The Medicinal Role of Centella asiatica and Its Applications in the Dahi: A Research Review
Rajni Kant *
Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal – 721302, India.
Prem Prakash Srivastav
Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal – 721302, India.
Ashis Kumar Datta
Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal – 721302, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Thankuni, scientifically known as Centella asiatica is a ground creeper and whole plant is used for medicinal purpose. The leaf juice is used as a good health tonic and also gives relief from hypertension, CNS and gastrointestinal diseases. Thankuni extract is incorporated with dahi to improve the medicinal value. These properties have been ascribing to the active principles viz., Asiatic acid, Asiaticoside, madecassic acid, and madecassocide. These are pentacyclic triterpenes, found to display venous insufficiency, various vein and wound healing properties.
Keywords: Central nervous system (CNS), Thankuni, venous insufficiency and various vein.