeba were also said to improve. The review gives no trial design, no sample size and no comparison group for this report, so it cannot be treated as a controlled trial. It also mentions that Vidanga Vati taken three times daily for 8 weeks was associated with a 21.93% fall in TSH, a thyroid measure that is not a gut outcome, again without design details.

The remaining evidence is animal. A diabetes meta-analysis cited in the review included 13 studies, all in rats. The review’s authors write that more clinical research is needed and that further high-quality studies are required to establish efficacy and safety. Whether vidanga clears worms or improves digestion in adults at the doses sold in capsules is therefore untested in the way a modern gut trial would test it.

StudyDoseWhat it found
Human report in children with intestinal roundworm, as summarized in a 2022 review (design and sample size not given) PMID 35883850Single dose up to 8 g of extractOva-free stools in 80% (alcoholic extract) and 55% (aqueous extract); worms expelled within 6 to 24 hours
Human report of Vidanga Vati in hypothyroidism, summarized in the same review (not a gut outcome; design not given) PMID 35883850Three times daily after meals for 8 weeks21.93% reduction in TSH
Animal safety summary in the same review PMID 35883850Embelin from 10 mg to 3 g/kg orally (rats, mice)Reported safe in rats and mice at oral doses over that range; 120 mg/kg embelin increased adrenal mass in female rats
Pregnant rats fed a vidanga, long pepper and borax contraceptive (pippaliyadi vati) PMID 111670372.5 and 5 times the human doseLower birth weights, shorter pups, and herniation of the intestines into the umbilical cord

Doses, in trials and in practice

There is no established trial dose for digestion. The roundworm report in the 2022 review mentions a single dose of up to 8 g of extract, and Vidanga Vati was taken three times daily for 8 weeks in the thyroid report; neither gives enough detail to treat as a trial dose. Animal studies used 100 and 200 mg/kg of extract and 25 to 50 mg/kg of embelin by mouth. The Ayurvedic sources we read do not give a standard traditional amount.

The amounts above are what trials and pharmacopoeias record, not a dose for you; your medicines and conditions change the answer, and a clinician or pharmacist who knows them is the person to ask.

What is known about safety

The 2022 review reports embelin as safe orally in rats and mice from 10 mg to 3 g/kg, but also lists 120 mg/kg embelin increasing adrenal mass in female rats and retinal ganglion cell degeneration in chickens at 1.25 g/kg of plant material, though not at 0.25 g/kg. Pippaliyadi vati, which contains vidanga, long pepper and borax in equal parts, caused low birth weight, shorter length and intestinal herniation into the umbilical cord in the fetuses of pregnant rats; because the formula has other ingredients the finding is not specific to vidanga. The authors advise monitoring use in children and pregnant women, especially at higher doses. Separately, JAMA studies found lead, mercury or arsenic in 14 of 70 Ayurvedic products from Boston-area stores (2004) and in 20.7% of 193 bought online (2008); those findings concern those products, not every vidanga powder.

Where it meets prescription medicines

We found no interaction study of vidanga with any medicine. The safety work in the 2022 review centers on reproduction and development, and it describes embelin’s antifertility effects in animals, so a hormonal or fertility-related interaction is a question the sources raise without answering. Compound formulas also carry the considerations of their other ingredients, such as the borax in pippaliyadi vati.

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Herbs that sit beside it

Ayurvedic Musta Cyperus rotundus Ayurvedic Neem Azadirachta indica Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Black pepper Piper nigrum Ayurvedic Long pepper Piper longum Western Wormwood Artemisia absinthium

What people want to know

Has vidanga been tested against intestinal worms in people?

A 2022 review mentions a report in children with roundworm in which an alcoholic extract was said to succeed in 80% and an aqueous extract in 55%, judged by ova-free stools. The review gives no design or sample size, so we treat it as an uncontrolled report, not a trial.

What does Ayurveda use vidanga for?

Reference texts describe it as pungent, light and heating, said to relieve vata and kapha, and list reduced digestion, anorexia, worms, abdominal pain, flatulence, constipation and loose stools. These are the tradition’s statements.

Is vidanga the same as black pepper?

No. Vidanga is the berry of Embelia ribes, sometimes called false black pepper because it looks like a peppercorn. Black pepper is Piper nigrum.

What is the concern about pregnancy?

A formula containing vidanga, long pepper and borax caused low birth weight and intestinal herniation in the fetuses of pregnant rats, and embelin reduced fertility measures in animals. Those findings are not specific to vidanga alone, and the review’s authors advise monitoring use in children and pregnant women.

What is embelin?

Embelin is a benzoquinone, the main bioactive compound reported from the berry. A 2022 review gives animal doses of 25 to 50 mg/kg but no embelin percentages, so the embelin content of a given product is not something the review answers.

Sources