Asparagus officinalis L.

A. paragus Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.; A. polyphyllus Steven ex Ledeb.; A. vulgaris Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.; and others

Asparagaceae (previously assigned to Liliaceae)

Garden asparagus; sparrowgrass; wild asparagus

Asparagi rhizoma; Asparagi herba

Rhizomes with roots attached; aerial parts

A number of bioactive compounds have been isolated from asparagus roots, including furostanol-type and spirostanol-type steroidal saponins, including asparagosides A to I, asparasaponins I and II, officinalisnins I and II, asparanin A, smilagenin, sarsasapogenin O); and several fructo-oligosaccharides. Flavonoids have also been isolated from asparagus shoots, including rutin, quercetin and kaempferol (Huang and Kong 2006; Pharmaceutical Press Editorial Team 2013).

Clinical studies to support the THR-approved uses of A. officinalis are lacking. In a six week clinical surveillance of 163 patients receiving a proprietary preparation containing powdered A. officinalis roots with parsley herb (200 mg each per tablet), administered at maximally tolerable doses of the product (12 tablets per day), no clinically useful antihypertensive effects were found. Due to kidney-related adverse events, seven patients left the surveillance early. In light of this, it raises questions about the use of such products to treat hypertension or to promote flushing of the urinary tract in renal inflammatory conditions or kidney stones (Chrubasik et al. 2006; Chrubasik et al. 2009).