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Asiatic Pennywort [Centella Asiatica (L.) Urb.}: a Little-Known Vegetable

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Asiatic Pennywort [Centella Asiatica (L.) Urb.}: a Little-Known Vegetable Asiatic Pennywort [Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.]: A Little-known Vegetable Crop K.H.S. Peiris and S.J. Kays1 Addtional index words. specialty vegetables, culture, photochemistry, medicinal herb Summary. Centella asiatica, the Asiatic pennywort, is an herbaceous perennial indigenous to the southeast- ern United States. In some Asian countries, it is valued as an important vegetable and is widely cultivated. In addition, it is considered an important medicinal herb due primarily to the pentacyclic phytochemical, asiaticoside, which effectively treats a variety of skin diseases. Information on the botany, photochemistry, medicinal, nutritional value, and cultivation of the crop is reviewed. This species may warrant preliminary field and consumer acceptance tests as a speciality vegetable in the United States. egetables make up a ma- jor portion of the diet of V humans. An increased aware- ness of the health advantages of diets high in vegetables has been a signifi- cant stimulant in increasing consump- tion. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the number of vegetable crops available to consumers in the United States over the past 15 years. Increasing ethnic diversity within many areas of the United States has stimulated the introduction of new crops. For example, tindora [Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt. ] and parval ( Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.), two little- known vegetables in the United States, 1Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA .30602-7273. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. Under postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertise- ment solely to indicate this fact. HortTechnology · Jan./Mar. 1996 6(1) 13 can now be found in ethnic markets seed are thin, and the leaves are lobbed, tions, but is more abundant in second- (Kays and Dias, 1995). Centella while in Centella the two mericarps ary-succession communities (Wankar asiatica, the Asiatic pennywort (Fig. possess seven to nine ridges each, the and Tripathi, 1990b, 1993). In the 1), represents another potentially new flowers are red or purple, the pericarp wild, the plant is found in wet or moist commercial vegetable. Although in- is thick, and the leaves are unlobbed. soils of marshes, bogs, and swamps digenous to the southeastern United Centella is comprised of about 20 and along the margins of lakes, ponds, States, the Asiatic pennywort is of con- species, found mainly in South Africa streams, irrigation and drainage ca- siderable importance in Bangladesh, (Mabberley, 1987), belonging to the nals, and bunts of irrigated paddy fields. Thailand, Madagascar, Malaysia, In- family Apiaceae (also known as It is also found in wet pine savannas, donesia, and Sri Lanka (Bagchi and Umbelliferae). Centella asiatica is a flatwoods, and palmetto flats, often Puri, 1989; Bautista et al., 1988; perennial herb with long slender hori- forming meadows. It grows in water Rasoanaiva, 1990). It is one of the zontal stolons, characterized by long and on land. The species is pantropic, major leafy vegetables grown in Sri internodes, from which arise a cluster found in the United States from Dela- Lanka, prized for its aromatic and of ascending petiolate leaves at each ware to southern Florida and west into slightly pungent flavor, and is available node (Fig. 1). Leaf size and margins Texas, in the West Indies, Mexico, in markets year round. The Asiatic vary; the latter can be smooth, crenate, Central and South America, Australia, pennywort has long been used in the or slightly lobed. Inflorescences of one India, Sri Lanka, New Caledonia, Phil- East for its pharmacological proper- to four simple umbels per node con- ippines, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, ties, reputed to confer a wide range of tain one to four flowers per umbel and Madagascar, Sikkim, and other tropi- beneficial effects (Lesley, 1994; Turton, form throughout the growing season. cal and subtropical regions of the world 1993), and was treated as a valuable The petals are white, often tinged with (Bagchi and Puri, 1988; Correll and medicinal plant in classical Indian rose; the calyx teeth are obsolete; the Correll, 1982; Correll and Johnston, Ayurvedic medicine, as evidenced by fruit are ellipsoid, 3 to 4 mm long, and 1970; Godfrey and Wooten, 1981; 11 Sanskrit names for the plant 3 to 5 mm broad (broader than long) Grieve, 1971; Jayaweera, 1982; (Jayaweera, 1982). The following re- (Correll and Correll, 1982). port critiques the horticultural, phy- Ecology tochemical, and medical information Fig. 1. Centella asiatica: (a) general morphology available on the crop. Centella asiatica grows wild un- of the plant; (b) growing point of a stolon; and (c) Nomenclature der a wide range of climatic condi- flower (Correll and Correll, 1982). The Asiatic pennywort is also known as the Indian pennywort, marsh pennywort, water pennywort, penny- weed, and, occasionally, sheep rot. Asiatic pennywort has the following names in other languages: hahanghalo (Cebuano); ji xue cao, luei gong gen, tung chain (Chinese); asiatisk centella (Danish); ecuelle d’eau, hydrocotyle asiatique (French); Indischer Wasser- nabel (German); braham-manduki, khulakhudi, valari (Hindi); daun kaki, kuda (Indonesia); yahon-yahon (Ilongo); idrocotile (Italian); gotukola, tsubo-kusa (Japanese); pegaga (Malay): donheiro em penca, pata de cavalo (Portuguese); mandukaparni (Sanskrit); gotukola (Sinhala); hierba de clavo (Spanish); takip-kohol, thakip- suso (Tagalog); and vallarai (Tamil). Several botanical synonyms for Asiatic pennywort are listed in the literature: Hydrocotyle asiatica L.; H. wightania Wall.; H. lurida Hance.; H. nummularioides Rich.; and H. pallida DC. The earlier classification as H. asiatica L. was subsequently corrected to Centella asiatica (Bagchi and Puri, 1988). Centella differs from Hyd- rocotyle in leaf, flower and fruit charac- teristics. In Hydrocotyle, the two mericarps have three ridges each, the flowers are white, the pericarp and 14 HortTechnology · Jan./Mar. 1996 6(1) Mandal, 1992; Turton, 1993). mosomes (Sinha and Sinha, 1977). Growth is favored by sandy loam Preferred natural habitats for Asi- The accessory chromosomes are quite soils high in organic matter and a high atic pennywort are moist locations from small, dot shaped, and euchromatic. soil moisture regime, especially under sea level to higher elevations; for ex- During meiosis, the B-chromosomes high light intensity. The land is pre- ample, in the Himalayas it can be found possess only ring and rod bivalents pared by plowing to a depth of about growing up to 700 m (Bagchi and varying from 6–11 and 0–5 respec- 20 cm and producing a good friable Puri, 1988). Populations growing in tively, with univalent absent. One to soil condition. Sunken beds are pre- different habitats show marked varia- two B-chromosomes were found in ferred to facilitate high moisture con- tion in dry-matter yield, stolon pro- 73% of pollen mother cells. The two ditions. Organic materials such as cow duction; leaf area, petiole length, and accessories present in the same cell do manure or leaf compost are added at other traits (Wankhar and Tripathi, not pair to form bivalents at metaphase; planting and about every 6 months 1990a). The plant relies primarily on however, during first mitotic division thereafter at the rate of 1.5 kg·m-2. vegetative reproduction rather than they divide to form four chromosomes. Apart from organic manures, fertiliz- seed, although seeds are formed. Plants The accessory chromosomes arise from ers are rarely applied, except for rela- derived from cuttings are more com- A-chromosomes through chromo- tively small amounts of urea, which is petitive than those developing from somal aberrations, hybridization, aneu- periodically added to facilitate leaf the seeds (Wankhar and Tripathi, ploidy, and changes in chromosomal growth. Precise fertilizer recommen- 1990b). number during speciation. Plants pos- dations are not currently available, al- sessing B-chromosomes are morpho- though fertility experiments are in Cytology logically indistinguishable from nor- progress in Sri Lanka (Anonymous, Most cytological studies on C. mal plants (Joshi and Raghuvanshi, 1990). asiatica indicate the somatic chromo- 1970). There are two general cultivars of some number of 2n = 18 forming Asiatic pennywort commercially grown regular nine bivalents (Bell and Culture in Sri Lanka: a small-leaved creeping Constance, 1960; Sharma and Ghosh, Although the plant grows readily form and a large-leaved erect bush 1954; Singha and Singha, 1977; in full sun, most commercial plantings form (Anonymous, 1978, 1990), with Subramanian, 1986). The reported in Sri Lanka are in partially shaded, lines that have been selected within chromosome number varies (e.g., 2n moist locations. Shade is prefered in each of the two types. For commercial = 22 for plants from Lucnow, 2n = 18 that the plants develop a profuse canopy plantings, propagation is exclusively in plants found in Bengal), suggesting of leaves with long petioles (Fig. 2). via asexual means, using pieces of run- an existence of chromosomal races While high light intensity produces ners. Planting material is prepared by within the species (Bagchi and Puri, more leaves and clonal offspring and a cutting stem pieces having one node. 1988). greater leaf area and dry matter, low The bush type is planted at a 30 × 25 Certain plants possess accessory light regimes are considered superior cm spacing, while the creeping type is or B-chromosomes, small chromo- for the erect types producing substan- planted at a closer spacing (15 × 15 somes present in addition to the nor- tially longer petioles (Wankar and cm) due to its slower growth rate. mal compliment of stable or A-chro- Thipathi (1990b). If grown in full sun, Partial shade may be beneficial for the another cultivar that has a more creep- vigorous growth of the crop but not Fig. 2. A commercial field of Centella ing habit but longer petioles is com- essential. For both types, adequate soil asiatica in Sri Lanka. monly selected. moisture is required for initial estab- lishment and subsequent growth.
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