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C. Beena*
AICRP on MAP & B, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Kerala-680656, India
Email: beenac2@gmail.com
Received-20.06.2026, Revised-12.07.2026, Accepted-29.07.2026
Abstract: Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. is an important medicinal herb valued for its pentacyclic triterpenoid constituents, particularly asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid. However, the raw drug remains vulnerable to quality deterioration during storage. The present study evaluated the influence of storage temperature and packaging material on the retention of important marker compounds and the physical and microbiological quality of C. asiatica raw drug over six months. The raw drug was stored under refrigerated (4 °C; M1) and ambient (M2) conditions using six packaging systems: glass jar (S1), plastic jar (S2), vacuum pack (S3), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bag (S4), aluminium pouch (S5) and cloth bag (S6). Samples were assessed after three and six months for asiaticoside and asiatic acid contents. After three months, refrigerated vacuum packaging (M1S3) retained the highest asiaticoside (0.978%) and asiatic acid (0.097%) contents, while LDPE and cloth-bag samples under ambient storage had spoiled. After six months, the refrigerated vacuum-packed treatment retained 0.86% asiaticoside, equivalent to 88% of the initial value (0.98%), and had the lowest reported total viable count among the surviving treatments (10 × 10⁷ CFU/g compared with 16 × 10⁷ CFU/g initially). Refrigerated aluminium-pouch and cloth-bag samples retained 70% and 74% of the initial asiaticoside content, respectively, whereas the ambient vacuum-packed sample retained 62%. Most other treatments were recorded as spoiled by six months. Overall, the results indicated that combining refrigeration with vacuum packaging was the most effective of the tested storage strategies for maintaining the chemical and sensory quality of C. asiatica raw drug for upto six months. The study provides practical information for post-harvest handling and storage of C. asiatica intended for medicinal and value-added applications.
Keywords: Centella asiatica, Raw drug, Storage stability, Vacuum packaging, Asiatic acid
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