Centella asiatica, commonly known as Indian pennywort, Asiatic pennywort, spadeleaf, coinwort or gotu kola,[
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Description
Centella grows in temperate and tropical swampy areas in many regions of the world.[ The stems are slender, creeping , green to reddish-green in color, connecting plants to each other.][ It has long-stalked, green leaves; the leaf blade has a rounded apex, a smooth texture and palmately netted veins;][ the leaf stalk is broadened at the base into a leaf-sheath. The rootstock consists of , growing vertically down. They are cream in color and covered with root hairs.][
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The are white or crimson 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 , with five to six corolla lobes per flower. Each flower bears five stamens and two Gynoecium. The fruit are densely reticulate, distinguishing it from species of Hydrocotyle which have smooth, ribbed or warty fruit.][ Centella has numerous common names in its regions of distribution.][
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Ecology
Centella asiatica is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent (including Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia, parts of Australia, and wetland regions of the Southeastern US.
Composition
Centella contains pentacyclic and trisaccharide derivatives, including asiaticoside, brahmoside, asiatic acid, and brahmic acid (madecassic acid). Other constituents include centellose, centelloside, and madecassoside.
Uses
Culinary
In Burmese cuisine, raw pennywort is used as the main constituent in a Burmese salads mixed with onions, crushed peanuts, bean powder and seasoned with lime juice and fish sauce.
In Indonesia, the leaves are used for sambai oi peuga-ga, an Aceh type of salad, and is also mixed into asinan in Bogor. In Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, this leaf is used for preparing a drink or can be eaten in raw form in salads or spring roll. In Bangkok, vendors in the Chatuchak Weekend Market sell it alongside coconut, roselle, chrysanthemum, orange and other health drinks. In Malay cuisine it is known as pegaga, and the leaves of this plant are used for ulam, a type of vegetable salad.[ C. asiatica is widely used in various Indian cuisine.
In Bangladesh and India (specifically in West Bengal), Centella is called Thankuni Pata and used in various dishes, one of the most appetising of which is the pakora-like snack called Thankuni Patar Bora; made of mashed Centella, , julienning onion and Chilli pepper.
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Traditional medicine
In traditional medicine, C. asiatica has been used with the intent to treat various disorders, dermatological conditions,[ although clinical efficacy and safety have not been proven in clinical research.]
Contact dermatitis and skin irritation can result from topical application.
Potential for liver damage
A 2024 review indicated that consuming foods or dietary supplements containing Centella asiatica may cause liver disease.
Agricultural use
In the context of phytoremediation, C. asiatica is a potential phytoextraction tool owing to its ability to take up and translocate metals from root to shoot when grown in soils contaminated by heavy metals.
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