Centella asiatica and Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea) in Oral Beauty Supplements and Functional Beverages: A Critical Review of Human Evidence, Bioavailability, Safety and Formulation

Centella asiatica and butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) are increasingly combined in oral beauty supplements and blue-coloured functional beverages in Asia. A 2026 randomised trial reported that oral Centella extract reduced wrinkle depth, and a 2023 review proposed microencapsulated butterfly pea extract as a functional food ingredient. This review examines the human evidence, bioavailability, safety and formulation of both ingredients for these products. The Centella trial met its primary endpoint, a 3.9 µm greater reduction in average wrinkle depth than placebo with 14 mg of asiaticoside a day, but it was registered retrospectively, analysed per protocol, run by the manufacturer and contains internal inconsistencies, and its secondary effects were below 3%. Parent Centella triterpenes reach very low plasma concentrations, and three cases of hepatitis, one with positive rechallenge, have been reported in women of the same age. Butterfly pea has no human skin data; small acute trials show post-meal glucose, lipid and antioxidant effects. It is permitted in the United States as a colour additive, but the European Food Safety Authority objected to dried flowers as a traditional food because of cyclotides. Microencapsulation studies measured colour and antioxidant assays, not bioavailability. Products should claim no more than this evidence supports.