Gokhru, or gokshura, is Tribulus terrestris, a small creeping annual of the family Zygophyllaceae whose spiny fruit is the part mainly used, and which the Ayurvedic texts list as a diuretic (mutrala) among other actions. Modern trials have not found that it raises testosterone in healthy men. If you are thinking of taking it for any health reason, or take any medicine, follow your doctor's advice first.
At a glance
- A 2014 review in Pharmacognosy Reviews describes Tribulus terrestris as a small prostrate annual, 10 to 60 cm high, with yellow flowers and a fruit whose segments each carry two pairs of sharp spines.
- The Sanskrit go-ksura means "cow-hoof", because the spiky fruit looks like a cow's cloven hoof, says the same review; Tribulus comes from the Greek tribolos, "spike fruit", says a 2020 review in Biomolecules.
- The 2020 review names protodioscin, a steroidal saponin, as the dominant component of the fruit, and tabulates fruit values of 10 to 60 mg per 100 g for Turkish samples against 240 to 500 mg for Bulgarian ones.
- A 2025 systematic review in Nutrients of 10 studies and 483 men found that 8 reported no significant change in androgen profile, and concluded there is no solid evidence that Tribulus is a testosterone booster.
- A 2014 systematic review in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, of 11 studies, found testosterone rose in humans only with combined supplements, and called Tribulus "ineffective for increasing testosterone levels in humans".
What plant is gokhru?
Gokhru is a low, trailing weed of hot, dry ground. The 2014 review by Chhatre and colleagues calls Tribulus terrestris "an annual shrub found in Mediterranean, subtropical, and desert climate regions", then describes it as "small prostrate, 10-60 cm height, hirsute or silky hairy", with pinnate leaves of five to eight pairs of leaflets and yellow flowers.
The 2020 review by Ștefănescu and colleagues in Biomolecules places it in the Zygophyllaceae, "a widespread family with 25 genera and about 250 species", and calls it "a crawling herbal plant that generally grows in arid climates and sandy soils".
The fruit splits into segments, and each, in Chhatre's words, has "two pairs of hard sharp spines, one pair longer than the other".
Where do the names gokhru, gokshura and puncture vine come from?
Every name for this plant is about the burr. Chhatre and colleagues explain the Sanskrit: "The spiky fruit looks like the cloven hoof of a cow and, hence, is known as go-ksura (cow-hoof)." Hindi gokharu, or gokhru, is the same name. The English names the review gives are "puncture vine" and "land (or small) caltrops", and Ștefănescu's review says Tribulus "comes from the Greek name tribolos which means spike fruit".
Where does gokhru grow in India?
Almost everywhere dry and warm. Chhatre and colleagues write that it "is found all over India up to 11,000 ft in Kashmir, Ceylon, and all warm regions of both hemispheres", common in pasture and waste land, "chiefly in hot, dry, and sandy regions including West Rajasthan and Gujarat in India". Unlike safed musli, a forest root farmed because wild digging made it endangered, gokhru is a roadside weed that no one needs to plant.
Which part is used, and what is the difference between laghu and brihat gokshura?
The fruit above all, and in some preparations the root or the whole plant. Chhatre and colleagues say "fruits and roots are mainly used as a folk medicine"; the Chandigarh monograph lists the part used as "whole plant".
The complication is that Ayurveda knows two gokshuras. The Chandigarh monograph gives Tribulus terrestris as the smaller, Kshudra or Laghu Gokharu, and says the larger, gaja gokshura, is "equated with Pedalium murex Linn", a different plant sold as bada gokhru. A packet labelled gokhru can be either.
Gokhru is one of the herbs in Himdhara's Shilajit Gold Resin, with ashwagandha, safed musli, shatavari and gold ash; the manufacturer's certificate for batch 2658, on the lab reports page, records that each herb complied with the label. That tells you the fruit is in the jar; it says nothing about what the blend does.
What does gokhru contain?
Steroidal saponins, above all protodioscin, plus flavonoids and two alkaloids. Chhatre and colleagues report furostanol glycosides "including protodioscin and protogracillin", of which "protodioscin is the most dominant saponin", main flavonoids at "about 1.5 times that of main saponins", and "the alkaloids present are harmane and norharmane".
How much a given batch holds is the open question. The 2020 review says protodioscin "is the dominant component in TT fruits" but that its concentration "varies within very wide limits" with the plant's origin and the organ measured. In the fruit values it tabulates, Turkish samples gave 10 to 60 mg per 100 g and Bulgarian 240 to 500 mg. Two bags of gokhru fruit can differ fiftyfold (500 against 10) on the one constituent the pharmacology rests on.
| Fact | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Tribulus terrestris L. (laghu gokshura); the larger brihat or gaja gokshura is equated with Pedalium murex |
| Family | Zygophyllaceae, 25 genera and about 250 species (Ștefănescu 2020) |
| Habit | Small prostrate annual, 10 to 60 cm, hairy; a crawling plant of arid, sandy ground |
| Flowers and fruit | Yellow flowers; fruit in segments, each with two pairs of hard sharp spines (Chhatre 2014) |
| Part used | Fruits and roots in folk medicine; whole plant in the Chandigarh monograph |
| Region in India | All over India up to 11,000 ft; chiefly hot, dry, sandy regions such as West Rajasthan and Gujarat (Chhatre 2014) |
| Main constituents | Furostanol saponins, protodioscin dominant; flavonoids about 1.5 times the main saponins; alkaloids harmane and norharmane |
| Classical role | Mutrala (diuretic), vrishya, rasayana; in Charaka's Mutravirechaniya group (Chandigarh monograph); folk use as diuretic, lithotriptic and urinary disinfectant (Chhatre 2014) |
What role does gokshura have in the classical texts?
A diuretic and a tonic, among other things. The Chandigarh monograph calls gokshura "one of the important mutrala drugs in Ayurveda", and under the urinary system lists it as "Diuretic, dissolves calculi". It gives its properties as madhura rasa and vipaka, sheeta virya, guru and snigdha guna, and its actions as "Vata-pitta hara, Vrsya, Mutrala, Rasayana, deepana, hridya, sulaghna". Mutrala means diuretic. It places gokshura in Charaka's Shothahara, Mutravirechaniya and Krimighna groups.
Chhatre and colleagues read the folk record the same way: a "tonic, aphrodisiac, palliative, astringent" and a "diuretic, lithotriptic, and urinary disinfectant", with the actions Ashmarihara, "removes urinary stone", and Vastishodhana, "cures bladder ailments". These describe what the texts say; they are not findings, any more than shilajit's classical record is, as shilajit vs ashwagandha sets out.
What do human trials of Tribulus actually show?
Small trials, poorly rated, and on the claim that sells the most packets, a consistent no. Two systematic reviews, eleven years apart, agree.
- The 2014 review by Qureshi and colleagues searched seven databases up to August 2013 for randomised trials in healthy people and for animal studies. Eleven studies qualified, too varied for meta-analysis. Some animal studies showed a rise in serum testosterone, but in humans "this effect was only noted when TT was part of a combined supplement administration". The verdict: "Evidence to date suggests that TT is ineffective for increasing testosterone levels in humans, thus marketing claims are unsubstantiated."
- The 2025 review by Vilar Neto and colleagues found 10 eligible studies, 9 clinical trials and 1 quasi-experimental study, of 15 to 172 participants each, 483 men in all, treated for one to three months. "Eight out of ten studies did not report significant changes in androgen profile." The two that did enrolled men with hypogonadism, and the rise "had low clinical magnitude". Of five studies that measured erectile dysfunction, three reported improvement, which the authors call "a low level of evidence". The Jadad score rated half the studies as of low methodological quality. The conclusion: "there is no solid evidence that TT supplementation is a testosterone booster."
Claims that go further than these two reviews, on stamina, muscle or hormones, are not supported by the human trials they examined.
Is Tribulus terrestris toxic?
Not established either way: the 2020 review concludes that "the toxicity of TT extracts has not been fully evaluated, and the toxic compounds have not been properly identified".
In sheep, the review cites Bourke's finding that "a specific, irreversible, asymmetrical locomotor disorder appeared in sheep" after they ate large quantities of the plant, with harmane and norharmane, the two alkaloids above, suggested as possible neurotoxins. Separately, "hepatogenous photosensitivity appeared after 11 days in sheep fed with a mixture of TT and alfalfa", with depression, jaundice, weight loss and conjunctivitis.
In people, the review records three single cases: "a severe case of nephrotoxicity in a 28-year-old man, after the consumption of TT water"; a 36-year-old man "diagnosed with a 72-hour priapism" after a Tribulus-based supplement; and a 30-year-old man "diagnosed with hyperbilirubinemia, cholestasis, and bilirubin-induced toxic acute tubular necrosis". The products were not analysed. Case reports cannot say how often this happens. If you take any medicine or have a kidney or liver condition, talk to your doctor before taking gokhru on its own or in a blend; our guide to shilajit safety and interactions applies the same caution to the resin.
The short version
Gokhru is Tribulus terrestris, a hairy, creeping annual of hot, dry, sandy ground across India, named everywhere for its spiny fruit. The dried fruit is the part sold; the larger bada gokhru is a different plant, Pedalium murex. Its chemistry is dominated by steroidal saponins, chiefly protodioscin. The classical texts class it as a diuretic and tonic. Two systematic reviews found no good evidence that it raises testosterone in healthy men, and its toxicity has not been fully evaluated. Follow your doctor's advice before taking it in any form.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Chhatre S, Nesari T, Somani G, Kanchan D, Sathaye S (2014). Phytopharmacological overview of Tribulus terrestris. Pharmacognosy Reviews.
- Ștefănescu R, Tero-Vescan A, Negroiu A, Aurică E, Vari CE (2020). A Comprehensive Review of the Phytochemical, Pharmacological, and Toxicological Properties of Tribulus terrestris L.. Biomolecules.
- Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College & Hospital, Chandigarh (n.d.). Gokshura. Dravyaguna Vigyan monographs.
- Qureshi A, Naughton DP, Petroczi A (2014). A systematic review on the herbal extract Tribulus terrestris and the roots of its putative aphrodisiac and performance enhancing effect. Journal of Dietary Supplements.
- Vilar Neto JO, de Moraes WMAM, Pinto DV, da Silva CA, Caminha JSR, Nunes Filho JCC, Reis CEG, Prestes J, Santos HO, Daher EF (2025). Effects of Tribulus (Tribulus terrestris L.) Supplementation on Erectile Dysfunction and Testosterone Levels in Men—A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials. Nutrients.