Centella asiatica


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Centella asiatica

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Botanical Name : Centella asiatica
Sanskrit name : Mandukparni
English Name : Indian Pennywort
Family : Apiaceae

Plant Parts Used : Whole Plant

Description Centella asiatica:
The stems are slender, creeping stolons, green to reddish green in color, interconnecting one plant to another. It has long-stalked, green, reniform leaves with rounded apices which have smooth texture with palmately netted veins. The leaves are born on pericladial petioles, around 20 cm. The rootstock consists of rhizomes, growing vertically down. They are creamish in color and covered with root hairs.

The flowers are pinkish to red in color, born in small, rounded bunches (umbels) near the surface of the soil. Each flower is partly enclosed in two green bracts. The hermaphrodite flowers are minute in size (less than 3 mm), with 5-6 corolla lobes per flower. Each flower bears five stamens and two styles.

The crop matures in three months and the whole plant, including the roots, is harvested manually. When eaten raw as a salad leaf, pegaga is thought to help maintain youthfulness. A decoction of juice from the leaves is thought to relieve hypertension. This juice is also used as a general tonic for good health. A poultice of the leaves is also used to treat open sores. Interestingly, chewing on the plant for several hours induces entheogenic meditation, similar to the effects of salvia divinorum, although this practice is widely considered dangerous, as it can cause temporomandibular joint pains.

Medicinal Uses: It is tonic, diuretic and alterative. It is used in treatment of leporosy and known to ameliorate the symptoms of the disease and improves general health of the patient. It is a brain tonic and stimulates hair growth. The whole plant possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifebrile, diuretic and galactagogic activity. External application in the form of poultices is prescribed for contusions, closed fractures, sprains and furunculosis.

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The authenticity of the above information are not verified and established by us. You are requested to get it verified. The above given information are collected from various sources may be used for academic purpose.