Centella asiatica (C. asiatica) has been widely used in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industry as a functional material. In a previous study, we have investigated not only pharmacological effects such as antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, but also analyzed various functional ingredients. In this study, triterpenoids were analyzed using HPLC-DAD to determine marker compounds among functional ingredients. When triterpenoids were analyzed, asiaticoside from C. asiatica was determined as an optimal marker compound. Next, specificity, linearity, limited of detection (LOD), limited of quantification (LOQ), precision, accuracy, and range were evaluated using HPLC-DAD to determine asiaticoside contents in C. asiatica juice and extracts. The specificity was elucidated by chromatogram and retention time using an established analytical method. The coefficient of correlation obtained was 0.9996. LOD was 4.99 μg/mL and LOQ was 15.12 μg/mL. Intra- and inter-day precision of asiaticoside were determined to be 0.48~1.68% and 0.08~1.09%, respectively. Furthermore, the recovery rate of asiaticoside was 98.88% and the analytical range of Field-70E was determined to be 0.625~10 mg/mL. As a results of evaluating ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP antioxidative effect, Field-70E showed potent antioxidant activities. Results of this study could be used as basic data for quality standardization of C. astiatica juice and extracts.

Centella asiatica accumulates large amounts of triterpene saponin, such as centellasaponin, asiaticoside, madecassoside. We examined the effect of two candidates, MJ (Methyl jasmonate) and TDZ (thidiazuron), on asiaticoside production and the accumulation of bAS mRNA associated with asiaticoside biosynthesis in leaves of cultured whole plants. The growth of whole plants treated with 0.1 mM MJ was found to decrease significantly, however, the growth of whole plants treated with 0.1 mM MJ plus 0.025 mg/l TDZ was better than that treated with MJ alone. When MJ alone was added to culture medium, asiaticoside contents in leaves were higher than that of control after 7 days of treatments. The maximum level of bAS (β-amyrin synthsae) mRNA in leaves of whole plant treated TDZ and MJ was transiently observed after exposure to 5 days. These results showed the up-regulation of bAS gene by adding TDZ and MJ at the molecular level, however, synergic effects of TDZ and MJ on asiaticoside biosynthesis were not testified.