Rose (Rosewater and Gulkand) and Pregnancy: A Gentle Use With a Nuance

Rose, used as a hydrosol on the skin, as a petal tea, or as gulkand after meals, raises no identified concern during pregnancy: it's one of the gentlest herbs in the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia, as our article rose: real dangers and precautions notes. The nuance worth knowing concerns concentrated rose essential oil, whose profile a recent study clarifies by dose.

What a recent study shows about the essential oil

A study published in December 2024 in the journal Molecules evaluated the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of Rosa damascena essential oil, using three distinct cell systems: plant meristematic cells, mammalian bone marrow cells, and human lymphocyte cultures (see the study on Google Scholar). The authors found concentration-dependent cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, at doses ranging from 10 to 200 µg/mL, with greater sensitivity in human lymphocyte cultures than in the other systems tested.

This finding concerns a concentrated essential oil tested in the lab, not the rose hydrosol (rosewater) used in traditional skin care, whose concentration of active compounds is much lower. It nonetheless confirms a general principle already applied on this site to all essential oils: the higher the concentration, the narrower the safety margin — one more reason to set aside the pure essential oil during pregnancy, a period when caution should be at its maximum.

Hydrosol, gulkand, essential oil: what changes in pregnancy

Form	Assessment in pregnancy
Rosewater (pure hydrosol) on skin or in cooking	No identified concern, a gentle traditional use
Gulkand (petal-and-sugar preserve)	Occasional, best limited especially with gestational diabetes
Dried petal tea	A light traditional use, no known warning signal
Pure rose essential oil	Best avoided as a precaution, like most concentrated essential oils in pregnancy

Gulkand and gestational diabetes: an already-known precaution

As our reference article notes, gulkand is a sugar-rich preparation. This precaution takes on particular weight during pregnancy with diagnosed gestational diabetes or blood-sugar monitoring: in that case, it's best to limit it heavily or ask your midwife or doctor for advice, independent of any traditional benefit attributed to rose itself.

What to do in practice?

• Rose hydrosol on skin: usual use remains possible, checking for the absence of synthetic fragrances or harsh preservatives.
• Gulkand: occasional, moderated with gestational diabetes.
• Petal tea: light use with no particular known restriction.
• Pure rose essential oil: to be avoided throughout pregnancy, both internally and externally undiluted.

And while breastfeeding?

Rose's everyday skin and culinary use isn't called into question during breastfeeding, this herb being part of the traditional diet of many cultures. The concentrated essential oil remains one to reserve for professional advice, following the same logic of caution as in pregnancy.

Precautions

In short: rosewater, petal tea, and occasional gulkand remain compatible with pregnancy. Only the pure essential oil, whose dose-dependent cytotoxic profile a recent lab study confirms, calls for clear abstention. For more, see our Ayurveda and pregnancy guide and the safety and precautions guide.