Abstract

A REVIEW ON ANTICARCINOGENIC ACTIVITY OF “CENTELLA ASIATICA”

*Rituraj Verma and Anand Gurmaita

Abstract

In recent times, focus on plant research has increased all over the world. Centella asiatica is an important medicinal herb that is widely used in the orient and is becoming popular in the West. Triterpenoid, saponins, the primary constituents of Centella asiatica are manly believed to be responsible for its wide therapeutic actions. Apart from wound healing, the herb is recommended for the treatment of various skin conditions such as leprosy, lupus, varicose ulcers, eczema, psoriasis, diarrhoea, fever, amenorrhea, diseases of the female genitourinary tract and also for relieving anxiety and improving cognition. The present review attempts to provide comprehensive information on pharmacology and its anticarcinogenic activirty of the plant. As the plant shows the anticarcinogenic effect where the crude extract was found to be curing the ehrlich ascites tumor in mice and Asiatic acid helps in the treatment of skin cancer.

Keywords: Centella asiatica, Asiatic acid, cancer, asiaticoside, Bacopa monneri, Cytotoxic, Antitumour, breast cancer, ehrlich ascites tumor in mice.