ABSTRACT
Centella asiatica (L). Urb (Gotukola) is a herbaceous creeper from Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) and Calicyflorae series. C. asiatica is indigenous to major parts of Asia. Its medicinal property has been specified in Ayurveda system, and African and Chinese medicines. Further, C. asiatica is involved in the Indian traditional medicine, the German Homoeopathic and the European Pharmacopoeia. In India, it is used to improve learning and memory and has nootropic effects. The plant guards the brain from oxidative injuries due to aging and it advances neuronal development. C. asiatica has been described with a possible role in scleroderma, alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis, and leg ulcers. The whole plant tissue is used as adjunctive in the management of many respiratory, skin and mental disorders. The extract also has enough potential in curing leprosy and urethritis. The brain strengths of children was found increased by the use of its leaf extract. It contains huge amounts of 5-ringed centelloids. The centelloids comprise the major portion of asiaticosides and also madecassoside, madecassic acids and asiatic acid, which have significant contributions to its neutraceutical properties. A novel study observed that C. asiatica is effective in declining the concentration of β amyloid in the medial temporal lobe of brain in animal model for Alzheimer’s disease. Due to its immense economical relevance, C. asiatica is being overexploited and it is crucial to enhance the medicinal content of the plant. The active principles can be enriched with certain elicitors and the stress induced by the biotic and abiotic elicitors has been utilized to enhance the production of centelloids. Among the biotic elicitors, Piriformospora indica, a simply growing growth promoting fungus significantly boost the biomass development and metabolite levels in C. asiatica. Dual cultivation with P. indica or its cell wall extract could be exploited as a feasible and reliable method for augmenting the secondary metabolite synthesis and growth in C. asiatica.
