Ashwagandha: The Herb On The Label And What The Name Means

What ashwagandha actually is

Ashwagandha is a shrub. That is the simplest and most useful thing to know about it. The plant is formally called Withania somnifera, and it is a small, woody perennial that reaches roughly knee to waist height, with oval leaves, small greenish flowers and round orange-red berries that sit inside papery husks.

It is a member of the Solanaceae family, commonly called the nightshade family. That family also includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers, so the plant has plenty of familiar cousins in the kitchen.

SaltPeak lists ashwagandha among the ingredients named in its proprietary blend. This guide describes the plant and its label wording so the name is easy to recognize.

Where it grows

Ashwagandha is native to dry regions of India, and it also grows across parts of the Middle East and Africa. It does well in sunny, relatively dry ground with decent drainage, and it is grown as a crop in several countries today, with India being the best-known source.

Farmers typically sow the seed in warm weather and harvest after several months, once the plant has matured. The roots are dug up, washed and dried, and then they are ready for milling or for making into an extract.

The name and its nicknames

The word ashwagandha comes from Sanskrit and is commonly explained as combining words for horse and smell, a reference to the scent of the fresh root. It is the kind of name that stays with you once you have heard the explanation.

You may also see the plant called by other common names, including winter cherry and Indian ginseng. The ginseng nickname can be confusing, because ashwagandha is not related to the ginseng plant. They belong to entirely different plant families. This is another reason the botanical name Withania somnifera is the most dependable identifier on a label.

Which part is used

On supplement labels, the root is the most commonly named part of ashwagandha, although some products list leaf or a combination of parts. Reading the plant part is a useful label habit, because root and leaf are different starting materials.

After harvest, roots are dried and then either milled into powder or used to make an extract. An extract is a concentrate made by soaking the plant material in a liquid, separating the liquid, and drying it into a fine powder. In a gummy, an extract blends in smoothly and gives a steady, uniform ingredient.

Wording you may see on bottles:

• Ashwagandha root powder
• Ashwagandha root extract
• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract
• Withania somnifera, with the plant part given in brackets

How ashwagandha appears on the SaltPeak label

On a Supplement Facts panel, a plant ingredient is generally shown by its common name, often with the botanical name beside it. On a SaltPeak bottle, ashwagandha is named inside the proprietary blend, which groups several ingredients under one heading with a single combined total. The individual amounts are not printed.

A helpful reading rule is that the names inside a blend run from the largest share to the smallest. That does not tell you exact figures, but it gives you the order. If you want to understand how blends are listed in general, our guide to proprietary blend labels walks through the format line by line.

Growing and harvesting in a little more detail

The ashwagandha plant prefers a warm climate and soil that drains well. It tolerates dry spells better than many crops, which is part of why it has long been cultivated in drier parts of India. Seeds are usually sown at the start of the rainy season or in nursery beds, and young plants are transplanted once they have a few leaves.

Harvest generally happens when the leaves begin to yellow and the berries turn red, a visual cue that the plant has matured. The whole plant may be pulled up, the roots separated and cut into short pieces, and then dried in the sun or in controlled dryers. The dried pieces are graded by size and appearance before they move on to milling.

Because the plant is an agricultural crop, there is natural variation between harvests, regions and growers. That is one reason ingredient suppliers describe their material with a botanical name and a plant part, and why brands choose extracts, which are easier to keep uniform from one batch to the next.

If you ever see ashwagandha written with a different spelling, such as ashvagandha, it is the same word transliterated from Sanskrit in a slightly different way. Spelling variations are common with names that come from other writing systems, and they do not point to a different plant.

Everyday label habits

Ashwagandha is a nice case for practicing label reading, because it has an unusual name, a botanical name, a plant part and a preparation style, all in one entry. A few habits help with any plant ingredient. Check the Latin name. Check the plant part. Check whether the wording says powder or extract. Then look at where the ingredient sits on the panel.

SaltPeak is a daily chewable gummy, with 30 gummies in a bottle. The label directs one gummy a day, chewed thoroughly. Do not exceed the recommended amount, store the bottle tightly closed at room temperature, and do not use it if the seal is broken. According to the brand, SaltPeak is made in the USA in a GMP-certified, FDA-registered facility.