CENTELLA ASIATICA

Centella asiatica is a plant belonging to the Apiaceae family, a vast family of plants that includes about 3000 species divided into 420 genera spread throughout the world’s temperate zones. The category to which Centella belongs is that of the Apiales, also known as Umbrelliferae, because of the shape of their leaves. Native to the Asian continent of the pantropical belt, it grows spontaneously in China, India, and Indonesia, but is also found in Australia and Africa, especially in humid and marshy environments, near rivers and watercourses. Today it is prevalent and cultivated in India, where it takes the name Gotu Kola. The leaves of Centella contain triterpenic acids (also known as Asian acid, madecassoside, madecassic acid and centelloside). These pentacyclic triterpenoids are generically called centelloside. Centella Asiatica also contains essential oils, flavonoids, phytosterols, tannins, mineral salts, and sugars. But it is above all the presence of triterpene saponins (asiaticoside, asian acid and madecassoside) that makes Centella Asiatica known for its beneficial effect on the peripheral circulation. This is why Centella Asiatica is considered the main remedy for fighting cell stagnation and has traditionally found widespread use in cellulite cases. Consumption of this plant makes it possible to preserve the structure and tone of the vessel walls thanks to its phlebotonic activity. In fact Centella, reinforcing and elasticizing the walls of the blood vessels, favours a healthy peripheral circulation and is therefore indicated to prevent and treat varicose veins, reducing the dilation of the veins, capillary permeability, and subcutaneous oedema. It exerts a beneficial effect on venous insufficiency and therefore on the swelling and heaviness in the legs and ankles that result from it. It is also beneficial in the presence of capillaries visible on the surface of the skin. It acts mainly by preserving the structure and tone of the vessel walls due to its stimulating the synthesis of collagen by fibroblasts. A typical plant of the Indian and Ayurvedic medical tradition, it has traditionally been used in dermatology and cosmetics, including as a soothing and healing agent for wounds, burns and injuries. The applications of Centella asiatica in ophthalmology derive from its antibacterial and antifungal abilities and above all because of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective activity. This makes it a support for the retina, the ocular nervous tissue that makes it possible to perceive images and, in collaboration with the brain of which it is part, to process them. Centella is also recognised as having a marked anti-diabetic potential, and its use has proved beneficial in the presence of diabetic retinopathy. Also popularly known as the “Tiger Grass”, Centella asiatica is a herbaceous plant whose height varies between 5 and 15 centimetres with small, regular, rounded bright green leaves, and a circumference of between 2 and 4 centimetres. Therefore, it has a small leaf which although delicate in appearance, possesses great power, containing very effective active principles for the retina with a protective capacity against submacular vorticose veins and therefore, indirectly, prevents generalised oedemas and also presumably perimacular oedema. It plays a protective role regarding retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

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