The Effect of Production and Post-Harvest Processing Practices on Quality Attributes in Centella asiatica (L.) Urban—A Review

Abstract

Centella asiatica is well known for its miraculous therapeutic properties in various systems of traditional medicine across the world. However, significant variation in its pharmacological activities has been reported due to the unavailability of quality raw material and non-standardized formulations. A number of research papers have been published on the collection of C. asiatica plants from different regions for the identification of a suitable agroclimate with elite germplasms. Efforts have been made to standardize production and post-harvest practices for the availability of quality raw material with a high centelloside content. The ecological niche modeling approach revealed that the Indian subcontinent has high climatic suitability for the production of C. asiatica, and genotypes with a high content of centelloside were predominantly found in the Western Ghats, North East, Eastern Himalaya and Western Himalaya in India. Open cultivation of C. asiatica is more suitable in these agroclimatic zones in India. Cultivation under shade is also suitable in the plains of Central India. Hydroponic and tissue culture of C. asiatica has also been successfully established for the enhanced production of centelloside using supplements and elicitors such as sucrose, auxins, cytokinins, kinetin, methyl jasmonate, etc. Freeze drying has been identified as the most efficient post-harvest method for the high pharmacological activities of C. asiatica extracts.

Growth, Triterpene Glycosides, and Antioxidant Activities of Centella asiatica L. Urban Grown in a Controlled Environment with Different Nutrient Solution Formulations and LED Light Intensities

“…Herbal medicines are now commonly and widely used all over the world due to their beneficial and therapeutic effects on human health [3]. Centella asiatica L. Urban is one of the common Apiaceae spices that has been widely used in Chinese and Indian traditional medicine for centuries in China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, as well as South Africa and Madagascar [4][5][6][7]. It shows several biological activities such as wound healing, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, antinociceptive, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties [4,6,7].…”

“…Centella asiatica L. Urban is one of the common Apiaceae spices that has been widely used in Chinese and Indian traditional medicine for centuries in China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, as well as South Africa and Madagascar [4][5][6][7]. It shows several biological activities such as wound healing, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, antinociceptive, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties [4,6,7]. These pharmacological properties are attributed to triterpenes, mostly asiaticoside, asiatic acid, madecassoside, and madecassic acid [6].…”

“…Generally, the plant materials collected from the wild and field production are of very poor quality in terms of purity and bioactive compounds, as well as being contaminated with pesticide residues, heavy metals, and unacceptable microbial loads [10]. Consequently, to assure the continuous availability of plant material with high concentrations of major bioactive compounds, a well-directed cultivation of C. asiatica is needed [7,10,11].…”

“…Crop production in a controlled environment provides a high-quality and stable plant product supply that is an alternative and complementary to field production [12,13]. Temperature, light, CO 2 , water, and nutrients are essential environmental conditions that affect plant growth and secondary metabolite accumulation in this farming system [7,12,14,15]. Nutrient solution formulations (NSFs) are one of the most important factors that influence growth performance and nutritional values [16].…”