Specific triterpenes, phenolic acids and flavonoids in Centella asiatica have been found to be bioactive. Harvesting the plant when these putative bioactive compounds are at their highest concentrations would provide consistency in their chemical profile, thus ensuring the quality and efficacy of derived medicinal products.
The aim of the study was to determine the impact of harvesting time on the contents of major triterpenoid and phenolic compounds in C. asiatica.
Australian C. asiatica was collected from a designated area in different months. The principal triterpenes (asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid), flavonoid compounds (rutin, quercetin and kaempferol) and chlorogenic acid were quantitatively determined by HPLC-DAD analysis.
The triterpenoid standards (Fig. 1), asiatic acid (1), asiaticoside(3), madecassic acid (2) and madecassoside (4) were purchased from Chengdu Biopurify Phytochemicals Ltd (Chengdu, China).
