1930
Views & Citations930
Likes & Shares
Plants have been utilized as medicines for a huge number of years, in light of involvement and society cures and keep on illustration wide consideration for their job in the treatment of gentle and endless ailments. In these periods, concentration on plant inquire has expanded throughout the world also, a vast assemblage of proof has been collected to feature the monstrous capability of medicinal plants utilized in diverse system of medicine. In diverse of medicinal plants Bacopa monnieri is one of the most useful plants seen in Ayurveda medicines. Bacopa monnieri is a perennial, creeping herb origin to wetlands of southern and eastern India, Australia, Europe, Asia and north and South America. Brahmi has its own individual distinctive strong herbal taste and a bitter aftertaste. Due to alteration in lives and growing awareness for health there is a countless demand of food products that are healthy as well as provide some useful welfare. Its phytochemical substances are alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins and the significant constituents such as bacosides, bacopasides and bacopasaponins, which all of these contribute to its helpful properties. It is now being widely promoted to enhance memory, learning and concentration and also to treat anxiety, depression and systemic disorders like cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hepatic, neurological and also respiratory problems. This article mainly incorporates on the overview of Bacopa monnieri collection, cultivation, Ayurveda benefits.
Keywords: Bacopa monnieri, Bacoside, Brahmi, Bacopasaponin C, Anti-Parkinson
INTRODUCTION
Brahmi is a typical herb originated all over India. It is a plant which lives more than two years (perennial) of 10 cm high. Brahmi leafs are sessile arranged in opposite direction, which is small and fleshy. The flowers are of 1-2 cm and white in color. It even grows in hot and moisture place. It is one of the medicinal plants in India [1]. The word Brahmi comes from the word ‘Brahman’ which means Consciousness of God. Brahmi gives a state of calmness to the body, soul and spirit. It is mainly originate from Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. In subtropical and poorly water drained areas it grows well. It grows faster at 30-40°C. Created on their role in treatment of slight and enduring health problems, plants have been used for a thousand years now. As of late, herbal plants are in attention due to their ability to show hopefully outcomes in numerous health difficulties. It even grows in swamp and marshy places of Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh and USA. Bacopa monieri Linn. (Herpestismoniera) synonym. Bacopa popularly known as brahmi, Jalnim in Hindi and Nirpirami, Piramiyapundu in Tamil which belongs to the family Scrophulariace [2].
Taxonimical classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Angiosperms
Class: Eudicots
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Bacopa
Species: monnieri
Plants parts used
Whole herb is used- Seeds, roots, leaves, rhizomes
Cultivation
Temperature: 33-40°C
Rainfall: 50-100 cm
Altitude: 1300-1400 m
Harvesting temperature: 20-25°C
Sowing temperature: 25-30°C [3]
Soil condition
It can be grown under varying soil conditions, but wet soil with poor water drainage, is found to be suitable for its growth. It can be grown in marshy areas, canals and several water bodies. It requires acidic soil for its good growth [4].
Cultivation details
Seeds can be used, but due to excessive loss of seeds, vegetative propagation (plant cutting) is widely practiced. Transplanted during summer March-May or June-July [5].
Land preparation
Land is ploughed twice or thrice thoroughly and made weed free. Well decomposed manures/hectare is added, again ploughed, leveled and irrigated a day before planting. Nursery bed is raised by using mixture of soil, manure and sand. It is irrigated well to keep the soil moist. Within, few months the seedling is ready for transplanting [6].
Time of sowing
The planting should be done in the month of mid-June or early July.
Spacing
Seedlings are transplanted at the distance of 20 × 20 cm the mother plants are cut into small pieces along with roots, which are ideal transplanting material. It is moist loving, marshy plant, hence requires adequate irrigation. First irrigation after transplanting is essential for establishment of plants, followed by flood irrigation and no additional irrigation is required during monsoon, 7-8 irrigation is sufficient [7].
Fertilizer
At the time of land preparation, apply organic manure such as FYM and mix well in soil. Apply inorganic fertilizer dose of Nitrogen: Phosphorus: potassium in the form of Urea. Phosphorus and potash are applied as a basal dose and Nitrogen is applied in 3 split doses. First application is done 30 days after planting then second application is done at 60-70 days and third application is applied at 90 days after planting [8].
Weeding
During initial stages of plant growth, hand weeding is preferred at an interval of 10-15 days and proliferates with dense mass, weeding is carried out as and when required [2].
Harvesting
Plant starts yielding by 5-6 months after transplantation. Harvesting is done in the month of October-November [9], 2008 the upper portion from the base, i.e., 4-5 cm from the base is cut for harvesting. 2-3 harvestings are done in one year. Harvested material is washed and cleaned of the external matter [10]. It is then spread in thin layer on ground under shade at room temperature. The product is tossed twice a day for uniform drying. The drying process takes about 8 to 10 days [11] then packing is done in airtight bags for long distance transportation. The total dry herb yield of plant in two harvesting seasons is approximately 100 quintal per hectare [11].
Microscopical feature
The microscopical features are mentioned in Table 1.
MICROSCOPICAL STUDY
Transverse section (T.S.) of root (Table 2)
Transverse section (T.S) of stem (Table 3)
Transverse section (T.S.) of leaf (Table 4)
POWDER CHARACTERISTICS
Whole plant powder (Table 5)
Root powder (Table 6)
Stem powder (Table 7)
Leaf powder (Table 8)
ORGANOLEPTIC CHARACTER
Colour: Green
Taste: Bitter [12]
Size (leaves): About 2 cm [13]
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENT
This plant in the indigenous system of medicine, orderly chemical inspections of the plant have been carried out by numerous groups of scientists. Some of the chemical constituent that are present are alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins and the significant constituents such as bacosides, bacopasides and bacopasaponins, which all of these contribute to its helpful properties. It also contains bacopaside X, bacopaside II, bacoside A3 and bacopasaponin C [14] (Figure 1).
ETHNOMEDICAL USES
· Brahmi is utilized for oxidative damage and also act as a powerful antioxidant agent.
· It relieves backache, mental illness, epilepsy, irritation in the bowel and joint pain [15].
· Elephantiasis is treated by brahmi root ointment [16].
· Gonorrhea, the sexually transmitted diseases is treated by using powder leaf of brahmi which is mixed with milk [17].
· The leaf extract of brahmi is used to cure jaundice and fever and its other applications is neurological tonic which also acts as neuroprotective properties; even it cures asthma and bronchitis [18].
· It is also treated for dysentery in children [18].
· To increase the blood and for enhancing the nervous system, brahmi leaf juice is administered [19].
· The leaves purify the blood and used to cure mental illness, cholera, home medication for piles and amenorrhea are also treated by using brahmi [20].
· When brahmi is mixed as a composition with tulsi, neem, amla it promotes the growth of nails, hair and skin [21].
· It provides nutrition supplement for the hair, and make it longer and thicker [22].
· It is also used as a medicament to cures ulcer, Alzheimer’s disease and tumor [23].
· It is used against indigestion, leprosy and anemia and even treats spleen disorder and skin diseases [24].
PHARMACOLOGICAL USES
Central nervous effects
Memory enhancement: The Ayurvedic herb brahmi also called Bacopa. It helps in increasing the memory and learning skill of human and it also sharpen the brain [25,26]. It’s used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, along with fighting stress and improving memory [27].
Antioxidant
The antioxidant potential is good in brahmi which protects from oxidative destructions [28]. The cellular destruction is due to free radical and which also enhance antioxidant activity in other organs that mainly acts on brain related to the cognitive functions [29].
Anti-depressant
The active ingredients affect the hormonal balance in the body and affect the stress hormone in our body [30]. It increases the serotonin levels in the brain, which relieves from anxiety, nervousness and allows relaxing the mind, when brahmi leaf is administered [30].
Anti-Parkinson
The cluster of alpha-synuclein protein in the substantia nigra, the dopamine producing cell of the brain is reduced by brahmi [31]. It kills dopamine producing cells. Brahmi prevents the death of dopamine cells and symptoms of Parkinson’s [24].
Anti-convulsant
It has a neural pathway and prevents the epileptic fits. Bacoside promote acetylcholine which activates GABA, it balance the chemicals within the brain that controls the seizure activity [32]. It also enhances GABA activity and reduces the cognitive problems [33].
Anti-inflammatory
It is used for systemic redness in the brain and swelling in the body [36]. When brahmi leaf is applied in the affected part, it reduces swelling and decreases the irritation level inside the body. This also has important anti-inflammatory action that may well be applicable to its efficiency in the curative of numerous inflammatory situations in traditional medicine. It also knowingly inhibited 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), 15-LOX and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activities. This activity may be due to occurrence of the triterpenoids and bacosides in it. It can be used for people suffering from arthritis, gout and other swelling situations [33].
VERNACULAR NAMES (TABLE 9)
1. Gk S, MS Bharath M (2011) Exploring the role of “Brahmi” (Bacopa monnieri and Centella asiatica) in brain function and therapy. Recent Patents on Endocrine, Metabolic and Immune Drug Discovery 5: 33-49.
2. Ramawat KG (2004) Biotechnology of medicinal plants: Vitalizer and therapeutic. Science Publishers, Inc.
3. Neetu, Singhal HK, Kataria A (2016) A critical review on brahmi (Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennell). Eur J Pharm Med Res 3: 270-276.
4. Ariffin F, Heong Chew S, Bhupinder K, Karim AA, Huda N (2011) Antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition of fermented Centella asiatica herbal teas. J Sci Food Agric 9: 2731-2739.
5. Soumyanath A, Zhong YP, Yu X, Bourdette D, Koop DR, et al. (2005) Centella asiatica accelerates nerve regeneration upon oral administration and contains multiple active fractions increasing neurite elongation in vitro. J Pharm Pharmacol 57: 1221-1229.
6. Kumar MV, Gupta YK (2002) Effect of different extracts of Centella asiatica on cognition and markers of oxidative stress in rats. J Ethnopharmacol 79: 253-260.
7. Nandagaon VS, Kulkarni AR (2013) In vitro antioxidant and cytotoxicity activitiy of Bacopa monnieri and Baliospermum montanum Muell arg. Int J Pharm 4: 63-67.
8. Mahesh B, Satish S (2008) Antimicrobial activity of some important medicinal plant against plant and human pathogens. World J Agric Sci 4: 839-843.
9. Tothiam C, Phrompittayarat W, Putalun W, Tanaka H, Sakamoto S, et al. (2011) An enzyme‐linked immunosorbant assay using monoclonal antibody against bacoside A3 for determination of jujubogenin glycosides in Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst. Phytochem Anal 22: 385-391.
10. Debjit B, Pankaj T, Tripathi KK, Kumar KS (2010) Traditional Indian memory enhancer herbs and their medicinal importance. Ann Biol Res 1: 41-46.
11. Pritee S, Gondkar S, Saudagar R, Mahajan K (2016) Formulation and evaluation of jelly using herbal extract. Int J Univ Pharm Biosci 5: 2319-8141.
12. Warrier PK, Nambiar VP (1993) Indian medicinal plants: A compendium of 500 species. Orient Blackswan.
13. Chaudhari KS, Tiwari NR, Tiwari RR, Sharma RS (2017) Neurocognitive effect of nootropic drug brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) in Alzheimer's disease. Ann Neurosci 24: 111-122.
14. Bhattacharya SK, Kumar A, Ghosal S (1999) Effect of Bacopa monnieri on animal models of Alzheimer's disease and perturbed central cholinergic markers of cognition in rats. Research Communications in Pharmacology and Toxicology 4: II-1.
15. Onsa-ard A, Scholfield CN, Ingkaninan K, Srimachai S, Kamkaew N, et al. (2012) Oral Bacopa monnieri is antihypertensive in rats chronically treated with L-NAME. J Physiol 25: 23-26.
16. Mukherjee A, Gombar V, Shamsi Y, Gupta M, Sinha S (2017) Effectiveness of brahmi in various illnesses: Review paper. Herb Med 3: 10.
17. Caroline R, Richard B, Scoot (2003) Brain bioenergetics and cognitive ability. Dev Neurosci 25: 324-331.
18. Elangovan V, Govindasamy S, Ramamoorthy N, Balasubramanian K (1995) In vitro studies on the anticancer activity of Bacopa monnieri. Fitoterapia 66: 211.
19. Tripathi YB, Chaurasia S, Tripathi E, Upadhyay A, Dubey GP (1996) Bacopa monniera Linn. as an antioxidant: Mechanism of action. Indian J Exp Biol 34: 523-526.
20. Phrompittayarat W, Wittaya-Areekul S, Jetiyanon K, Putalun W, Tanaka H, et al. (2008) Stability studies of saponins in Bacopa monnieri dried ethanolic extracts. Planta Medica 74: 1756-1763.
21. Jain P, Khanna NK, Trehan N, Pendse VK, Godhwani JL (1994) Anti-inflammatory effects of an ayurvedic preparation, brahmi rasayan, in rodents. Indian J Exp Biol 32: 633-636.
22. Cheng CL, Koo MW (2000) Effects of Centella asiatica on ethanol induced gastric mucosal lesions in rats. Life Sci 67: 2647-2653.
23. Chatterjee TK, Chakraborty A, Pathak M, Sengupta GC (1992) Effects of plant extract Centella asiatica (Linn.) on cold restraint stress ulcer in rats. Indian J Exp Biol 30: 889-891.
24. Khare CP, Chopra RN (2000) Indian herbal therapies. Vishv Books.
25. Chowdhuri DK, Parmar D, Kakkar P, Shukla R, Seth PK, et al. (2002) Anti-stress effects of bacosides of Bacopa monnieri: Modulation of Hsp70 expression, superoxide dismutase and cytochrome P450 activity in rat brain. Phytotherapy Research: An International Journal Devoted to Pharmacological and Toxicological Evaluation of Natural Product Derivatives 16: 639-645.
26. Rao SB, Chetana M, Devi PU (2005) Centella asiatica treatment during postnatal period enhances learning and memory in mice. Physiol Behav 86: 449-457.
27. Kumar A, Dogra S, Prakash A (2009) Neuroprotective effects of Centella asiatica against intracerebroventricular colchicine-induced cognitive impairment and oxidative stress. Int J Alzheimers Dis.
28. Yu Z, Cheng G, Hu B (1997) Mechanism of colchicine impairment on learning and memory and protective effect of CGP36742 in mice. Brain Res 750: 53-58.
29. Chopra RN, Nayar SL (1956) Glossary of Indian medicinal plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.
30. Nadkarni KM (1996) Indian materiamedica. Dr. KM Nadkarni's Indian materiamedica: with Ayurvedic, Unani-Tibbi, Siddha, allopathic, homeopathic, naturopathic and home remedies, appendices and indexes. 1. Popular Prakashan.
31. Rae C, Scott RB, Lee M, Simpson JM, Hines N, et al. (2003) Brain bioenergetics and cognitive ability. Dev Neurosci 25: 324-331.
32. Singh RH, Singh L (1980) Studies on the anti-anxiety effect of the medyharasayana drug Brahmi (Bacopa monniera Wettst.). Res Ayur Siddha 1: 133-148.
33. Chowdhuri DK, Parmar D, Kakkar P, Shukla R, Seth PK, et al. (2002) Anti-stress effects of bacosides of Bacopa monnieri: Modulation of Hsp70 expression, superoxide dismutase and cytochrome P450 activity in rat brain. Phytother Res 16: 639-645.
34. Dhanasekaran M, Holcomb LA, Hitt AR, Tharakan B, Porter JW, et al. (2009) Centella asiatica extract selectively decreases amyloid β levels in hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease animal model. Phytother Res 23: 14-19.
35. Aboitiz F (1992) The origin of the mammalian brain as a case of evolutionary irreversibility. Medical Hypotheses 38: 301-304.
36. Ponnusamy K, Mohan M, Nagaraja HS (2008) Protective antioxidant effect of Centella asiatica bioflavonoids on lead acetate induced neurotoxicity. Med J Malay 63: 102-163.
-
Table 1
