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Chemotaxonomic Studies on Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. from Varied Phytogeographical Conditions of India for Its Industrial Prospection

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Abstract

Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. (Apiaceae) with high commercial value is an important herb in traditional Indian medicine. In the present study, comparative chemoprofiling was performed on various samples of C. asiatica (CA) collected from different phytogeographical zones of India, using high-performance thin-layer chromatography. Three biologically active phytochemicals, viz. asiaticosides, madeccasosides and asiatic acid, were investigated in 35 samples of CA. Variation in concentrations of asiaticoside, madeccasoside and asiatic acid was observed as 0.03–0.66%, 0.007–2.688% and 0.006–0.44%, respectively. The mobile phase which was used for asiaticoside and madecassoside was butanol:ethyl acetate:water, and for asiatic acid, it was toluene:ethyl acetate:formic acid. Among all samples, significant variation was observed in asiaticoside and madeccasoside from Northern Himalayas, while very small variation was found in asiatic acid from Deccan region. The results of the present study are of industrial importance in selection of phytogeographical regions of India for collection and to get maximum contents of active targeted phytochemicals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Director CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, for his kind support and to facilitate the required resources during this study. They are also thankful to National Medicinal Plant Board, Ministry of AYUSH, for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmacognosy and Ethnopharmacology Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, 226001, India

    Sharad Srivastava, Surabhi Tiwari, Nishi Srivastava, Shikhar Verma & Ajay Kumar Singh Rawat

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  1. Sharad Srivastava
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  2. Surabhi Tiwari
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  3. Nishi Srivastava
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  4. Shikhar Verma
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  5. Ajay Kumar Singh Rawat
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Correspondence to Sharad Srivastava.

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Significance statement

The study explores the chemotypic variation of bioactive triterpenoids viz. asiaticoside, madecassoside and asiatic acid in C. asiatica from varied phytogeographical zones of India. This aids identification of elite chemotype for commercial use.

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Srivastava, S., Tiwari, S., Srivastava, N. et al. Chemotaxonomic Studies on Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. from Varied Phytogeographical Conditions of India for Its Industrial Prospection. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 89, 1057–1066 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-018-1021-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-018-1021-x

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