Pegagan (Centella asiatica) as a functional food for health with centelloside content

¹ Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jln. Dr Mansyur no.9, Medan, 20222, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
² Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jln. Dr Mansyur no.9, Medan, 20222, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: noverita@usu.ac.id

Abstract

Pegagan or Centella asiatica is one of the wild plants that has not experienced domestication. Countries in the Eastern have been concerned about conserving medicinal plants to the sustainability of medicinal and aromatic plants. The content of secondary metabolites in Centella asiatica has been known; those are several saponin compounds, including asiaticoside, madeccasoside, and asiatic acid. This study’s goal was to determine the content of secondary metabolites of asiaticoside, madeccasoside and asiatic acid at the top (leaves and petioles) and the bottom (roots and tendrils) with a harvest age of 12 weeks after planting (WAP). The planting site was in the lowlands of Deli Serdang, in which the measuring method used the HPLC tool. According to the results, Centella asiatica, harvested at 12 WAP, had a higher content of asiaticoside and madeccasoside in the roots and tendrils than in the leaves and petioles, while the content of asiatic acid was higher in the leaves and petioles than in the roots and tendrils. The bioactive compounds contained in Pegagan (Centella asiatica) are very efficacious for various diseases. Cultivation is carried out to avoid the loss of germplasm and genetic diversity in nature so that a balance in nature can be achieved.