Annual Variation in Bacoside Content of Bacopa Monnieri (l.) Wettst Plants

A study was conducted to evaluate bacoside (expressed as sum of bacoside A3 and A2) production on a monthly basis in net house grown plants of Bacopa monnieri (accession BM001) collected from Jammu region. Bacoside content differed during the course of the whole year. The whole herb is used commercially for extracting the memory enhancing molecule bacosides from the plant. The study significantly points out that the maximum bacoside yield was obtained during August to October (monsoon period) which also coincides with the favourable period for plant growth and would be suitable for plant harvest. Amongst the various individual plant parts, the highest content was recorded in the leaves (6.06 mg g DW) followed by stem (5.13 mg g DW) and least in the roots (3.19 mg g DW).