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Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies
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P-ISSN: 2394-0530, E-ISSN: 2320-3862

2018, Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part C

“Brahmi” The memory booster medicinal herb

BS Thorat, TA Bagkar and RR Patil

Bacopa is a medicinal herb used in Ayurveda, where it is also known as "Brahmi", after Brahma, the creator God of the Hindu pantheon. With the scientific name of Bacopa monnieri, this creeping, perennial herb has been praised in Ayurvedic and traditional medicines across the world for generations. It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact native for this wetland-growing herb and most experts agree that it has been growing in the wetlands of southern and Eastern India, Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and South America for hundreds of thousands of years. The best characterized compounds in Bacopa monnieri are dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins known as bacosides, with jujubogenin or pseudo-jujubogenin moieties as aglycone units. Other saponins called bacopasides I–XII have been identified more recently. The alkaloids brahmine, nicotine, and herpestine have been catalogued, along with D-mannitol, apigenin, hersaponin, monnierasides I –III, cucurbitacin and plantainoside B. The constituent most studied has been bacoside A, which was found to be a blend of bacoside A3, bacopacide II, bacopasaponin C, and a jujubogenin isomer of bacosaponin C. Bramhi contains bacopaside I (5.37%), bacoside A3 (5.59%), bacopaside II (6.9%), bacopasaponin C isomer (7.08%), and bacopasaponin C (4.18%). It is commonly used fresh as a salad ingredient, but the herb can also be dried and ground and used with other herbs. Bacopa monnieri was initially described around the 6th century A.D. in texts such as the Charaka Samhita, Atharva-Veda, and Susrut Samhita as a medhya rasayana –class herb taken to sharpen intellect and attenuate mental deficits. The herb was allegedly used by ancient Vedic scholars to memorize lengthy sacred hymns and scriptures. The leaves (2-3 per day) are often chewed by people as a general tonic, almost like a vitamin supplement. The flavor is relatively mild, but the real reason for using brahmi is for the impact that it has on human health.
Pages : 185-187 | 2264 Views | 399 Downloads
How to cite this article:
BS Thorat, TA Bagkar, RR Patil. “Brahmi” The memory booster medicinal herb. J Med Plants Stud 2018;6(1):185-187.
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