Original Articles
Suryakala Gandi and Archana Gi
Abstract
Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, a stoloniferous herb belonging to the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), is a slender creeping herb with roots originating from the nodes. The plant commonly called ‘Indian pennywort’ or ‘Gotukola’, is used in the preparation of Ayurvedic brain tonic. The plant produces a group of pentacyclic triterpenes known as “Centellosides” that include asiaticoside, madecassoside, thankuniside, sceffoleoside, brahminoside, asiatic acid, madecassic acid etc. Since, these centellosides are mainly present in the aerial parts of the plant, indiscriminate harvest of plants from the natural habitats can be prevented by developing a protocol for a rapid and high frequency regeneration. In the present study, 28.4±1.14 shoots were obtained from single nodal explant on MS media supplemented with 2 mg/l BAP. Also, high seed germination (83%) rate was achieved that would benefit conservation of the medicinally important plant, C. asiatica. Moreover, high frequency regeneration from nodal explants would be a potential tool for the study of metabolic engineering aspects leading to the enhanced production of secondary metabolites